Internet technology and managed IT services has come a long way since it's beginnings almost four decades ago. It started out as a U.S. military defense project to determine technologies for interlinking various kinds of packet networks.
The U.S. military wanted to have the ability to instantly share information between networked computers. The project was dubbed "internetting" and the eventual result was a system of networks we now know as the internet. The introduction of the internet into the common marketplace for public use has been one of the great leaps in technology that changed our lives forever and totally revolutionized the way we live and do business. The benefits of the internet are akin to those that occurred with the invention of the telephone and discovery of electricity.
Changes in the Way We Do Business
Business owners interested in lowering their costs with the added benefit of reducing their destructive impact on the environment have turned to telecommuting and online collaboration as alternatives to staffing large offices and business travel. It takes having the most effective tools to use with the internet and an open mind. In a culture where doing business face-to-face has been the tradition, contemporary technology increases productivity and extends your influence to cover the globe.
There are times naturally when travelling to work or for business meetings are necessary and unavoidable. Meeting face-to-face with a client shows them that they are valuable enough to you to spend the time and money to meet them in person. This can be the foundation for a strong, long-term business relationship. It's where the old adage "the biggest business deals in the country are forged on the golf course" comes into play. Reality dictates that not many business owners have time to run to the golf course to strike up negotiations each time they are required.
There is good reason for you to rely on technology to communicate with your clients once you have established a good sense of camaraderie with your clients and business associates. It enables you to accomplish a great deal more in a day than you could if you were forced to travel each time you needed to have a meeting. It also allows you to spend the money for travel on other resources. Overall, using internet technology for business is much less costly.
Internet Tools for Collaboration
There are numerous internet services and applications available to support businesses.
IP phone technology uses the internet to make long distance calls anywhere in the world at a drastically reduced cost compared. Services such as Skype and Vonage offer flat rate packages for national and international calls. Skype calls from one subscriber to another Skype subscriber are virtually free. Both services offer conferencing. Skype provides video conferencing.
Video conferencing services offered by providers such as Polycom and Tandberg gives your business "telepresence" anywhere in the world around the clock, day or night. This technology gives you the option of communicating face-to-face in real time with business associates and clients in any location without leaving your office. These services are user-friendly with the capacity to serve up crystal clear sound and visuals.
Web conferencing uses the internet to conduct presentations and trainings in real time with each participant viewing the proceedings from his or her computer. This service permits interactive discussion by all participants either by telephone or with speakers or a headset connected to the computer. Some of the most reputable providers for this service are WebEx, GotoMeeting, Microsoft Communicator and ReadyTalk.
The internet has changed the face and the speed at which we do business. Instant sharing of information means that important action items don't wait around in a person's "in" or "out" box to be processed. The days of storing documents in dusty file drawers are over. There are numerous ways information can be shared in collaborative efforts that dramatically speeds up the "particle flow" throughout an organization. Google and Yahoo groups, Google Docs, Microsoft Office Online and 4shared.com are free services that allow multiple users to view and edit common documents. Companies can also offer information sharing by creating a company "wiki."
Instant communication through free instant messaging and chat services means that there never needs to be a delay in a communication. Business conversations can happen spontaneously through applications such as Skype, Gmail chat, AOL Instant Messaging (AIM) and Microsoft Instant Messenger (IM).
Telecommuting Reduces Costs
Imagine how much less impact we have on the environment simply by establishing telecommuting positions for company employees. In the last year alone in the range of 14 million tons of carbon emissions simply did not happen because more people stayed home to work and did not drive their cars to the office. Motor vehicles are one of the greatest sources for environmental pollution and when there are less of them on the road the air quality is better, not to mention the quality of the roads and highways that are now travelled less frequently and need less repair.
Typically when businesses face the costs of expansion the biggest expense is the actual real estate and office space required, followed by the ongoing overhead costs of maintaining the space. By using "teleworkers", a company can expand without nearly the same cost. More employees can be added to the roster without building new workstations. The money that would have been spent can go into areas that require more attention.
People that work from home love it because it gives them the flexibility they could never have while travelling to an office each day. Happier employees lead to higher employee retention. For a business owner this equates to increased productivity from their staff because they know their posts thoroughly, and they take less sick leave. They have the time they need for their families and other personal activities. They no longer have to rush out the door and face the horrors of rush hour traffic. The cost of training new staff members decreases. When they sit down to do their work, their focus and quality of production is typically higher.
Telecommuters generally have a higher moral than their coworkers travelling to work daily. They have the opportunity to work from any location as long as they have the required telephone and internet service. They are more motivated to do a better job and to keep their job.
"No Holds Barred" for Doing Business
Keep in mind that many of these internet business tools and managed IT services can be used with mobile devices such as "iPhones" so that everyone that matters can be connected and updated at all times. Business is no longer limited to "9 to 5" work hours or to specific locations. The internet allows us to conduct business and stay in contact with the people that count when it matters the most.
Adam Rippon co-founded Australia's Sydney Technology Solutions specializing in managed IT services to ensure you achieve your business goals.
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