With the COVID-19 pandemic over a half a year old now, people have been pretty resilient and found their footing after the shock of being sent home from work early in March. Many people have actually returned to work, joining millions of essential workers that worked through the government-mandated shut down periods. There are millions of others, however, who are still working from home, as their businesses try to keep operations running smoothly with a remote workforce.
At the office, workers had everything they needed to do their jobs. They had their work computers, they had Internet access, access to printers and telephone, and more. When being asked to work from home after stay-at-home orders came down, it was suddenly their responsibility to have the tools they need to do their job. We thought we would list three of these tools today.
The Laptop
Coming from an office where workers are provided a workstation that has enough juice to run all business-centric software needed to be productive, many people had to adjust. Their computer may not have the resources to run the software, or worse yet, they may not have any hardware at all. What's worse is that people may not have the space to dedicate to a home office. The laptop is the perfect solution as you can set up shop anywhere and be productive.
Smartphone
To think that only a couple of years ago the smartphone was thought of as a distraction. Today, it is possibly the most important productivity tool. With its ability to be both a communication hub and productivity machine, the smartphone can present a lot of value for a business. Moreover, since the device is functioning on an employee’s home Wi-Fi and their wireless network from their carrier, the chances for network breaches coming from a worker’s phone is reduced. With the development of work profiles, now workers can communicate and collaborate their shift away on their smartphone, and then turn off work access with a touch of a finger.
Collaboration Apps
Collaboration software is important regardless where you are working from, but with a remote staff they become the glue that holds a business together. Today most types of software, including productivity, communications, and line of business applications, come with integrated collaboration options that provide team members the ability to work together regardless of the task.
Your business probably has taken one on the chin because of COVID-19, but with today’s powerful collaboration options, you can still comprehensively plan, produce, and support your products and services. If you would like to talk to one of our IT professionals about getting the technology you need to get through the pandemic with your business intact, call us today at (215) 853-2266.
