Virtual Office Resource

People working from home out of virtual offices, or just plain home offices, are on the rise with each passing year. Just since 2005, the number has nearly doubled, up 80 percent to encompass 3.3 million employees. Throw in part-time home workers and it encompasses fully 20 percent of the United States workforce. Those planning to join in the fray and take advantage of the numerous benefits should be aware of a few things.

Removing that commuting time saves money—about $4,500 a year with just two days of telecommuting a week—and time, about 4.5 hours a week. Removing assorted interruptions, water cooler talk, and Dilbert-style meetings that go nowhere adds up to produce about a 13 percent hike in productivity.

Some points need to be considered, however; not every job can be done remotely, and some do require that in-person collaboration to be done fully. Plus, some people aren't right for working remotely either. Working remotely can be a culture shock, with plenty of distractions and temptations, and not everyone is well-suited to beat those. Even some businesses may have an issue with this; businesses aren't always suited to focus on videoconferencing first, for example, which can be a key driver of virtual office use and telecommuting.

Perhaps more than any of these is ensuring that workers have the right technology. Having the proper unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) tools can make a huge difference in terms of connecting workers across geographic space. There are plenty of options here, from Cisco (News - Alert) Jabber to Skype for Business to a host of others, so pick the one that's best for the company overall. Don't forget the hardware, either; the right audio endpoints can help bolster productivity by keeping a worker's hands free to type while on a conference call or the like. Above all, don't skimp on the broadband connection, and consider a virtual private network (VPN) or cloud storage options.

Virtual office users are becoming rapidly more part of the workforce as time goes on; the rise of the millennial worker, who prefers that kind of work-life balance where work stops being a place one goes to and instead a thing one does is gaining prevalence. Corporate culture is starting to adjust to this new development, and it's hard not to approve of the productivity gains and cost savings involved. Who needs a big fancy building, with its landscaping and maintenance costs, when all the employees have a virtual office out of the home?

While telecommuting and virtual office use isn't for everyone, it's offering a lot of potential that businesses should be eager to take advantage of. Cost savings, productivity hikes, and a happier workforce are hard to turn down, and with the right people handling such jobs, it may not be so far out of line in the end.