Monday, April 19, 2021 |
For now, it feels like remote working is here to stay, with most employees and business owners having had a taste of harnessing the power of the internet to network virtually. Along with online meetings and conferences, come a whole new vocabulary, social etiquette and of course tools and gadgets!
In this handy guide, we will equip you with 6 of the tech worlds best tools for making a success of any online meetings. If you are all Zoomed out, we are going to look at other software and apps that do a great job of helping a team communicate and stay productive in an online meeting. Most of this software is free with subscription costs only for larger numbers of users or enterprise use.
1. Swytch
If you are transitioning to online teamwork, the VoIP smartphone app Swytch allows you to create your own virtual switchboard with no need for the traditional office phone. This trending app is the brainchild of British telecommunications entrepreneur Chris Michael. The entire team can be equipped with office landline phone numbers that can be ported to their personal phone, meaning no mix up with calls and alerts, Better still the dashboard function means that calls can be transferred to another team members phone can take a colleagues calls if they are out of office.
2. DropBox
Creatives, entrepreneurs and other people who need to move large files during online meetings still rely on DropBox to do the heavy lifting when it comes to file transfer. DropBox definitely takes the strain off sending files through your virtual meeting platform and has superior security and speed, making it a great tool for collaborative projects online. This cloud-based file storage means that you can be meeting ready anywhere in the world, with the documents you need to hand instantly.
3. Google Workspace
Google Workspace provides an outstanding range of business, collaboration and productivity apps that are not only accessible anywhere but are also free! As so many people are already using Gmail or GoogleMeet it makes sense to get everyone using other apps like docs and sheets that may be advantageous to your shared objectives. It is fully compatible with Microsoft Office programmes like Word or PowerPoint and you have the option of securely sharing documents and folders via secure web links.
4. Slack
If remote working feels like one long email thread, this market-leading multimedia and productivity tool will soon have everyone singing from the same hymnsheet. Slack can be used on computers or via a smartphone app on the go and allows team members to message each other and share documents, videos using a range of excellent software integrations. Die-hard users report that Slack completely wipes out the need for internal email and communications that are fully searchable meaning that everyone can be kept up to speed.
5. FaceTime
FaceTime is proving the popular choice for video chatting via Apple iPhones, iPads, Macbooks and desktops. It is a decent app for self-employed contractors who need a relaxed video communication tool for one-to-one meetings that is easy to use when on the move. FaceTime delivers great connectivity and visuals, meaning you can be confident and clear in your meeting.
6. Samepage
Samepage makes collaborative working and virtual meetings easy as meeting participants can join and contribute to a real-time feed that pulls the threads of ideas, brainstorming images and decision making into a shared contemporaneous record. Workflows can be managed using Samepage on either a computer, laptop or smartphone, making it easy to keep up with what is going on in your team. Samepage has its own Team Chat functionality that can also be integrated into the feeds for future reference.
Rounding up
We hope that you will find this selection of solutions for virtual meetings useful. It can be difficult to keep up with the pace of remote working but handy apps and project management tools like these help to keep everyone in the loop.