Where do you primarily work from? Ten or even five years ago, this question would usually be answered with one response: at my desk/office. Now, this question carries with it an abundance of answers that entail anything but a corporate environment – from home, from an off-site location, from across the nation or world, or even in the form of a laptop or tablet on the road. A recent Huffington Post (News - Alert) article shares everything that those who are either currently engaged in the virtual working trend or curious in adopting it need to know about this explosive new movement.
While technology continues to grow and evolve, the virtual workplace has emerged as a prime contender for individuals of all preferences. Whether you’re merely stuck in the hum-drum of the same daily office space or require travel and alternative sources for specific working needs, going virtual certainly brings its many perks.
So while so many individuals are turning to the virtual workplace for added convenience and advantages, let’s take a closer look at exactly what else you can enjoy by becoming a virtual/on-the-go worker:
- By working at home, individuals no longer need to worry about what most of them dread: the daily commute. The wear and tear and waking up early is finally put to rest, and since they don’t have to drive (or there is less traffic if working at an off-site location that is much closer), they’ll save time and money. Additionally, they’ll be helping out the environment by creating less pollution.
- Implementing a virtual work environment can also benefit the company in addition to those working for it. For example, working virtually lessens company overhead, which in turn allows for extra company savings and opens more room for potential money earned, Huff Post says.
- One perk of jumping the virtual bandwagon is if you have small children and cannot afford or prefer not to pay for childcare. Working mothers will find a virtual work environment to be the end-all to this pertinent issue. Less time away from home can also assist older individuals looking to work but who cannot regularly travel to an office.
Now, a one-stop shop article on virtual working of course means that the disadvantages have to be included, but honestly, there are little to none. For example, longer working hours due to your home being your work space is not much of a setback. Additionally, virtual workers should expect to be especially self-driven and motivated – something that one should take pride in. Another may be that the virtual worker isn’t in the company of fellow colleagues and employers, but if you’re a working mother, wouldn’t you rather be with your family? If you’re an introvert, then this is your ideal situation!
The article also lists five important rules for going virtual and how to make it work. These include knowing your role, setting defined working hours, keeping your work computer separate from leisure rooms (ex: bedroom), meeting face-to-face, and setting definitive goals.
To see a complete explanation of these five rules, click here to see the article in full.
Not only does a virtual workplace decrease unnecessary and/or excessive costs, but it also integrates and combines some of the highest quality tech processes with those which are offered by people. One area in particular which has exploded onto the virtual working scene is call centers. By having a call center go virtual, one can see an increase in staffing flexibility, reduced costs, a rapid scale of operations, and an increased efficiency in overall management and oversee. 8x8 (News - Alert), Inc. leads the virtual call center industry with seasoned experience and constant growth, nearly taking the market over by storm.
In related news, 8x8 also recently introduced two all-new virtual office cloud PBX services for enhanced communications and collaboration. These two new developments – Virtual Receptionist and the Group Intercom Multicast Paging service – work to fully optimize virtual call center performance and the overall virtual call center experience.
"8x8 developed Virtual Receptionist and Group Intercom Multicast Paging because they were two of our customers' most requested features," said 8x8 Chairman and CEO Bryan Martin (News - Alert). "We were able to quickly accommodate these requests due to the innovation and agility enabled by our own internally-developed technology platform. The Polycom (News - Alert) VVX 500 deskphone complements this innovation by providing our customers a highly intuitive way to access these new features and the rest of our Virtual Office suite via a touchscreen interface."
8x8 Inc. is a Platinum sponsor of ITEXPO West 2012. To be held Oct. 2-5 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, TX, ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations.
Edited by Rich Steeves