5 Benefits of Online Workspaces

Communicating and working online is not a novelty anymore, especially to people whose businesses require collaboration of the employees, communication with clients and managing a number of projects at the same time.

As the years go by, this area has seen development and improvement providing users with efficient tools, customer support, safe file storage and data availability in the mode which makes time and space irrelevant.

Market for online collaborative workspaces is growing by the day, as these have proven to be irreplaceable in business, regardless of the industry or production area. Once you establish which online workspace is the best for your business, maybe you would like to know what their key benefits are.

1. Improvement of the work quality, efficiency and productivity

 A good collaborative tool makes meetings effective, creative, easier to set up and organize. How? By eliminating geographic barriers; enabling meeting attendance from home, office or even while traveling – all thanks to the advanced online collaborative workspaces and integrated device support. Some other major advantages are availability, organization and easy document sharing. Files required for specific meeting or project can be organized so as to be easily accessible and reached. File sharing is fast, it usually takes one click, and required files are available to all participants at any desired time.

2. Cost saving

The cost of the software is related to the pricing plan that you choose. Depending on the needs of your company, you can work from free accounts, those that are available at $4 or $12 a month to those reaching $22,000 annually. One of the advantages of online workspaces is the opportunity to change the plan you opted for according to the users, clients or number of projects you expect to have in the following months. In this way, you are managing you budget in the most efficient way.

In the long run, you are increasing productivity along with paying attention to budget. A nine months study shows that those working from home work 9.5% longer and that they are 13% more productive. This increased productivity is achieved by the shorter time needed for meetings, obtaining documentation, communicating and collaborating with colleagues, other employees, customers or clients. Budget wise, you can forget about travel costs and office overheads.

3. Knowledge sharing

Online workspaces mean that knowledge is not just available but reachable. Internet has become a home to databases which store the precious information and make them available to others. Tally Fox has developed one such database in the form of a knowledge network with integrated content, project and knowledge management, unlimited workspace and sub domains. Open-core platform allows experts from different fields to connect and exchange knowledge and experience. What is the contribution of this product? The answer is power. Knowledge is power, and knowledge is the number one resource here.

An example of one such knowledge network is Water Network which gathers water professionals. The great benefit is that professionals can exchange ideas and solutions directly regarding the water crisis. It is not an underestimation that this advanced platform represents a major contribution to the preservation of our planet.

4. Data safety

Most of online workspaces are a safe place to store any type of data from various types of risk. Whether that is destruction of the hard drive, software or theft of your computer, you do not lose any of the valuable data. How does it work? Since everything is stored on the cloud, as in the case of the above mentioned Tally Fox’s Knowledge Network, the data can be accessed no matter what happens to hardware. Also, business secrets can be protected with true end-to-end encryption as it the case with Stackfield for example.

5. Eco-friendliness

Companies that use collaborative software are “green” and environmentally friendly organizations. How is this achieved?

When comparing cloud computing and on-site servers, the conclusion that is reached is that cloud computing reduces the carbon footprint and saves energy consumption by 30%. Also, taking into account that all or most of the documents are stored and distributed online, it is clear that paper usage is minimized.

Working from home, having meetings with colleagues, clients, and partners online or lowering dependence of business travel, helps in reducing emissions. In addition, cutting down on the use of transportation vehicles and fuel consumption plays a vital role in saving the environment.

Technology is developing rapidly serving to the purpose of making our lives easier and more prosperous, while aiming at improving productivity and efficiency. If we use the given tools in the right way, we can easily save time, money, and data; share skills and knowledge, and at the same time stay conscious about the environment as it is the world that we live in.

Online workspaces are not only virtual means to get the job done, but business environments that nurture collaboration, co-operation and knowledge sharing which are main characteristics of our daily lives.