Benefits of a Borderless Business

Work is an activity, not a place. Businesses that take this to heart are leveraging advancements in technology to empower greater productivity while also expanding presence and reducing costs. With many businesses looking to hire the right talent and attract the right customers regardless of location, I.T. services companies that specialize in telecommuting and collaboration technologies are seeing a rise in the integration of such practices.

The days of punching a clock at a central office are becoming a thing of the past for many professions.  One prime example of just such a profession is that of the customer service representative (CSR).  Typically found in a centrally-located call center environment, CSRs are those professionals we come into contact with when conducting a business transaction outside of the traditional brick and mortar experience. Your CSR may be someone you speak to while ordering an item over the phone, or they may be the person you engage via online chat at your favorite e-Retailer’s website when you decide to return the item you end up not liking.  Today, that CSR you communicate with may be performing their job from the same place you’re ordering your items – from their home.  And, if not from home, that CSR may be working from a micro-office away from the headquarters or call center her team and supervisor may be located.

Many of us as consumers conduct our personal business outside of traditional business hours. Our professional responsibilities dictate when and where we are able to take care of simple personal matters such as ordering birthday gifts for friends or refilling a prescription. This need has given rise to the demands of businesses to find a more widely-available staff base to meet up with the requirements of their customers.

So how do these businesses employ such geographically disperse staff while maintaining a uniform culture and system of accountability? Put simply, it’s technology with purpose-built process. Many businesses hire new staff and require them to spend a few days or maybe even weeks at the corporate training facility learning the organization’s culture and mission. Those new hires are also given the training required to dutifully perform the tasks and responsibilities of their new job during the training period, and then they return to their respective work place (i.e. home, satellite office, etc.).

This new staff is equipped with the required technology to perform their jobs from wherever they may be. This technology can include Unified Communications, Video Collaboration Systems and Cloud-Based Customer Relationship Management Software, just to name a few.  By leveraging Unified Communications, the new hire is fully integrated into the organization’s telephone and presence awareness systems, thus placing them into the organization’s skills-based customer call triage structure.  Video Collaboration allows the employee to communicate in real time with her team and supervisor in organized training and coaching.  Connection to the organization’s Cloud-Based CRM Software allows the employee access to important customer records that are needed to preside over transactions.

By employing a “hire the right talent regardless of location” mentality, businesses are proving able to find those that best fit the job description.  By leveraging technology with purpose-built process, businesses can trust their staff has the ability to perform their duties whether in a team setting in Manhattan or from home in Macon, GA.