How your office space affects your employer brand

Ensuring robust and high-quality connectivity is a mission critical part of setting up a new office, with more businesses digitising processes and creating new communication channels for interaction and collaboration between employees, clients and stakeholders. Companies are adapting to address the tech-savvy millennial demographic, with the next influx expected from the hyper-connected generation Z. These digital natives need seamless connectivity to work productively, as they expect a greater degree of freedom and flexibility to work remotely, use devices and run the latest applications.

Ensuring robust and high-quality connectivity is a mission critical part of setting up a new office, with more businesses digitising processes and creating new communication channels for interaction and collaboration between employees, clients and stakeholders. Companies are adapting to address the tech-savvy millennial demographic, with the next influx expected from the hyper-connected generation Z. These digital natives need seamless connectivity to work productively, as they expect a greater degree of freedom and flexibility to work remotely, use devices and run the latest applications.

So even before the floor plan is signed off, smart enterprises look for affordable, scalable and robust connectivity solutions that include internet, wireless telephony and mobility.

Internet

There are various internet connectivity options that cater to different requirements and budgets - phone-based connections (DSL), internet via cable, fiber optic connections (like some ILL connections), dedicated phone-line based connections and wireless internet, which could either Wi-Fi inside the office or mobile internet which transcends the walls of the office.

The size of the team and its approximate monthly usage are important factors in determining the type of connectivity to provide. A company that edits films or uses video conferencing and live-streaming regularly would naturally need higher bandwidth and capacity than a company that uses the net for e-mails and file backup at the end of the day.

Apart from traditional ‘web-surfing’, e-mails and file transfer, the internet is instrumental in enabling the way interactions occur within the organisation and beyond. Digital platforms that connect employees (including those working remotely) and office locations, often with suppliers and customers, need reliable and robust data connectivity for fast, easy collaboration.

Wireless Telephony

Earlier, availability of landline phone connections restricted the choice of office location, while license acquisition and installation delays could hold up opening of new offices. However, modern mobile telephony and GSM technology have provided businesses the ability to get up and running in just days.

Wireless EPABX technology is the perfect combination of a classic office switchboard with the flexibility and speed of mobile telephony, offering a reliable and efficient route for offices to get phone connectivity. The wireless EPABX can also offer value-added services, such as call auto-attendance and routing, extension selection, call forwarding, call waiting and voicemail. It also integrates seamlessly with other enterprise connectivity systems such as wireless data cards, Wi-Fi internet and cloud telephony solutions.

Mobility

A recent study has revealed that 74% of employees would change their cellular service provider signals were not sufficiently good inside their office: an indication of just how important mobile connectivity has become in offices.

VoIP and BYOD have proved to be game changers in liberating employees from the physical confines of the workplace, allowing them to be on the move even as they continue to stay in touch with the office and get their work done.

From a customer's perspective, it does not make a difference as to where the employee is located when he dials the office to speak to the employee. The call is automatically routed to the employee's mobile in his remote location, so business is always taken care ofModern connectivity systems are needed to mobilise a young workforce, improve the abilities of regional teams and create deeper relationships with customers and suppliers. To make matters even more simple businesses can access experts in technology and connectivity, such as Tata Tele Business Services, who have a complete suite of enterprise connectivity solutions to enable companies across sectors, sizes and geographies achieve seamless collaboration.