5 DIGITAL ESSENTIALS

For The Home

Building the ultimate home office takes more than just a little extra square footage and some aesthetic touches.

While a secluded, quiet space and a fern are really nice for getting work done, you need to make sure your business tools are as potent as they are at the office to be truly productive at home.

To help you maximize the power of your satellite workers, here are the 5 digital tools that are

essential for the home office.

Trello is the one project management tool with something for everyone. Tasks can be created, edited, roles can be assigned and shared by anyone on the team from anywhere.

Also for the times when tasks begin to build up, there’s even a voting feature for people to help triage what gets prioritized.

In the growing field of business messaging platforms, Slack stands alone above the others. With bots to help automate certain updates and tasks being constantly added and updated, it’s difficult to get an up-to-date assessment of exactly all the features that makes Slack so great.

Integrations into almost every conceivable other major enterprise software platform (including a new Taco Bell “order me a taco” bot!) make Slack the most compatible tool for keeping everyone on the same page.

There are now a lot of file-sharing options out there to choose from, but Dropbox remains one of the most popular options thanks to its high level of compatibility and integration with existing systems.

Plus, plenty of different storage options with some creative and handy upgrades constantly available make the value of Dropbox nothing to scoff at.

The newest virtual business telephone system on the market is already the must-have foundation of any unified communications strategy. With compatibility being the theme here, Dash’s integration already sets it heads and shoulders above the competition plus the high definition sound quality is the next best thing to being in the room with someone.

Dash’s award-winning user experience, though, is where it really distinguishes itself from any other option on the market. Heralded as the definitive leader in intuitive and seamless design, having tools like Dash that don’t require an on-site IT pro to help employees use are critical for those working away from HQ.

Less of a software platform and more of the best, single glance reference tool for time zone info, EveryTimeZone has exactly what its name suggests. Being able to reference the exact time of the timezones you work with is an important, and often over-looked, consideration for your team members and business partners.

Plus the customization options make keeping only the time zones pertinent to your team simple, too. That way you don’t have to scroll through half the world to learn what time your consultant in Timbuktu is logging on.

Remember that all of these systems rely on having a reliable data or internet

connection, so unlike the pleasant pastel paint or desk fern, high speed network

connections are going to help make or break the home office strategies for your

employees.

You can’t always guarantee that the hotel your top field sales person is staying at will be crackerjack, but to ensure that your business is firing on all cylinders for when he or she needs to touch base, invest in a Network Bandwidth service or total Network Health Check from VirtualPBX and rest assured you’ll be ready for anything that comes down the line.