How to make flexible working a success through mobile technology

By Matt Snelus, managing director, freshbaked Communications

As featured in Business in Wales magazine

With soaring fuel costs, rent rises and the credit crunch, it is no wonder that so many SMEs are turning to remote working as a strategy to cope during these difficult times.

As well as the more immediate benefits that remote working offers, including reduced office space, travel costs and overheads, it also allows companies the chance to improve its employees’ work-life balance, and in hand staff morale and productivity.

Current legislation means that employees with children under six can request flexible working and changes in the law will soon mean the same considerations must be extended to employees with children under sixteen, giving rise to a huge proportion of the UK workforce able to extend its flexible working options.

Fortunately, from a communications point of view, it has never been easier to allow employees to work from home or on the road. Whether it is responding to emails on the move or being able to connect to the company’s internal systems sat in your home office, there are now solutions to suit everyone’s requirements.

Mobile technology such as mobile phones, smartphones, and mobile broadband means you can take your office anywhere, connecting to any network, anytime. As remote working is more than just working from home, these technologies are being employed to ensure that employees can work whenever and wherever they are.

Smartphones, such as devices like the Blackberry, are the most recent addition to workers’ lives allowing mobile users to access emails, corporate data, the internet and calendars wirelessly. When employers send an email or access other corporate tools using their BlackBerry device, the data travels through public wireless networks, through your secure corporate firewall, and through the BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, to your internal corporate systems. From your BlackBerry device, you can access enterprise applications seamlessly and securely, all through the BlackBerry Enterprise Server. As a real time technology device, employers can also be confident that the information will arrive at almost the same time as it hits their desktop.

 

Broadband internet with so called ‘dongles’ and data cards has also made huge advances in recent years, with prices falling and speeds increasing. They offer extensive UK coverage and international access making it simple to keep working when you’re away from your desk. Plus, with ultra-fast 3G data transfer capabilities, employers won't need to wait too long to receive emails or download files in a client's office.

With the sheer range of communication methods available to today’s workplaces, it is understandable that some employers shy away from this increasing complexity. However, this need not be the case. You can combine all of these services through a Unified Communications solution – a relatively new concept that allows employees to integrate voice, data, voicemail, video, security and wireless capabilities through a single IP network. With incredible functionality, a unified communications solution means that employees are contactable via one phone number, one instant messenger name and one email address creating an easily manageable system.

So while the benefits of remote working are widespread and it has never been easier to do so, for it to work successfully, managers need to ensure that staff are properly trained to use these new devices, and ensure that the sense of team continues. Managers need to communicate regularly with their employees through video conferencing and phone calls and by combining the fundamentals of good management with the technology available out there, remote working will deliver real business benefits to all.

Offering multiple products and services, including mobile phones, mobile data solutions, hosted VoIP and company fixed lines in addition to impartial advice across all networks and suppliers, freshbaked Communications is dedicated to providing solutions to suit the needs of all types of businesses.