Summary:
It’s National Work from Home Week, which makes it the perfect time for SMB business owners to reflect on how their teams communicate and collaborate, especially in a world where working from home is celebrated 52 weeks of the year.
If you’re a small business leader, you’ve likely faced challenges ensuring your team stays productive and connected—whether they’re working from the road, your local coffee shop or on the other side of town.
The truth is, reliable voice solutions are no longer just a “nice to have.” They’re a critical tool for keeping your business running smoothly. Let’s take a closer look at why upgrading your voice solutions can help your company thrive, no matter where you or your team is located.
Remote work is standard—are your voice solutions keeping up?
By now, most employees have adapted to a more flexible work environment, and the pace of change is not slowing down. An Upwork study suggests that 22% of working Americans will be remote by 2025—that’s nearly one-fourth of our entire workforce. As this shift becomes permanent across a greater number of workers, businesses—no matter the size—need the right communication tools to stay competitive and efficient.
At first glance, the challenges that come with managing a remote team might seem daunting. But with the right tools to support seamless internal and external communication and collaboration, these hurdles are easier to overcome than you might think.
What are the top remote challenges? And how can voice solutions help?
Even with the best intentions, small businesses often face obstacles when it comes to managing employees in a remote environment. Typically, these common issues may look like:
- Communication gaps: It’s hard to keep everyone on the same page when employees are spread across different locations and time zones. Then, add in your external stakeholders who can be even more dispersed. Missed calls, delayed responses and dropped connections can be frustrating for both employees and customers.
- Collaboration struggles: Without consistent opportunities to meet, teams run into the problem of maintaining productivity and teamwork. It’s easy for people to quickly feel disconnected, which can lead to miscommunication or duplicated efforts.
- Customer service hiccups: Providing a consistent customer experience across all available channels can be tricky, especially when employees don’t have access to the same reliable communication methods they’d use in the office.
The good news is that while these challenges may be prevalent, modern voice solutions can instantly solve for all of these, and more, allowing your team to stay connected and efficient no matter the time or place.
Voice solutions answer the call for small businesses
Voice solutions, like unified communications as a service (UCaaS), are designed to streamline communication and make collaboration more seamless. They provide your team with the flexibility to work from anywhere while keeping your business operations running smoothly. Here’s how they can help:
- Clear, reliable communication: With the right voice solution, your team can make and receive business calls from any device, ensuring no important call is ever missed. Call routing and conferencing features make it easy to stay connected, even across different time zones.
- Seamless collaboration: Advanced features like integrated messaging and video conferencing, these tools ensure your team can work together smoothly, regardless of their physical location.
- Enhanced customer relationships: When your team has access to high-quality communications solutions, they’re able to deliver a consistent, professional customer experience. This means customers feel valued and connected to your business, no matter the distance.
What’s more, voice solutions—like the ones offered by Windstream—are scalable, which means they’ll grow alongside your business. Whether you’re adding new remote employees or transitioning to a hybrid work model, these tools can adapt to meet your needs.
