Taking your office completely online - a transition worth considering?

Saturday, 15 May 2021 19:37

Taking your office completely online - a transition worth considering?

GUEST ARTICLE: Communication means everything - in relationships, in business, in business relationships. Now that we have been largely deprived of face-to-face communication at work due to the ongoing pandemic, it gets increasingly difficult to maintain the same level of efficiency and engagement that we had before.

Online Collaboration: What Can Go Wrong?

(Spoiler: anything)

Many thanks to the developers of modern online communication tools that allowed us to stay in touch and get things done even when we have to work remotely. However, even those tools are not enough sometimes as a lot of businesses are still struggling to overcome the problems of collaborating online.

What problems? Well, to name a few:

• Over-reliance on email as the primary means of communication
• Different teams members using different tools (which leads to data loss/duplication and overall mess)
• Workers (especially remote ones) feel disconnected from their teams and company overall
• A lot of useful information slips through the cracks - important decisions that no one bothered to document, project files that get lost in multiple revisions, etc.
• Sharp drop in productivity, partly due to the lack of proper supervision

Plus, there is also the cost factor - most online collaboration tools are not only not free, but also require a costly subscription. Paying a few subscriptions like that for your video conferencing, cloud storage, chat, and other tools can really add up to the overhead costs.

As a result, business owners and team leads get a patchwork of various tools, methods, and ways that are often not compatible with each other leading to a huge lack of transparency. No one (not even the owner) has the full picture of what’s going on, and that’s really sad.

Online Collaboration Done Right With Bitrix24

The solution seems rather obvious - why not take all of the standalone tools for online communication/collaboration and put them together in a single piece of software? This move will easily put everyone in your company on the same page, communication and collaboration-wise.

Yes, you can somewhat achieve that via the third-party integration possibilities provided by some of these standalone tools, but that’s not quite it.

What if you could just replace all of the standalone tools with one solution that already includes them all? Well, it turns out that such a solution does exist, and the name is Bitrix24. 

Bitrix24 is an online collaboration software featuring 35+ tools for communication, project management, and sales, all conveniently integrated and packaged into a single suite.

A remote worker’s dream? Not exactly. More like a really, really useful business software that elevates online communication and collaboration to the point where everyone’s super comfortable and also productive.

But what exactly are these 35+ tools provided by Bitrix24? Let’s take a look at the ones that enable online collaboration.

Chats

Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em! Private and group chats are still a reliable way of communicating, sharing files, and solving work-related issues in a familiar format that is super-intuitive, easy-to-use, and convenient for everyone involved.

HD video calls and conferences

A must-have for remote work in 2021. Everything you would expect from some of the bigger names in the videotelephony industry is featured in Bitrix24 as well - with one major difference: there is no time limit.

You can hold online meetings with up to 24 participants or simply make one-on-one calls and talk as long as you need to. In addition to that, there are more or less standard options like:

• Screen-sharing and file-sending
• Custom backgrounds and background blur
• Call recording

Any potential security concerns you might have are addressed here as well. Bitrix24 calls use industry-grade data encryption to protect your privacy and data.

Company feed

Further adding to the enterprise social networking component, Bitrix24 features a Facebook-like feed that may include text posts (with attachable media), video announcements, comments, likes, and notifications.

A concept that’s brilliant in its simplicity, company feed is a great tool for encouraging social interactions across your team in a way that’s naturally tied with their work. And if you are looking to stimulate employee engagement for your remote workers, there is no better tool out there.

Bitrix24.Drive

Since Bitrix24 is positioned as an online collaboration suite, all the files, documents, and other kinds of information you create have to be available online as well - that’s what Bitrix24.Drive is for.

A replacement for any other cloud storage service you might be using, Bitrix24.Drive allows you and your team to create, edit, and share files easily and securely. Using the knowledge base module, you can also keep all your documentation neatly organized in one place that’s easy to find.

Shared calendars

Again, another classic tool loved and used by millions. As one might expect, Bitrix24 Calendar is designed to help organise meetings and events, schedule appointments, and generally plan a working day.

Here, you can have your private calendar, group calendar, and company calendar to manage your events and activities easier. A little bonus feature for those who can’t live without their

Google or MS Outlook calendars - they can be easily synced (both ways) with Bitrix24.

Wait, There’s More?

There is always more. Bitrix24 online collaboration and communication tools are too numerous to describe in a single article. Here are some that deserve a quick but honorable mention:

• Online time clock + work time tracking
• Tasks & project management, Gantt chart, and Kanban board
• Work reports
• HR tools like Employee Directory & attendance management
• Attendance management and shift scheduling
• Workflow automation
• Knowledge management

How Much Is It?

Nothing, really. Bitrix24 is free to start for an unlimited number of users (yes, and there is no per-user pricing), which makes it a rather unique offer among everything else that is on the market.

Too good to be true? Try it and see for yourself – just create a free account, invite your team members, and start collaborating!

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