For most businesses, employees are now working from home in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. A large number of companies are suddenly faced with the challenge of optimizing employee work-from-home technology – a large undertaking, particularly if your business didn’t already have the appropriate solutions in place.
There are four technologies essential to your company’s survival through a pandemic:
Cloud-Based Communications Technology
The primary work-from-home technology all businesses need right now is unified communications, or any cloud-based communications system that will facilitate remote collaboration. The ability to hold virtual meetings is now an essential business function, making it critical to have technology in place to make them happen.
UCaaS, or unified communications as a service, is one such solution. Your employees will have easy access to audio and web conferencing functions from wherever they are, making it easy to communicate both internally and with customers. Employees will also have the ability to make and receive calls on any device through your business line, thus maintaining a professional image for your company while customer service issues are handled from outside the physical office.
Network Security
From a security standpoint, each employee working from home is a vulnerable endpoint that needs to be accounted for. If you didn’t already have a virtual private network (VPN) in place, now is the time to implement one. A VPN ensures no sensitive data is sent or received across an unsecured WiFi connection, making it safe for employees to do their jobs from home.
Network Optimization
A strong, optimized network is paramount in order to support the increase in collaboration technology being used by your employees if they are connecting to your corporate WAN. Network monitoring tools – or even the services of an outsourced provider – will ensure your network isn’t getting bogged down by higher-than-normal traffic.
SD-WAN
Software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) simplifies network management and increases visibility. With employees accessing business applications from their homes, it’s essential to ensure strong network performance and agility – and productive employees.
Desktop Support
An increase in work-from-home technology means an uptick in the need for desktop support. Technical issues related to the telecom services your employees are using at home – especially for those employees that are unfamiliar with the technology being used – are going to crop up. Make sure you have the technical support you need while your team is relying on cloud communications and your business network.
PAG provides full-service technology consulting and guidance to help businesses simplify decision-making. As businesses grapple with technology challenges brought by COVID-19, our experts are here to help you with everything from service procurement through onboarding new technologies. For expert guidance on your work from home technology, contact PAG today.