For the past 2 years, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, many businesses were forced to work outside the office. As a result, many traditional offices have now become obsolete for a good majority of businesses.

As leases come up for renewal, it’s not uncommon for a business to re-evaluate the need for an office building to conduct business. And as inflation rises, it’s possible businesses will cut back on real estate as a cost-cutting measure to maintain profit margins, before having to reduce headcount if necessary.

Today many C-suite executives are continuing to look at technology investments to improve productivity, especially during times when layoffs may be necessary. It’s been proven during the pandemic that many workers can be productive when working from home and more and more businesses are making the permanent move to remote offices for some, if not all positions, depending on the type of company and industry.

From an employee perspective, some have discovered that they can be more productive at home and enjoy the freedom of a more relaxed schedule. Few openly mourn their commute to and from the office. During the pandemic, many people were surprised by how quickly and effectively technologies for videoconferencing and other forms of digital collaboration were adopted. For many, the results have been better than imagined.

According to McKinsey research, 80 percent of people questioned report that they enjoy working from home. Forty-one percent say that they are more productive than they had been before and 28 percent that they are as productive as when they worked in the office.

Does Your Business Need a Traditional Office

So how do you determine if you need office space? The answer will be different for every organization, will be based on what talent is needed, which roles are most important, how much collaboration is necessary for excellence, and where offices are located today, among other factors. Even within an organization, the answer could look different across geographies, businesses, and functions, so the exercise of determining what will be needed in the future must be a team sport across real estate, human resources, technology, and the business. 

Businesses continue to adopt a hybrid-workplace, where some employees work from home full-time, others part-time and some not at all. Office size is reduced, space is shared, and in-person meetings are becoming less of a requirement, due to the implementation of video collaboration and unified communication tools, that allow you to work from anywhere, just as if you were in the office.

Making the Move to Unified Communications

The pandemic has already forced some businesses to make the move from analog to IP to be able to support remote workers and keep their teams connected, and others established work arounds which included forwarding phone lines to cell phones and using multiple apps to communicate via chat, video, and file sharing.

All-IP communications are more efficient, more flexible, and cost-effective solutions. For businesses who have not purchased a new phone system in 10+ years, you no longer have the upfront costs or long-term leases to pay for equipment. Today’s model is that of a monthly operating expense versus a capital expense. New hosted or cloud-based all-IP phone solutions are billed on a month-to-month agreement and maintenance is included, so there are no surprise expenses when it comes to receiving your bill or requiring maintenance and support.

Legacy phone systems are not designed for the data-rich communications that today’s businesses require to provide exceptional customer service. So, now really is the time to plan for your future telephony and communications needs. The sooner you begin, the more time you’ll have to select the option that is best for your organization.

What is Hosted Voice/Cloud Telephony and Unified Communications?

A Hosted Voice system puts all your telephony infrastructure in the cloud, making it accessible from anywhere and on any device, and completely replaces your legacy (POTS) lines and onsite PBX. SIP Trunking also offers next generation voice technology and can often be used with your existing PBX and current telephones. Both options offer Unified Communications (UC), which integrates voice, video, chat and other multimedia communications into one complete solution.

The fact is that IP-based communications are more remote worker friendly than legacy systems. Using softphones or personal devices to make internet calls is a cost-effective and flexible way of equipping remote workers. With UC solutions, employees can access a full suite of communications and collaboration tools wherever they happen to be. All they need is a good internet connection.

Connectivity is another factor to consider, when choosing an IP Solution. Routing voice and video calls through the internet takes up bandwidth. If your corporate network is already stretched, an upgrade to fiber internet or dedicated Ethernet will insure you have the capacity and reliability for your all-IP communications.

Forward thinking organizations who update their legacy technology, always come away with better, cheaper, more agile communications, and more robust data networks. Why not get ahead of the curve, and your competition?

Contact us to get more details and explore your options.