The term “telecommuting” is not a new innovation, but in recent years, it has gained a lot of notice from office managers and supervisors who are looking to increase productivity in their workplaces. The ability to work remotely has become a reality for a lot of people over the last five years, simply due to the availability of remote work tools that aid in online collaboration. Over time, these applications and websites have stood up to constant use and reimagined themselves in order to be more relevant for the 21st century’s virtual workplace.
20 Game Changing Remote Work Tools
1. mIRC. In the pioneering days of the World Wide Web, mIRC was a chat interface developed to connect people with similar interests. Now it has been refreshed with a focus on setting up communication rooms on convenient servers, making it indispensable in some offices as a communication aid.
2. Google Hangouts. Developed to be a competitor and eventually a successor to the once-wildly-famous MSN Messenger, Google’s Hangouts app has gone a lot further than that by including utilities, such as shared whiteboard and multiple-user file sharing capabilities, which are useful for office communications and collaboration.
3. Skype. Video and voice conferencing is the boardroom of the new millennium, and Skype is the application that makes this a reality. Microsoft acquired Skype and the application has taken advantage of the new ownership to incorporate some useful features for communication.
4. Join.me. A simple application developed for web meetings, its screen sharing functionality is useful, especially in industries where sharing a screen is important to getting the message across.
5. GoToMeeting. Another virtual meeting contender, GoToMeeting allows meeting administrators to record meetings and even allows the users to have their own personalized URL for a meeting page.
6. Basecamp. If the virtual world has an app for setting up a jumping-off point, Basecamp is it. It’s a simple, streamlined project manager that even office workers may find useful.
7. Trello. This clean and handy project management application breaks down tasks into project boards and keeps everyone associated with a particular project on the same page. It’s part communication, part project management.
8. Confluence. Built around the team dynamic, Confluence is less of a project management suite and more of a group management utility. The searchability of the documents present on Confluence makes it much easier for people within a group to find what they’re looking for.
9. Squiggle. Online it’s difficult to build a rapport or create a teambuilding dynamic with employees. Sqwiggle makes remote interactions more personal and personable. This application can increase the team’s camaraderie by seeing others’ faces when speaking to them.
10. Sameroom. Getting employees of a company to decide to use a particular messaging client can be a difficult task. Sameroom links users of different clients together to send messages across platforms.
11. Google Drive. Another collaboration entry from Google, its functionality includes the popular Google Docs as well as other applications that allow users for the sharing of multiple documents, spreadsheets, presentations and projects across a number of people all working on the same project, keeping all versions in sync once a connection is present.
12. Dropbox. One of the first companies to deal with a synced share zone, Dropbox offers solutions for teams that may not always be around at the same time or in the same location.
13. Harvest. Office expenses can get out of hand unless they’re tracked. This no-frills tool does that without any overhead.
14. iDoneThis. Despite the poor grammar of the app’s name, iDoneThis is a useful tool for teams that work remotely and have problems keeping track of who did what on the project. It even helps individuals to remember what they’ve implemented already.
15. Sandglaz. Sometimes the sheer amount of time needed to learn a project management software makes it unpalatable for a manager. Sandglaz takes care of that by providing tools every manager needs in a simple and intuitive interface.
16. Cloud9. Coders are some of the most common types of telecommuters, because their jobs can be done anywhere they may have a PC present. Cloud9 is a code development utility that comes with an editor and an Ubuntu-based workplace that sits snugly within the cloud.
17. Draft. Writers often have a hard time collaborating with other writers because of interface problems. Draft allows for writers to collaborate seamlessly, and is a good tool for use with other virtual offices for multiple people to work on the same document.
18. Hackpad. Real-time collaboration tools are few, but Hackpad has been gaining visibility, thanks to its widespread use on Twitter. Real-time updates on a document can be very important to some teams and Hackpad is the most commonly known solution out there currently.
19. Evernote. Sticky notes will always have a place within the office. For the virtual office space, however, Evernote is a better solution. With the ability to be synced across multiple devices, as well as saving photos and articles for easy sharing, this piece of software can quickly become indispensable to teams that work remotely.
20. Meldium. Team password management can be difficult, but Meldium offers a method of keeping passwords safe within a group so that the members have easy access to functions and websites as the need arises.
These twenty apps are by no means the only ones that contribute to having well-meshed virtual office teams, but they help keep everyone on the same page. Thrive Internet Marketing helps companies increase their online presence. Contact us today to see how your business can be an online force.
