The holidays mark the busiest travel time of the year, and for businesses, that means employees may be working anywhere, from home to on the road. So how do businesses make sure their employees stay connected during this busy travel time, no matter where they are? Adam Simpson, CEO of Easy Office Phone, provides the following tips.
Click through for five tips to help keep employees connected during the holidays, as identified by Adam Simpson, CEO of Easy Office Phone.
Forward all desk phone calls to other numbers using cloud-based phone services. Cloud-based phone services enable callers to reach an employee at an alternative number – such as their house or cell phone – if they’re planning to travel and won’t be at their desk.
Use smartphone app options to turn your smartphone into a mobile clone of your desk phone. Using app options that allow users to tie directly into their company’s hosted PBX service allows employees to turn their smartphone into a “mobile clone” of their desk phone; thus all outgoing calls employees make will show as if they’re coming from the company’s caller ID.
Install “soft phone” programs to desktops/laptop computers to make and receive calls remotely. There are desktop/laptop computer equivalents to a smartphone app called a soft phone that emulate full phone functionality and allow users to work remotely via computers, by installing software that allows them to make and receive calls.
Use a cloud PBX service to register your phone at multiple locations. Using a cloud PBX service allows users to register their phone at multiple locations, and they can have more than one desk phone, set to ring and make calls identically (perfect for working from home).
Set concrete rules for holiday hours. Setting custom business hour rules around the holidays and rotating phone duties between employees ensures fairness across the board, and allows staff equal time split between business duties and family time.