REMOTE WORKER SOLUTIONS

For several decades businesses have recognised the significant cost and productivity advantages associated with remote workers. In the 80s and 90s, the expense of providing full support and integration of telecommuters into the corporate environment offset much of the projected cost advantages.

Today, with the high penetration of broadband in the home coupled with advances in Internet-based VoIP telecommunications systems such as VadaXchange solutions, migrating employees from office workers to remote workers is not only cost-effective, it has also become a high priority with a large percentage of companies. Getting employees out of the office workspace and into their home office workspace can yield businesses immediate savings. A study conducted by the International Telework Association and Council found that a company could save about $10,000 per year for each remote worker from savings on the office space and other office-related expences.

Businesses with remote worker initiatives also benefit from increased productivity and improved employee satisfaction. The European Union’s ‘SusTel’ (Sustainable Teleworking) study, the largest European investigation to date into the impact of remote working, was conducted between 2002 and 2004 in five European countries. The study revealed that two-thirds of remote workers felt they achieved higher productivity, and that the quality of their work had improved. The study also showed that absenteeism was reduced by 70%. In Germany, 94% of BMW’s remote workers reported increased job satisfaction, and in the UK, around 90% of remote workers said they had an improved quality of life despite working longer hours.

Telecommunications is an important ingredient in the creation of a successful remote workforce. Most experts agree that the best system to support a remote worker environment is a VOIP PBX. A telephone system like VadaXchange allows geographically separated employees to work together as if they were in the same physical workspace. A VOIP PBX breaks down the barriers of isolation and enhances the sense of belonging to one corporate culture, and also serves as an enabler to promote teamwork and cooperation. In addition to hard dollar savings, increased productivity, and enhanced job satisfaction, the business case for deploying a remote workforce becomes almost insurmountable when you also consider that telecommunications expenses drop by about 40% when a traditional PBX is replaced with a VoIP PBX.

For businesses thinking about remote workers, the best departmental candidates for a VOIP supported remote workforce are: Sales, marketing, and call center staff. A VadaXchange Call Center is a powerful tool that can tie together employees across multiple locations under one unified call center. Incoming calls are held in queue and routed to the next available agent – regardless of their geographical location. Real time reporting is available on both the agent and overall group level showing average hold time, average time spent per call, number of minutes an agent was logged in and logged out, plus other management information and features. If you are seriously considering a remote workforce, or if you are merely looking for a better way to integrate existing remote workers into your business environment, then you should definitely investigate the advantages offered by VadaXchange VoIP solution.