The announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) that the coronavirus disease has officially reached the ‘pandemic’ status has meant that the number of people working from home or working remotely is on the rise. This unforeseen increase in working from home can present both its problems (e.g. companies are not geared up to work remotely) as well as its opportunities.

If you’re an enterprise new to allowing your staff to work from home/remotely, we have listed some of best tools to make sure you stay productive.  If you are looking to deploy any of these digital tools in your business, we strongly recommend you assess the risks that may be introduced from use of the tools e.g. how and where will your data be accessed from?

This is not an exhaustive list, but many are of an ‘enterprise grade’ meaning you can rest assured that they could offer long term fit for your business and not just a short term ‘sticking plaster’. You may require some input from your IT team, but we believe you could be up and running in 60 minutes or less.

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Get your teams collaborating (one-stop shop tools for email, chat, video, voice and task management)

Office 365

Office 365 is an enterprise solutions tool that has integrated apps and services that are specifically designed to help your business grow. Office 365 is a one-stop shop tool for email, chat, video, voice and task management. It has many useful capabilities for business including file sharing, video-conferencing, online phone call functions, team chat, project / task management, and screen-sharing.

Pros

• Users can access documents from anywhere
• Prepares you for the future of cloud computing with familiar Microsoft products (Word, Excel etc)
• Sensible business pricing and subscriptions
• Save time on troubleshooting and updates – automatic updates
• Seamless team collaboration
• Robust security features
• One stop shop for all collaboration tools

Cons

• Internet issues may disrupt productivity
• Compatibility issues
• Can be difficult to keep up to date on changing feature set
• Often not used to its full capability

G-Suite

G-Suite, formerly known as Google Apps, is another enterprise solutions tool that has a collection of integrated apps and services like Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Calendar, Keep and more. These apps/services are offered by Google to help streamline your business. The tool has capabilities such as file sharing, video-conferencing, online phone calls, team chat, screen sharing and allows you 30GB of storage on the basic plan.   It provides a comparable offering to Office 365.

Pros

• Simple and easy to use – anyone on your team can learn how to use it
• Sharing documents
• Seamless integration between tools
• Compatibility
• Cost effective
• Highly secure
• Large amount of capabilities

• Internet issues may disrupt productivity
• Can be costly – depending on amount of users
• Ability to customise is limited
• Could be more mobile friendly
• Investment in training to use apps where teams are more familiar with Microsoft

Get your teams video-conferencing

Cisco Webex

Cisco Webex is a cloud-based collaboration tool which products provide capabilities such as video conferencing meetings, team instant messaging, file sharing, project management (with Cisco Webex Teams), screen sharing and allows you to use it on your own device from anywhere.

Pros

• Simple user interface
• Easily share files and documents
• Host video conferences with large amount of participants
• With Cisco Webex Teams, users can share ideas via messaging
• High quality service
• Great support on mobile devices
• Good integration
• Compatible

Cons

• Integrations are separate downloads
• Screen sharing feature can be temperamental
• Mobile app doesn’t provide as good a service as desktop
• Internet Explorer is the default browser – needs to be changed
• Lacks Adobe Connects large-group participation tools
• Can be costly – depending on the plan

Zoom Video Communications

Zoom is a cloud-based collaboration tool that allows you a consistent enterprise experience. Zoom provides capabilities such as video conferencing, file sharing, online phone calls, instant messaging between teams, screen sharing and meeting recordings. 

Pros

• Easy to use
• Seamless connectivity for desktop and mobile
• Intuitive user-interface
• File and document sharing
• Quick, instant messaging between users
• Record meetings to watch back
• Many free add-ons
• Scalable platform

Cons

• Can be expensive for larger teams
• Sometimes poor / unpredictable video quality
• Too many plan options
• Limited support

Get your teams chatting & instant messaging

Slack

Slack is a workplace collaboration tool that is designed to support the way that teams naturally work together – giving you the opportunity to collaborate with your team online as efficiently as face-to-face meetings. Slack is designed to replace email as the primary method of communication across your team with instant messaging and has the capabilities to file share, video conferencing, online phone calls, and project management.

