In the last two years, smart working has expanded its diffusion, and many employers have had the opportunity to re-evaluate its importance.
During the most acute phase of the emergency in Italy, most companies adopted agile work. 97% of large enterprises, 58% of small and medium enterprises, and 94% of Italian public administrations benefited from it. The workers involved were 6.58 million, which exceeds the 570,000 recorded in 2019 over ten times.
The office of the future: flexibility, security, and autonomy
In the future, the office as we have known it will no longer exist. Thanks to new communication technologies, people will be able to interact without worrying if a colleague is working in the company, in the room next to ours, or from home.
Agile work can bring competitive advantages to companies that adopt it. This is because smart working puts people at the center and takes advantage of the latest technological and organizational innovations to enhance positive aspects such as freedom and autonomy.
But what is smart working? The Milan Polytechnic Observatory offers a very clear definition. “A new managerial philosophy based on giving people flexibility and autonomy in the choice of spaces, times and tools to be used in the face of greater responsibility for results”.
A paradigm that provides for the revision of the traditional leadership model, reinforcing the concept of collaboration and favoring the sharing of spaces.
In an era of uncertainty and change, smart working combines flexibility and security, a win-win situation for companies and workers. Thanks to new cloud technologies, entrepreneurs can protect work continuity and organize production in a precise and scalable way.
Employees also benefit because they can choose where, when, and how to work, always guided by clear and shared objectives.
Safe, reliable, and easy to use services
From a technical point of view, smart working depends on the quality of virtual switchboards, mobile services, videoconferencing, VPN, and Cloud.
These services must be safe, reliable, and simple to use. Their use must also be accompanied by adequate training of employees on IT security. This makes it easier to avoid waste, risk of business interruption, or loss of sensitive information.
Here are ten essential points to increase productivity in the company with smart working in a simple and safe way.
Reliable mobile service.
- The efficiency of mobile services increases productivity, improves availability, and protects the corporate image. Remote Collaborators must be able to rely on a reliable mobile network for calling and surfing. For this, it is necessary to choose suppliers with adequate network coverage and who have a WiFi Calling solution that allows you to make and receive calls on your smartphone even in the absence of a field.
Fixed-mobile numbers convergence.
- Always being reachable, even on the move, plays a key role. The convergence between Fixed and Mobile numbers, achieved by cloud switchboards and dedicated apps, allows you to use the fixed office number even on your smartphone wherever you are, transforming your smartphone into an advanced corporate cordless phone.
- Cloud PBXs also eliminates the problems associated with the maintenance of physical equipment and offer guarantees for business continuity thanks to a native backup of voice services.
The fixed network is dedicated to companies.
- A telecommunications network dedicated to companies guarantees high performance even at peak times because it is not overloaded by the traffic volumes generated by consumer activities (video streaming, etc.) and is constantly monitored by expert technicians, aided by advanced algorithms, to avoid slowdowns and failures.
Backup solutions.
- If the connection to the headquarters is lost or malfunctions, remote employees cannot access corporate servers, file servers, remote desktop, VPN, PBX, and many other services, impacting their work group. The risk of business disruption can be greatly reduced with advanced business continuity solutions by installing backup lines and routers that automatically activate in the event of a failure.
VPN and Security
- External networks are not as secure as corporate ones. Installing a professional Virtual Private Network vpn service allow you to remotely connect to the corporate network in a secure way from any device.
- In addition, to further increase the level of security on the move, SIM cards with private static IPs are available, which allow traffic always to be carried out within the Operator’s proprietary network without going through the internet.
Secure and simple remote meetings.
- Professional video conferencing and conference calls help share information in real-time, streamline meeting management, reduce project development times and help maintain contact with customers. Data security and service reliability should never be underestimated.
- For example, video meetings must be encrypted in transit, and the service must allow you to use custom passwords for each meeting. The services must be able to be used safely, even from mobile, to make the most of agile work.
Screen sharing.
- Desktop sharing apps are a fast and effective way to discuss a document or presentation and thus accelerate decision-making processes. These tools are also useful for facilitating remote technical assistance.
Cloud storage space.
- Custom cloud storage ensures quick and orderly access to corporate resources and simplifies remote collaboration. The most reliable suppliers’ encryption, backup, and redundancy systems protect data from unauthorized access and ensure business continuity.
- The cloud technologies on which these services are based should be delivered through secure data centers, possibly located in Italy, to comply with privacy regulations and the GDPR.
Technical support.
- Fast and efficient Customer Service is a fundamental resource to allow work continuity, even when employees work from home. Being able to interact with a competent operator without wasting time with recorded messages increases productivity and facilitates the work of the technical managers of the companies.
Create a corporate cybersecurity culture.
- With remote work, the company network “expands” by exploiting connections (public hotspots, home networks, etc.) and devices that, in many cases, are no longer under the direct control of IT managers. Therefore, in addition to adopting protection systems for individual devices, it is necessary to spread a corporate culture of information security among employees.
- It is a small effort that allows you to take advantage of all the advantages of smart working in peace.
Also Read : Business Smartphones: 5 Good Reasons To Provide Them To Your Collaborators
