Boston takes top spot in survey ranking best cities for remote working

Most of us are constantly moving.

Dropping off the kids at daycare.

Picking up dry cleaning.

Mowing the lawn.

Getting the car fixed.

The action never stops.

And in the midst of our daily activity, we have to find time to work. In a kinetic business atmosphere, it is necessary to operate from multiple locations while maintaining productivity levels and low business costs that jive with company goals.

Sound daunting? It shouldn’t.

A formal remote working policy combined with the right technologies, tools and training can help your employees stay connected and productive, and even lower your business expenses. 

In fact, Microsoft recently commissioned a survey of 36 U.S. cities, including Boston, to learn how information workers currently use remote-working technologies. We also wanted to identify areas of opportunity where business leaders could capitalize on remote working with the right technology tools.

It’s pretty cool that Boston ranked #1 as the city that is most supportive of remote working. According to the survey, more than half (52 percent) of Boston respondents already take advantage of a remote working policy, and 68 percent of respondents felt their productivity levels actually increase when working outside of the office.

If you’re thinking about implementing a remote working policy, consider Unified communications (UC) to get you started. UC combines experiences associated with the telephone, such as calls, voice mail, and conferencing, with the work done on a computer, and makes them available from any device. For example, a voice mail from a client on your cell phone can be sent directly to your computer as an e-mail. A simple IM chat can quickly turn into a live video conference with a few clicks of a mouse. Unified communications technologies can help keep your employees connected, productive, and also reduce costs associated with travel, telecom, and IT by 10-30 percent. For example, a Microsoft white paper outlines potential travel cost savings of $913 per employee with unified communications.

Check it out for yourself. The Microsoft Unified Communications Cost Savings Calculator can show how much money your business can save.