The amount of people working from home has risen to its highest since records began
Around 4.2 million people now work from home, accounting for 14% of the entire workforce in the UK.
The majority, around 63%, are self-employed, whilst the remaining are employed by a company or organisation. Generally, if you work from home, then you’re more likely be earning a higher salary, too.
The rise in these numbers coincides with the rise in cloud computing technology. What used to be a mashup of wires, and expensive diverts is now a very simple process, with the technology having ripped a page right out of the plug-in and play textbook. So sit back and let us explain how business VoIP solutions make it even easier for you to fix up your own little work away from work.
Use a desk phone
By far, the simplest way to retain office functionality is to take your IP phone home with you. By unplugging the already configured phone, stuffing it in your bag and reconnecting it to your router at home, it will magically work as if you never left the office. This allows you to make or receive calls through your office network, appear in the same ring groups and perform all the tasks that you could do whilst sitting at your desk at work. If you don’t fancy lugging your phone around with you, you can just get another one for mobile use only. The good thing is, is that you can be logged into multiple phones and if you set them up correctly, all phones will ring at once when you’re receiving an incoming call, meaning you’ll never miss a call again.
The thing with IP phones is that to access your business telephone system, all you need to do is log into the phone using you’re own personal details that are unique to you, it will remember your settings and preferences no matter where you are connecting from.
The emergence of Wi-Fi IP phones, like the Grandstream GX3240, means you won’t even need to connect the phone to a router anymore, instead simply connecting to a wi-fi network. This will allow you to not only work from home, but anywhere where there is a wireless connection available. As well as working from home, this also allows for hot desking. Just enter your login details, along with your secure password and you’re immediately hooked up to your business telephone system. Fancy that.
Use a softphone
It might not always be practical to take your desk phone home with you. In which case, instead you can download a softphone for your computer, smartphone or tablet. A softphone is a phone that lets you make calls over the Internet from a computer or other smart device. The software acts as a phone interface, allowing you to dial numbers and carry out other phone relation functions using your mouse and keyboard.
Used in conjunction with your business telephone system, a softphone can be a powerful tool that enables you to access your office functionality on the fly: all you need is an Internet-enabled device with the application installed on it and you’re ready to start working.
The good news is that many softphones are free and compatible with several Internet telephony providers. Zoiper, for example, is very popular and works wonderfully with our very own VoIPOffice. Many of our own employees have Zoiper installed on their phones and are ready to make or receive work calls no matter where they are located. It’s kismet!
Use either
Both desk phones and softphones have their own perks and disadvantages. Some people prefer the almost wireless approach of a softphone, whereas some prefer to stick to the normal conventions of using a big physical desk phone, as to actually feel like they are in an office. It’s really down to the specific person.
Save time and money
One thing is clear, by using either of these methods, you can save yourself money and time by becoming a more flexible worker. For example, you’ll never have to use a hotel phone or make expensive long distance calls on your mobile phone again, which we think is something that everybody can get on board with.
Next steps
To find out how you can start to work from home using a softphone or desk phone, contact us today.
Book a video call