Pros

• Simple to use
• Seamless integrations
• Reduces email traffic
• Connects remote teams
• Great security
• Easy to share and collaborate in real-time
• User-friendly interface
• Free plan for users to try out

Cons

• It can be a distraction
• Built for shallow conversations
• Disorganised
• Storage can be an issue

Chanty

Chanty is an AI-powered team communication software that is designed to make business teams collaborate and be more productive. This team communication tool has capabilities such as file sharing, video-conferencing, instant messaging, project management and screen sharing – all in one place.

Pros

• Intuitive interface
• Easy to use
• Fast
• Doesn’t limit message history
• A single notification centre
• Great customer support
• Convenient task management
• Easy set up
• Improves employee engagement

Cons

• Needs more app integrations
• Lack of audio calls
• Lack of customisation
• Basic task management feature
• Some features can be glitchy as they’re still being tested

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a team chat-based collaboration tool in Office 365 that provides teams with an online meeting environment to share documents, chat and work together whilst ensuring the max level of productivity. Microsoft Teams boasts capabilities such as file sharing, video-conferencing, voice calls, instant messaging, screen-sharing. Teams also has the capability of project management when using app integration, Priority Matrix.

Pros

• Increased transparency
• Challenges regarding permission settings
• Integration of tools
• No additional cost for Office 365 users
• Useful chat feature
• Seamless file search
• Enhanced productivity
• Quick integration for new users

Cons

• Unnecessary consumption of storage
• Lack of notifications
• Limit on number of channels
• Confusing structure
• Complicated Outlook transition
• Can only be used as part of Office 365

Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts is a messaging collaboration tool that is built for team communication. Google Hangouts is developed by Google and is part of G-Suite. This tool is designed to help users communicate across different channels such as instant messaging, video-conferences and voice/audio calls. The tool also has capabilities such as file sharing and screen sharing.

Pros

• Enhanced productivity
• Seamless between desktop, mobile and tablet
• Very easy to set up and use
• Clean, intuitive interface
• Easy to add and remove contacts
• Integrates well with other tools
• Push notifications
• Great screen-sharing system

Cons

• Requires internet connectivity
• Video quality
• Support
• Requires an invitation to Google+
• No project / task management feature

   

Get your team managing their projects effectively

Trello

Trello is a web and mobile collaboration tool that focuses primarily on project / task management. Trello has the functionality to tell you what is being worked on and who is working on it. This tool has various capabilities including, video conferencing, file sharing, screen sharing and offers you 10MB of storage per file attachment.

Pros

• Mobile friendly
• Simple pricing structure
• Instant notifications
• Update system is instant – collaborate in real-time
• Simple to use
• Adding new users is easy

Cons

• Requires internet connectivity
• Storage is limited
• Manages smaller projects – no good for larger projects
• Doesn’t have an instant messaging feature
• Cannot review iterations

ProofHub

ProofHub is a cloud project management tool that helps managers and teams stay on top of business objectives, tasks and deadlines. This tool will primarily help with planning, managing and delivering business outcomes to the deadline. It allows managers, teams and clients to collaborate by sharing tasks and notes to achieve a quicker response.

Pros

• Great for simple projects for smaller teams
• Easy to set up and use
• Proofing tool
• Good file management
• Generous storage
• Affordable
• Integrations (e.g. Google Drive, OneDrive)

Cons

• Needs a better interface
• Can be slow
• Limits to customisation
• No recurring tasks
• No two-way syncing of calendars
• No resource management

Microsoft Planner

Microsoft Planner is a project management tool that is available on the Microsoft Office 365 platform. The tool is designed to enable users and teams to manage their projects by creating plans, assigning tasks and sharing files. The list of capabilities for Microsoft Planner can be extended when integrated with Microsoft Teams. This will unlock capabilities such as video-conferencing, voice calls, instant messaging and screen-sharing.  

Pros

• Free with the Office 365 license
• Seamless integration with Office 365 tools
• Built in calendar
• Easy navigation
• One log-in for Office 365 users

Cons

• Can’t add non-team members
• Character limits on comments
• Only one checklist per task is allowed, 20 checkboxes max
• No search functions
• No filtering tools
• Must have Office 365

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