There's no doubt that the norms of doing business are changing, and there's nowhere these changes are felt more than in small and mid-sized businesses. One of the biggest changes SMBs are currently navigating is the influx of employees from a generation that is reliant on mobile phones and who expect a greater amount of flexibility from their jobs.
Mobility is the new norm
A recent report by the U.K.'s Office of National Statistics found that 96 percent of people between the ages of 16 and 24 used their mobile devices to access the Internet on the go, while a Global Workplace Analytics study of employees in the U.S. discovered that there are currently more than 6 million remote workers in the country.
"Fundamentally, a workplace is made up of consumers who use mobile devices every day," said Piers Linney, co-CEO of cloud service provider Outsourcery, in an interview with ITProPortal. "The way lifestyles are changing will inevitably have a direct impact on the way people work, and the best businesses are playing to the strengths of their employees by implementing strategies within the workplace which enable employees to work flexibly."
Linney went on to say that businesses that have not yet adopted a remote working or mobility policy will be missing out on the new and growing skills of young employees and will begin to lose a competitive advantage. Enabling the shift to mobile and offering employees the ability to work from home offers multiple other benefits as well. For one, workers who are able to make their own schedule are happier, and therefore more productive. Two, having less employees in an office also saves companies money by requiring less physical space. And three, implementing a remote working policy enables organizations to hire talent from a much wider pool than may have previously been available, allowing for the best candidate for the job to be hired every time, regardless of location.
Enhance mobility with FoIP
When deploying flexible working policies, it is important for companies to have the right technology in place to empower their employees. One of the best devices for the shift to mobile is fax-over-IP. FoIP isn't tied down by traditional phones lines and instead utilizes the Internet to send documents, allowing faxes to be sent from anywhere with a Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection.
The use of FoIP services allow important business documents that require a signature or proof of arrival to be sent quickly and conveniently – and straight from a smartphone if necessary. FoIP service providers like FaxCore make it possible for faxed messages to be received by email applications on mobile platforms, making fax-over-IP the most convenient form of business communication available. Utilizing mobile fax software such as FoIP not only increases mobility and flexibility for employees, but brings faxed business into the 21st century.
Enhance enterprise communication, collaboration and compliance efforts with a proven FoIP solution from FaxCore. Contact FaxCore today to learn more about their 'Partly-Cloudy' fax solutions.
