Employees report higher productivity and greater satisfaction with remote and hybrid models, and a Gartner survey conducted in June 2020 showed that a whopping 82 per cent of leaders will continue to offer some form of remote work in the post-pandemic environment. Despite the increasing popularity of remote and hybrid models, those models won’t succeed if they aren’t built on the right technology. One key piece of any hybrid or remote work environment is cloud communications. Here are five advantages that cloud communications bring to the hybrid work model:

1. Business Continuity

One significant advantage of hybrid work models is the flexibility they offer businesses and employees to handle personal disruptions. Weather events, doctor’s appointments, sick family members or household emergencies are all events that may have caused employees to take a sick day in the past. With cloud-based communication solutions, employees can quickly pivot to working from anywhere, teams can continue to meet and business can continue uninterrupted. In addition, with cloud-based solutions, everything is stored offsite, away from most last-mile events that could interfere with office operations. If an emergency should occur, employees can immediately move to a different office location or work from home.

2. Customer Experience

Cloud communications offers a variety of options to keep customers connected, no matter where employees are working. And with the variety of reporting options offered by cloud communications providers, companies can uncover deep insights about customer engagement and respond quickly to changing trends and needs. Best of all, customers need never know whether employees are in the office, at home or in a coffee shop—with one number, they can reach employees anywhere, at any time.

3. Employee Satisfaction

Employee surveys have consistently shown that employees like remote and flexible work options. They want to be able to work when, where and how it makes sense for their unique circumstances. In fact, a May 2021 Accenture survey showed that 83% of workers prefer a hybrid model (one where they can work at least 25% of the time offsite). With cloud communications solutions, companies can give them these options and improve long-term retention. And because cloud communications solutions have fewer outages and less downtime than on-premise systems, team members rarely have to experience the frustration of not being able to connect to colleagues or customers.

4. Remote Teams

As companies continue to expand remote work options, more and more people will find themselves part of cross-boundary teams. With employees working in a variety of geographies and time zones, collaboration technology will be more important than ever. With cloud communications, teams have the tools to connect with colleagues across boundaries.

5. Flexibility

Cloud communication solutions give companies the ability to scale up quickly without making large capital expenditures. They also give companies multiple options to meet customer support demands, allowing them to remain nimble in the face of changing markets and preferences. While the global shift toward remote and hybrid work may have been accelerated by the pandemic, it is clear that those models will remain a key feature for many former “office-only” businesses. Cloud communications solutions will be a key part of any successful hybrid work model going forward. To learn more about how cloud communications can help position your company for the next disruption, download our e-book: Positioning Your Business for the Future of Work with Cloud Communications. Image: VioletaStoimenova/iStock

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