Why Cloud Communication is Perfect for the Mobile Workforce

Smartphones and other mobile devices have become a necessity in today’s world. In fact, a study by Delloite found that the first thing more than 40% of us do within five minutes of waking up, is check our smartphones. And while it is not surprising the first thing that most of us check are text messages, the study also showed that a lot of people check their emails first thing in the morning as well.

This shows how mobile around the world has truly become interconnected. A lot of individuals actually start working before they begin their usual 9 to 5 grind. The modern work environment is now very flexible and no longer confined to the walls of a physical office, which is why BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) has become a popular policy. BYOD allows employees to access work with their own mobile device from anywhere, allowing companies to save on employee provisioning.

But like any other ideal, this newfound mobility and flexibility comes with its own set of challenges. Managing a mobile workforce that is not confined to the office is different from managing the kind of employees you usually see around the workplace.

 

Here are some of the most common problems encountered:

Cannot be contacted through an office number

When employees are out of the office, they usually use their personal mobile device to communicate regarding office affairs. On the other hand, their office phones are left unattended and calls either go unanswered or go to voicemail. This could be a turn-off to potential customers as they would feel that the person they want to talk to is always unavailable.

Caller ID displays personal number instead of business number

You want your employees to project a more professional and credible image when talking to customers. One of the best ways to do that is to use business phone numbers that are associated with your company. It would also help for caller ID to be set up so when you call someone from that number, and the receiver from the call will see the company name as the caller. However, this is not possible when your employee is using their own personal number to make calls.

Personal information mixed with company information

Another big concern is employees tend to use their own accounts when using their mobile device. That is why personal correspondence and information usually find its way in the same database as company information. This could be dangerous, especially if someone else accessed the device, or worse, if the device itself got lost or stolen and ends up in the hands of someone who can use the information against your company.

Non-secure devices

Another issue is your workforce will be accessing the public internet without any protections or safeguards against malicious attacks. This means that both the employees’ and the company information in those devices can be intercepted during transit when sent through the web.

These are just some of the common challenges that you will be facing with a mobile workforce. Fortunately, there is a simple answer to these problems: cloud communications. Specifically, a cloud-hosted unified communications solution.

 

Here are the ways it can help you solve the problems listed above:

• Most cloud-hosted phone systems include advanced call forwarding and other routing features. This means that all calls going to a business number can be forwarded to not just one, but several phone numbers. This way, if a caller is trying to reach an employee through his direct office number or though extension, the employee will be able to receive it from his mobile phone.
• Employees can also use their business number to make calls, send fax, and send SMS from their personal devices by accessing their cloud communications provider’s account either through a mobile app, or though a browser. With this, it will be your company number or ID that will show up when your employees makes a call.
• Each user is actually given their own account and that is where communication is usually stored. This includes voicemail, fax, and recorded calls. This way, it is not stored within the personal device. Most cloud communication providers like RingCentral also integrate with popular storage apps such as Box and Dropbox.
• Most cloud communications providers also have strong built-in safeguards to protect customer data, both at rest and in transit. This includes encrypted transmissions and redundant data centers. This ensures that your company’s information will not be intercepted or stolen through your provider’s service.

 

Best of all, UCaaS or Unified Communications as a Service providers are normally subscription-based. You are able to sign up to a service and try it out without the need for large CAPEX. If you are not happy, you can simply cancel the subscription and move to another. Simple as that.