In the past decade, technology innovation has been one of the main catalysts for change in the way that we work. Tools like email, instant messaging, Skype, productivity and task management systems are making it easier than ever to stay connected (and focused) outside of the office – whether you’re at home, a coffee shop, or in a plane, train or automobile.
According to one estimate by the American Community Survey, telecommuting has risen 79 percent between 2005 and 2012 and now makes up 2.6 percent of the American work force, or 3.2 million workers. Two+ years later, you can imagine how much this has increased.
The Challenges of Remote Work
Despite this new found freedom, it isn’t all cupcakes and roses for remote workers. Sure they don’t have to waste precious time commuting or need to wear a tie everyday, but there’s also no proverbial water cooler to hang around with colleagues. The biggest challenge companies face today is ensuring clear communication between teams that are increasingly flexible, remotely distributed and global.
You may be wondering, doesn’t Skype solve this problem? Yes and no. Sure it enables colleagues to connect easily through video conferencing, but within a silo. The future of remote workforce technology lies in collaborative tools that integrate video or voice conferencing directly within their application. That means colleagues can communicate in context – whether they are working on a presentation together, evaluating the latest sales pipeline, or conducting their daily scrum meeting.
Enter ConceptBoard.
ConceptBoard offers an online workspace and collaboration tool that enables colleagues to connect with one another in real-time through OpenTok-powered video and voice, directly within the context of their work. This enhancement replicates a more natural work and communication flow.
ConceptBoard enables you to drag and drop files from the web or your computer onto a board to layout your ideas. You can also copy content from other desktop applications such as Powerpoint or Photoshop. Getting your colleagues involved is easy – each board has a distinct URL which can be shared however you like.
ConceptBoard is free to try so take it for a spin with your team. To help get users start off on the right foot, they’ve pulled together this handy best practices guide for video conferencing.
