Is your workplace going hybrid? How to equip it for success

Dave Rotella, owner and CEO of DANIMA Creative Group, considers himself ‘old school’—he always preferred his six-person team to work from the office. Staff at his digital branding and marketing company, based in Niagara Falls, Ont., enjoyed their workdays together, doing their coffee runs and regularly sharing pizza lunches.

Then, when the entire team headed home to work in spring 2020—Rotella suddenly saw the value in hybrid and remote work.

“The work was being done well remotely,” he says. “We were getting everything done and I started to see the future being this.”

But first things first: Rotella had to deal with some cumbersome technical issues. While staff could, in theory, check their voicemail from home, it was an annoying process that entailed calling in and pressing numerous buttons. Rotella, who frequently visited the office alone, simply did the task for them, emailing or calling their cell phones to pass on messages. “It was a real pain,” he says.

Within weeks he was on the hunt for a new telephone system. Cogeco, his existing telephone and Internet provider, explained it could easily install a Hosted PBX system, which is a voice-over Internet phone service that uses cloud-based technology to allow users to connect from any location and on any device. Cogeco also recommended DAMINA upgrade to Business UltraFibre 120, an ultra-fast, high-speed Internet service that would support the PBX system and the company’s virtual private network (VPN), which staff log into when accessing files from home.

“It was taken care of in a weekend,” says Rotella, who increasingly needed this kind of robust, cloud-based system as some of his staff relocated and he hired new people who didn’t live in the Niagara Region. His team now spans the country and the globe—and he downsized from two offices to one small space. “We will continue to be a remote business,” he says.

Remote is here to stay

“Because of the pandemic, businesses had to change the way they work. Many more people are working remotely,” says Jessica Rupcich, a Windsor-based account executive in commercial sales with telecommunications company Cogeco.

Many of her clients were in a similar situation to Rotella—having moved to remote work in early 2020, and now planning to maintain a hybrid workplace long-term.

Studies show this new approach to work is widespread. A 2020 PwC Canada survey found that while 82 per cent of employees used to work primarily at an external workplace, that dropped to 27 per cent during the pandemic. Plus, 64 per cent of employees working remotely said either they wouldn’t be comfortable or weren’t sure they’d be comfortable returning soon to the workplace.

Meanwhile, the Deloitte Global Millennial Survey 2020 found that 61 per cent of people from that generation and 57 per cent of those from Generation Z prefer video conferencing over commuting to work.

The value of Hosted PBX

With the Hosted PBX phone system and Unified Communications package, users can receive and track their calls from anywhere. While keeping the same business extension, they simply work off a smartphone app to collect voicemails, route calls to their cell or tap into a wide range of functions—such as having calls go to the main switchboard after a set number of rings, voicemail and call waiting. The Hosted PBX system comes with 40 different calling features.

Some features are set by the individual users from their own app, while others are companywide. Rupcich says the Auto Attendant is among the most popular features. It helps callers find the right extension when they call the company, guiding them to the appropriate person without the intervention of a real-life receptionist.

The system also features an audio-conferencing tool with unlimited attendees and a video-conferencing function as well.

Security is a priority with Cogeco’s Hosted PBX. “What’s different with this solution is that we use a private fibre network that’s proactively monitored,” Rupcich advises. “Others use the public Internet to traverse their voice and data traffic.”

Going UltraFibre

Cogeco’s quick and reliable Business Internet UltraFibre packages allow companies to both host the PBX system, power other systems such as an intranet or VPN, and offer employees access to ultra-fast high-speed Internet while they’re in the office.

Packages range from 80 Mbps to 1Gig, offering varied choices to suit a company’s specific size and Internet requirements.

“Whatever your needs are, we’ve got a solution to fit it,” Rupcich says. “I always tell my clients we have different speeds to suit different needs.”

UltraFibre 80 can support video conferencing and the sharing of large files for businesses with more than five users. The bundle of Hosted PBX and Business Internet UltraFibre 80 starts at just $99.95 a month.

A supported system

Both the Hosted PBX and UltraFibre systems can be easily reconfigured through a web portal by whomever takes care of a business’s IT needs—it’s so simple, companies don’t need a full IT department to run it. “If you’re inclined to make changes yourself, we give you access to a self-serve portal,” says Rupcich. “A lot of clients like this. They log on, change extensions, change names.”

In addition, every Cogeco client has access to an account executive who can do small changes if they don’t want to, or problem-solve any larger concerns or changes. “They oversee everything, they’re a single point of contact for all questions and inquiries,” says Rupcich.

Rotella and his team now easily access their voice messages and their work files. He particularly likes how he knows when a work call is coming in from his cellphone, versus a private one, so he can answer professionally. He’s kept up with his busy company while on vacation and visiting family.

“I never miss anything,” he says. “I can be anywhere at any time.”

Learn more about working from any location with Cogeco’s Hosted PBX and Business Internet UF80 bundled offer starting at $99.95 per month.

Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio with Cogeco. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.