Remote work tools have become a valuable resource as the number of remote teams increases. With the right set of software, remote workers can enhance their productivity and teamwork.
Quick access to the list of tools:
What are Remote Work Tools?
Remote work tools are cloud-based software systems. So you can access them through the Internet on your computer. This is great for remote teams because they can collaborate on joint projects. Remote work tools also speed up communication!
These tools are great for contacting leads and clients from home. With remote work tools, teams can readily schedule meetings and follow-up calls. This makes it easy to perform daily work tasks from a remote location. So remote teams can thrive while working in different locations across the world!
Remote Work Tools for Flexible Working Arrangements
The increase of remote working has made significant changes in the global workplace culture. Flexible working arrangements can increase productivity and job satisfaction. Research shows that it can reduce absence rates, increase commitment, and saves you money on an office space.
In the 2016 CIPD report*, Employee Outlook: Employee views on working life, employees cited the top three benefits of remote working:
- Reduces the amount of stress and pressure.
- Allows for a healthy work-life balance.
- It’s a primary factor for staying with their current employer.
The rise in flexible working arrangements has elevated remote work tools. As a result, the global market has become oversaturated with cloud-based software systems. This makes it difficult for businesses to choose the right tools for their remote teams. Fortunately, our Ireland-based telecom company has a lot of experience in managing remote teams.
Remote Work Tools for Remote Teams
With the recent closures of businesses worldwide, many employers are seeking a reliable remote work plan. So we decided to share our list of remote work tools that our remote team uses on a weekly basis. Since we have implemented these tools, we have seen an increase in productivity, job satisfaction and quality of work.
These remote work tools have increased our team’s communication. We can easily schedule virtual meetings, conference calls, and even view each member’s current timezone! As more and more teams start working remotely, it’s important to implement these tools as soon as possible. Additionally, ensuring secure connections for remote work is paramount. Implementing a high-quality VPN (Virtual Private Network) can safeguard data and privacy while accessing company resources remotely, enhancing overall security in remote work environments.
Below, we have listed the Top 10 Remote Work Tools for Better Teamwork:
1. NUACOM
NUACOM Cloud Phone System helps businesses handle, track and automate calls. This Irish company uses also VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) to process call data. Meaning, you only need an active Internet connection to use the system.
Here are just a few ways remote teams can benefit from NUACOM:
– Maintain the same caller ID (your business phone number), call flow configuration, and process for every remote team member.
– 5 ways to transfer calls and stay connected to coworkers.
– Conduct business from the comfort of their home.
– Change locations at any time and work anywhere in the world.
– View our Live Calls Wallboard to see real-time call stats.
For employers, the User Portal is easy to navigate and has many functions. So you can easily personalize the system around your business. Also, the advanced Analytics & Reporting feature is ideal for providing constructive feedback. It allows you to advise your remote teams while working from home.
Price: Starts at €9.99/user/month. Free 14-Day Trial available.
2. Teamwork
This Cork-based company is a team collaboration and project management tool. It has a ton of useful features for project management, internal communications, and customer support. With this remote work tool, you and your team can easily collaborate on projects from anywhere in the world!
Teamwork is a handy remote work tool useful for managing one-off and daily tasks. It makes it easy for remote teams to view on-going projects. You can use the app to automate your project workflows and prepare for upcoming tasks. The time-tracking tool will help your remote teams stay organized and focused.
You can also invite your clients to view the status of your ongoing tasks. This is a quick way to update them on your progress. They can easily upload documents and add comments as well!
Price: Free. For additional features, pricing starts at $9/user/month.
3. HRLocker
HRLocker is a digital HR software system that simplifies the management of your remote teams. The Time On & Time Off Management tool is great for recording remote employees’ working hours in the cloud. With the online timesheet system, remote teams can report their weekly hours and submit them to a manager for approval.
As a remote work tool, this is a must-have for managing remote teams. With HRLocker, you can quickly resolve employee-related issues and manage schedules. The interface is easy to use and has many features for managing remote teams. This includes applicant tracking, timesheets, recruiting and more!
This is the ideal tool to use while working remotely and practising social distancing.
Price: Starts at €2/employee/month.
4. OnePageCRM
If you deal with customers, you probably have a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. And if you’re Irish, you most likely have heard of OnePageCRM.
This Irish-based tech company entered the market with the concept of a practical CRM that’s focused on clever actions. So say goodbye to saving customer details in your office notepad! Stop setting up meetings in your agenda! Eliminate digging in your inbox to find emails! OnePageCRM centralizes every interaction with your contacts. So you and your team can access a shared workspace from anywhere in the world.
You can also interconnect your remote work tools with Zapier. For instance, you can use:
– NUACOM for your phone calls,
– Intercom for your live chat,
– Teamwork for your support and after-sales related tasks.
All of these Irish software systems are easily accessible. So you and your remote team can connect anywhere, at any time.
