Digital advances have made our life very easy and comfortable. They have even changed our traditional concept of an office and have transformed our bedroom into our new home office. The technological advancement, the post-pandemic scenario along with the benefits of working remotely, has increased the demand for work-from-home job opportunities.
Even though work from home jobs is more flexible and profitable, they have some major drawbacks such as lack of communication and inadequate customer service.
A virtual system can provide a solution to these challenges posed by work from home jobs, thus, increasing your company’s profit reach, enhancing the communication system, and improving the efficiency of its employees.
So, let us look into the drawbacks of work from home jobs and how a virtual phone number can provide the solution to these challenges.
A virtual phone number to close the communication gap
One of the major problems with a remote working setup is the communication gap. While conveying information face-to-face, you understand more about the subject. The facial expressions, subtle body gestures, and tone of voice convey the majority of the speech. All these together make communication effective. SMS, or emails, cannot fully convey the message and can often lead to misunderstandings. So, how to create an efficient communication system, when employees are not sharing a physical space?
A virtual phone number can close this communication gap. With its various facilities like call recording, call routing, and multiple extensions, now anyone from a company can connect with any team member. Also, these numbers can be routed to an employee’s/employer’s personal phones or other devices that are connected to the internet. This will enable you to take the call, even if you are not working, thus reducing the call dropouts.
Also, with the conference calling feature, you can hold group meetings, give instructions to the team members, and keep everyone updated.
Erase the inadequacy in customer service
Another major issue with a remote working setup is the gap in customer service. In any work, it is important to share vital information about the customer and keep the client updated. Usually, these are done through emails or text messages while working remotely. And there is a huge probability for one of the employees to forget to communicate the client’s request and needs. This will leave the customer frustrated and team members blaming each other.
A virtual phone number offers various features like call logging, recording, call forwarding, and call routing facilities which can close the gap in customer service. If an employee is busy or is not available, the employee can forward the call to another available employee. With a call routing facility, you can redirect customers’ calls to departments or agents who can best address their issues.
Some virtual phone systems like MightyCall enable the employees to save the details and contact of the new client/customers and add notes with its business contact book with mini-CRM features. This new number will automatically be synced to all the members of the team and anyone from the team can follow up on the client.
Thus, by using these features of a virtual phone system, you can set up excellent customer service.
Counter the technical inaptitude with a virtual phone number
One of the most cited challenges while working from home is technical glitches and a lack of familiarity with technology. In an office, you can contact and communicate with your team lead or manager directly. But when you are working from home, it is not possible. There is much-sophisticated software to remove this communication barrier. But you may find it difficult to manage such complicated software.
Also, if there is a group discussion, the employees need to contribute to the team. But when you are working remotely, some people avoid the interaction with the managers on the pretext of technical glitches or difficulty in using the communication system.
A virtual phone number act as an easy-to-use alternative to the complicated communication system. There is no complicated hardware behind a virtual phone system. After configuration, a user can make or take calls on any device they want. It can be a laptop, mobile phone, desktop, or tablet.
Can minimize discipline issues
One of the biggest advantages of working from home is its flexibility. But the lack of strict supervision and much distraction can result in lagging behind schedule. To stick to the schedule, one needs to have strong willpower. The situation may get even worse when you are nearing the project deadline. Working for 15 hours a day to complete the work can mentally and physically drain you out.
Even though a virtual phone number cannot turn you into a self-motivated hardworking employee, it has features to tell everyone whether you are working, or busy/unavailable. By this everyone will understand whether a team member is working or not. This visible indication can create self-discipline and give you a work-like mood.
Thus, with the help of a virtual phone system, you can overcome the challenges of working remotely and can build an economical and efficient way of working.
