90% of small and medium size businesses have at least one member of staff working from home and 20% have more than half their workforce away from their offices. Why?

There are two main reasons:

  1. Because it makes brilliant business sense! With 70% of the SME sector using Cloud based applications (Microsoft Office 365 to name just one) there is no need for staff to make pointless journeys into an office, when everything they need is available on their laptop and smart phone. It’s the same 70% that say the smart phone has made the biggest difference to their business over the last year. That’s why “Cloud” is critical to running a smart business today!
  2. Because of recent employment legislation means that staff that have worked for more than 26 weeks in your business have the right to request flexible working hours, allowing them to set up home offices and work remotely. How many people do that? About 14% of the UK work force last year, 4.2 million people – and that was before the legislation changed. We all need to gear up!

What’s the key?

Connectivity is key. Once you have a decent Internet connection, everything else is well known and falls into place.

  • Voice over IP telephony provides HD quality with any UK number on phones in any location worldwide. It also makes a phone at home work as an office extension, only without the drive and interruptions. A whole business can function from multiple locations seamlessly, as if staff are in the same office but without the commuting or cost of a building. It also means your business can hire the best people, not just the ones living within traveling distance of your office! IP telephony comes with corporate level features for £9.95 a month.
  • Microsoft Office 365 provides a full suite of the latest Office software on up to 5 x devices for a single monthly subscription. For example: work and home PCs, laptop, tablet and smartphone. This means the work you do on one device is updated on them all – simultaneously. Collaborative working with others in your business becomes an everyday natural practice with secure storage and backup happening automatically and as new software updates become available, you get them as soon as they are launched – without any financial implications! £12.95 a month is all you will ever need to spend.
  • 4G and 4G+ mobile coverage is now widespread, meaning even if landline Internet access is still sketchy, high speed mobile data is usually available at really competitive prices. Think £50 a month to run your entire office.

The business world is changing beyond recognition at an unprecedented pace. Time to stack the percentages in your favour…