Although the introduction of telecommuting has been promoted as part of work style reform for several years, there have been many issues with equipment and security, and only a few companies have been able to implement it.

However, in 2020, as a countermeasure against the new coronavirus infection, there was a call to reduce the number of people working at home, and telecommuting will expand at once.

However, at this time, it was an emergency response, and there were many cases where we were forced to enter telework without sufficient preparation, and there was an aspect that it was inevitable that work could not go on as usual.

However, in order to continue telework even after the infection situation has calmed down, it is necessary to maintain the same productivity even when working from home as when working in the office.

In this article, we will introduce how to solve the problem of answering the phone that cannot be avoided when working from home.

The biggest barrier to introducing telework “fixed phone support”

In Japanese companies, it was common to use a main phone number for each department when communicating with people outside the company.

Since it is not a dial-in method , an employee who is free to answer the call and transfer it to the person in charge .

Even if the person in charge has a mobile phone number on their business card, there is a tendency to call the company first, so the number of calls to the company does not decrease.

The issue that emerged when working from home was introduced was “what to do with the company’s phone calls.”

Challenges for promoting telecommuting

If the number of telecommuters increases, it is only natural that if the number of telecommuters increases, business will not run smoothly if the fixed-line telephone service is prioritized.

Let’s take a look at the issues that are blocking the promotion of telecommuting.

Coming to work for the phone number

As long as you use your landline phone as your main, you can’t leave your office completely empty.

Even if you introduce telecommuting, someone will always have to come to the office and answer the phone.

In addition, since we are working with a smaller number of people than usual, there is a possibility that you will not be able to work because you will be busy answering the phone on the day you come to work.

Increased staff absenteeism

When there are fewer people in the office due to telecommuting, there is a situation where the person in charge is almost absent and the call cannot be answered immediately .

If you are not available, it takes time to receive messages and return calls, which increases the burden on the person who responds.

If it is difficult to find a person in charge, it may lead to customer dissatisfaction, saying, “There is no person in charge at that company.”

Feeling unfair due to work location

Depending on the nature of the work, it is inevitable that some people will be able to work from home and others will not.

However, since only those who come to the office can handle landline calls, you will have to answer the phone for those who work from home.

On the other hand, telecommuters cannot respond immediately when they receive a phone call addressed to them.

Since the means of communication with other members are also limited, considerable ingenuity is required to achieve the same work efficiency as in the office.

Proposal for improving telephone response in a telework environment

When working from home, there are problems such as the burden on the person answering the phone is too heavy, and the person in charge is not in the office, so it takes time to get through.

The following methods are effective in resolving these issues.

• Use non-landline contact methods
• Make it possible to answer the phone while working from home

We will explain in detail from the next chapter.

use mobile phone

The first way to do phone work while working from home is to use your current mobile phone.

You can’t receive phone calls to the company directly, but you can receive calls from the company and make calls from here.

However, if you use your own mobile phone, you will be charged for the phone bill, and some people may be reluctant to let their business partners know their private number .

The company pays for the charges, and there are the following methods of using a mobile phone without knowing your personal mobile phone number.

mobile phone provided by company

If you have a mobile phone provided by your company, you can of course use it during telework.

If you tell them to call you on your mobile instead of the office in the future, you can be sure that your customers will call you when you work from home.

If you don’t lend mobile phones to everyone, you can prepare a shared mobile phone assuming that you work from home, and take it home with you when you telework.

Using a number-specific service

If the business use of personally owned devices (BYOD) is allowed, you can use your personal smartphone, but there is a problem that you will be charged and your number will be notified.

Therefore, it is recommended to use a service that assigns different numbers to individual mobile phones .

For example, there is a service called “Mobile Choice “050”” for business use, and if you install a dedicated application, you will be able to make and receive calls using the 050 number assigned for business use.

If you make a call from the app, you can rest assured that your mobile phone number will not be notified to the other party.

You don’t have to worry about call charges because the charges are also billed to the company in one lump sum .

How to receive company calls while working from home

Even if we try to contact the person in charge directly on their cell phones, it is difficult to abolish fixed phone numbers because they have been in use for a long time and are widely used.

If you want to promote telecommuting, but still have to deal with landlines, there is also a service that allows you to receive company calls on your mobile phone .

Use a call forwarding service

This service automatically forwards incoming calls to a registered number.

If you set up call forwarding from your company’s landline to your cell phone, you can take calls even when you work from home.

Your carrier offers it as an option, so first check with your carrier.

However, please note that call charges will be incurred even for incoming calls, as call charges will be incurred from the transfer source to the transfer destination .

Deploy a cloud PBX

Cloud PBX is a switchboard that is placed on the cloud so that it can be used via the Internet.

If you install the app on your smartphone, you will be able to use extension calls and transfers like business phones.

You can answer company calls from anywhere as if you bring your business phone from your desk, and you can also transfer extensions, so you can answer calls even when working from home in the same way as in the office.

In addition, since extension calls do not incur telephone charges, cost performance can be reduced.

“Canario” Leaves telecommuting phone calls to AI

There is a way to respond to the company’s landline even if you work from home.

Using these services will make the promotion of telework even more realistic.

Furthermore, if you ask me, wouldn’t it be best if I could reduce the burden of intermediary work in a telework environment?

In the call forwarding service “Canario” provided by NEC Networks & System Integration, AI performs the primary response to company calls.

Since the name of the person in charge is recognized by voice and automatically forwarded to the mobile phone, there is no need for employees to intercede or forward.

Even if you can’t answer the phone, you can rest assured that it will accept messages and send texts.

summary

Here’s how to answer the phone while working from home.

There is also a way to receive landline calls, which is the biggest problem, on mobile phones.

With these methods, you don’t have to go to work just to get a phone number.

Using AI-enabled “Canario” eliminates the need for employees to handle primary phone calls and take over calls, improving work efficiency when working from home.

Please try “Canario” to realize a new way of working.