Mobile is the new reality for business. IDC recently predicted that by 2020, mobile workers will account for nearly three-quarters of the US workforce. Your company may be there already. But are your smartphone-happy employees as effective as they should be? Let’s take a look at some of the newest must-have capabilities enabled by cloud phone systems like RingCentral Office.
1) BYOD (bring your own device)
BYOD is booming. According to Tech Pro Research’s latest survey, 74 percent of organizations are either already using or planning to allow employees to bring their own devices to work. That’s great for small business owners because they don’t have to provide expensive smartphones or manage cellular expenses. But giving up control and your brand is not so great.
RingCentral provides a free mobile app that packs the capabilities of a full-featured desk phone into an employee-owned iOS or Android smartphone or tablet. In addition to sending and receiving calls over the reliable RingCentral global network, users can send and receive Business SMS texts, or fax documents stored in the cloud. The user-friendly interface also makes it fast and easy to administer the system, access the company directory and see who is available, transfer calls, and check visual voicemail notifications with one touch.
Better still, you maintain control over your business identity and contact information. Customers contact your employees through your business number—not a personal cell number—and a business number also shows on caller ID when employees call customers. If an employee leaves the company suddenly, all of the contact info that would have been stored locally on the BYOD phone stays in the cloud—where you have access to it, but they don’t.
2) Meetings to-go
An all-inclusive cloud business communications service like RingCentral Office makes it cost-effective for mobile workers to use must-have features like conference calling, web meetings, and even HD video conferencing. You can hold global audio conferences on both Android and iOS devices with up to 1,000 participants. Assemble teams on a web meeting or HD video conference where participants can share presentations, photos, or other files stored in Dropbox or Box with one tap on the mobile app. This capability means your employees can collaborate or give presentations to customers without the cost and time of business travel. And there are no carrier charges for bandwidth.
3) International calling without carrier charges
With the app installed on their device, employees traveling out of the country can make and receive calls over Wi-Fi (learn more about how it works) without using expensive carrier roaming. This is a big plus for any business person who has experienced the sticker shock that even a few minutes of calling can cost in some countries. The app also lets you send and receive SMS and faxes or join audio conferences, web meetings, or HD video conferences over the internet. Some enterprising users have even reported renting Wi-Fi hotspots with unlimited data plans and carrying them in their pocket to save on international roaming while walking or riding in a train or car. And because RingCentral owns and controls its own robust global network, the call quality should sound like you are calling from next door.
4) One-touch access to meetings
Busy workers on the go often have to jump on a conference call, web meeting, or video conference from anywhere. Have you ever tried to dial into a conference bridge while driving, and switch back and forth between the keypad and email to get the meeting ID? The RingCentral Mobile app provides a unique one-touch feature that allows users to click on a link in an SMS, email invite, or calendar event to join a meeting instantly. The app dials the designated number and automatically enters the meeting ID. You can also touch to set up a meeting or page a group of contacts from your Favorites list to request a meeting without using complicated key codes.
If your employees still don’t have these new mobile capabilities, your business is missing out on some big benefits. You might want to check out a cloud business communications solution to see how it can save you money and integrate today’s nomadic workers into a cohesive and more effective organization.
Originally published Jan 06, 2017, updated Jul 24, 2024
