3CX Is a software based, IP telephone system designed to give businesses more flexibility in deployment, reduce costs and improve your telecoms environment.
3CX Has become a global brand, representing VoIP telephony for years, at the forefront of features and benefits for it’s users. One of those features is working from home (often called flexible working).
The need for home working has never been more profound, after the pandemic the need skyrocketed, and businesses were forced to adapt. 3CX offers your business the opportunity to setup home workers at no extra cost.
Working From Home with 3CX
If you have a 3CX phone system, working from home is very straightforward. There are three main options you have for 3CX home working—which are:
- Having a desk phone at home
- Using the 3CX mobile app
- Using the 3CX desktop app
Each of these three methods for home working come with their own set of benefits, so understanding which is best for your business is important.
Its no secret that the global COVID-19 pandemic has forced home working onto many businesses, including those that typically may not have utilised such a flexible setups.
With the need to be adaptable, businesses are now moving their telephony to cloud and VoIP solutions (such as 3CX), which offer built-in home working. Even businesses that operate in an office environment like having the redundancy that comes with a VoIP solution.
How does 3CX Home Working Work?
The beauty of 3CX is that all you need to work from home is a stable broadband connection. Because 3CX uses voice over IP, you can utilise your home broadband connection for voice calls as well as general data traffic.
Most of the time, a standard home broadband line (usually fibre to the cabinet) is more than capable of sustaining 1 or 2 home workers using 3CX. Perfect businesses that want to give users the choice whether or not to work from home, or for those emergency occasions where working from home is a necessity.
Features of Working From Home with 3CX
Many people think that working from home means sacrificing on efficiency, and limiting the features available to workers on their phones. Simple features such as call transferring and holding make the world of difference for home users.
With a 3CX phone system, you can seamlessly pass calls from user to user, even if they’re working from home. Callers won’t know any difference and still get a great experience when being transferred.
Other features of home working with 3CX include:
- Video calling and conferences
- Instant messaging and group chats between colleagues
- Call conferencing
- File transferring
- And more
Working From Home Using a Deskphone
We often find that users working from home on a more permanent basis use a desk phone. Some users find that having a permanent, physical phone on your desk is easier than a softphone, particularly for main call handlers, telesales and those who utilise their phone frequently throughout the day.
With 3CX, users can take their desk phone home and connect it to their home broadband. Some of our desk phones (such as some Yealinks) even come with WiFi capabilities, so you don’t need to worry about cables or CAT5 points in a home office—you can connect seamlessly to your home WiFi network.
A slight drawback of using a desk phone for home working is the lack of ‘flexibility’. It does limit you to one specific area when making calls, and if users are part-time in the office, they may require a separate desk phone for both locations, which can increase rollout cost. However, there is a solution…
Working From Home Using 3CX Mobile App
A more flexible way of working from home with 3CX is using the 3CX mobile app. Everyone has a mobile phone, and some people even have one for work and one for personal.
Having the 3CX mobile app on your phone allows you to make and receive calls from anywhere in the world, as long as you have a stable internet connection. The app is available for iOS and Android devices.
The great benefit is that the mobile app doesn’t use your voice tariff in your mobile phone—just an internet connection (for most users working from home, this is their home WiFi connection). The app also enables features such as:
- Seamless call transferring between users
- Call controls such as holding, forwarding and more
- The ability to set your status such as “available” or “in a meeting”
- Dial out and receive calls from your extension or DDi
- Get a visual voicemail
- Instant message and chat with colleagues
- And more
Some users prefer the 3CX mobile app over the desk phone, as it provides greater freedom, with the ability to wonder around the house, take calls in the car or even work while abroad.
We also find that users often prefer to talk on a mobile than on a deskphone or using a headset plugged into a computer—it feels more natural to some.
The 3CX mobile app is one of the most popular mediums for home working, but the good thing is you don’t have to make a choice—3CX allows you to use all three (desk phone, mobile and desktop) at once or interchangeably—all synchronising together.
Working From Home Using 3CX Desktop App
Using your laptop or desktop computer, you can make and receive calls as though you’re in the office. The 3CX desktop app offers the same feature set as the mobile app, with call controls, messaging and more all built right in.
The 3CX desktop app is (usually) the most cost-effective way of working from home, because most staff members already have a work computer or laptop they use when working from home—so your business can reduce the capital expenditure on equipment.
The beauty of the 3CX desktop app is that it requires little to no installation or setup, just download the app and put your login details in to get going. You can use your computers built-in speakers and microphone for voice/audio, but most people opt for a headset with a microphone (available in bulk from our wholesale team).
Another great benefit of the 3CX desktop app is the integration it offers with some of the most popular CRM softwares, including Salesforce, ZoHo, Microsoft Teams and more. Features such as screen popping allow you to see which customer is calling before you answer the phone, and browse their CRM record for important details pre-call.
The 3CX desktop app can be taken anywhere, as long as your computer has an internet connection and is available for both Windows and Mac computers.
An even simpler alternative to the 3CX desktop app is the 3CX web client, which uses your web browser, such as Chrome, Edge or Safari, to make and receive calls. This isn’t quite as feature-rich or as stable as the dedicated 3CX app, but does still provide the features and call quality you’d expect from a 3CX phone system.
Next Steps
If you’re in the market to upgrade your telephone system, and you need one that enables home working, then look no further than 3CX. It comes with every feature you’ll ever need for seamless home working—and callers won’t know the difference.
To find out more about 3CX, speak with one of our in-house experts on 03331 301 021 or click the ‘online quote’ at the top of the browser.