Price: Starts at $11/user/month
5. Time Doctor
As a time tracking software, the first thought you may have is that this app is to track employees. And you are right! But they decided to position themselves in a different way. Instead, they use the tracking software to assist each team member throughout the day.
Time Doctor provides:
– Screenshot features,
– Chat monitoring,
– Breaks,
– Project deliveries,
– Alerts & Reminders and much more.
Time Doctor is the perfect remote work tool for tracking your team’s productivity and project management. It also helps teams stay on task and enables them to message each other when needed. This speeds up the communication process and projects in your team’s pipeline.
Price: $9.99/user/month. Minimum 5 users.
6. Google Meet
Users can also use Google Meet to pre-schedule meetings and access video conferences via link, calendar event, or meeting code. This makes scheduling meetings online so easy! Simply choose a time and date then send invites to all of your remote employees.
Google Meet is also great for screen-sharing meetings for support, sales, and customer service. It is also a great remote work tool to host video conferences with your clients online. So you can close deals and resolve customer inquiries from the comfort of your home!
Price: Free with standard Google account. To add more people to a Google Meet call, you need a G Suite account, which starts at $6/user/month.
7. Slack
This is commonly used communication software by sales and support teams. Its best feature is instant messaging because you can organize conversations per channel. This makes it one of the best remote work tools for remote teams.
A channel can be organized by department, project, branch or anything else that is related to your organizational structure. This allows managers to efficiently monitor teams and keep them coordinated.
In Slack, you can receive notifications from different apps, including NUACOM, Teamwork, OnePage CRM and 1,000+ other business apps.
Price: Free version available. For additional features, prices start at $6.67 per month.
8. G Suite by Google
All your documents, spreadsheets and presentations are accessible from anywhere, on any device. You can also share them with anyone you want! This makes exchanging information fast and easy.
G Suite is the combination of apps, such as Gmail, Drive, Calendar and more. Docs, Sheets and Slides are all on the cloud, so you and your team can interact with each other remotely. This allows you to work simultaneously with the same files and watch each other’s live contributions.
Overall, G Suite simplifies tasks and makes it easy to stay organized. Remote teams can collaborate on shared documents and save them in a Team Drive. So you don’t have to worry about tracking down individual files!
Price: Starts at $5/user/month
9. Timezone.io
The Timezone.io slogan, “Keep track where and when your team is”, is the perfect description of this web application. Timezone.io provides you with the location and timezone of each team member. This is the ideal app for planning meetings and calls with remote workers spread across different countries.
Timezone.io has a simple, user-friendly interface. It displays each employee’s local time and their current geographic location. You can also invite your entire team to use timezone.io with a single click or by email. It’s so simple and easy to use!
If you are planning to hire freelancers or remote workers around the world, you need Timezone.io in your tech stack.
Price: Free
10. AnyDesk
AnyDesk is the perfect software system for support teams. It is a remote desktop tool that offers free remote access to PCs running on its host application. The software program can be installed on macOS, Linux, Windows, and FreeBSD.
With this app, you can connect to clients and assist them by operating on their computer, while they watch and learn. It’s a win-win situation for everyone! You resolve their issue while teaching them how to work through it themselves.
For on-the-go individuals, the app is great for connecting with clients remotely and always makes you feel like you’re in front of an office computer.
Price: Starts at $10.99 a month. Free version available for evaluation and private use.
Remote Working Collaboration
Over the last two decades, cloud-based software systems have aided the remote working trend. These systems are valuable because they allow a remote worker to easily collaborate with one another. Remote working collaboration is essential for working on joint projects.
For instance, copywriters and graphic designers usually collaborate on projects together. They need to constantly be in contact. So what happens when they start remote working? How will they collaborate on projects while working in different locations?
By setting them up with the right remote working collaboration tools, such as:
– cloud-based phone system,
– screen-sharing software,
– virtual conference rooms,
– shared digital documents,
– live chat rooms and more.
These remote work tools are ideal for your remote workers. Fast communication is key to speeding up tasks and completing projects on time! They also help you keep track of employees and speed up tasks in your pipeline.
Final Thoughts on Remote Work Tools and Tips
As in-office departments turn into remote teams, employers will need the best software systems available to manage employees. Our in-house coded system has been on the market for over 10 years. So we have the experience and knowledge to help you set up your remote workspace.
With the recent closures due to COVID-19, we’ve come across questions like:
- What tools allow workers to telecommute?
- How do I adjust to working remotely?
- How can I succeed in working remotely?
So we wanted to share our knowledge of how to work remotely. We also want to help other small businesses succeed during this difficult time.
Here are a few ways you can prepare your business:
– Have your team handling your office calls from home, with our softphone Desktop app.
– Use the same call flow or create new ones for the current situation.
– In case you decide to close the office for a few days, you can use our custom greeting message to inform your clients and callers of your decision.
We are committed to providing local businesses with as much support as possible. This is why we’ve decided to take action and support SMEs with a Relief Program.
