FreedomVOICE has developed a powerful tool to manage telecommuting with their FreedomIQ VOIP hosted PBX. Telecommuting employees are highly mobile, working from home offices, remote work sites, or while traveling. With FreedomIQ Follow-Me-Live call forwarding, incoming phone calls can reach the employee no matter where they are or what type of phone they are using. Since a VOIP hosted PBX uses the internet to transmit calls, the reach of FreedomIQ is not limited to in-office call transfer like a hardwired PBX.

Telecommuting helps recruit and retain valuable workers. According to a survey conducted by LifeCare, one of the largest privately owned employee benefits organizations in the U.S., flexible work arrangements mattered more to personnel than health care. Robert Half International asked CFOs what incentive was the most effective in attracting top accounting candidates. Telecommuting was listed as the top incentive by a surprising 33% of respondents.

According to officials at FreedomVOICE Systems, telecommuting can also increase efficiency in the hiring process. Recently they created two listings on Monster.com that offered nearly identical technical support positions. One was available nationally via telecommuting, while the other was an office position requiring workers to live within commute distance. They report that the telecommuting listing received over 1,300 views, more than ten times as many as the regional listing. Consequently, the telecommuting listing generated nearly five times as many qualified respondents. Telecommuting respondents had a significantly higher level of education on average, yet their desired annual wage was approximately 11% lower than those applying for the regional position.

According to the General Service Administration, a single worker saves his employer as much as $5,000 a year just by telecommuting. Less money is spent on workstations, maintenance, utilities bills, common office space and insurance.

Despite telecommuting’s attractiveness (including tax incentives in many states), many employers worry about the efficiency of their out-of-sight employees. Christopher Hayes and Chris Lounder of Cruise Adventure Travel shared this concern.

Using the FreedomIQ WebLINK Internet Control Panel, Hayes and Lounder can listen in on live telephone calls to train remote employees. FreedomIQ service also includes 24/7 on-demand teleconferencing, allowing employers to ensure quality control, keep workers on task, and decrease the sense of isolation felt by some telecommuters.

FreedomIQ allows employers to manage by results, as well. With the click of a button, an employer can generate reports detailing:

• Login times
• Answered and missed calls
• Average and total time on calls
• Number of calls received in a date range
• Duration of calls to specific numbers

While telecommuting with a VOIP hosted PBX has many advantages, an ever-shifting business environment may force the alteration of work arrangements. An employee who normally works at a remote location may need to work for an extended period in the business office or vice versa. The extreme scalability of FreedomIQ gives businesses the freedom to adapt at a low cost. Unlike the additional hardware and expensive wiring of scaling up an office-based PBX system, employers can instantly add or subtract new features and phone stations for their FreedomIQ service.