The number of home workers, or teleworkers, is expected to continue to increase in the coming years as companies adopt a more mobile work style. Videoconferencing plays a key role in this shift and, when done right, can provide your business with significant competitive advantage.

These five tips for teleworkers help your company keep a professional image regardless of where people are working…

• Office ambience. Consider office lighting, appearance and background. If possible, use a lot of natural bright lighting. Your home office should also be free of clutter.
• Personal appearance. How you look on screen is important, especially when conferencing with customers and partners. Good grooming and proper dress set the tone for a productive session.
• Video service. Skype and Facetime are simple and easy to use, but they aren’t ideal for every business call. You will want a scalable, high-performance platform that won’t hang during your conference or provide jerky, pixelated images.
• Collaboration features. Attending and leading video conferences are extremely important for large-scale projects. You will need an easy way to invite participants and the ability to share materials such as presentations, spreadsheets, documents and images.
• Bottom line benefits. Video conferencing from home isn’t only a convenience; it also reduces travel costs and business downtime. Done right, a professional on-camera presence portrays your company as a technology leader. People will be able to associate your ideas with a face and a personality — things a phone conference alone has always lacked.

Let Chesapeake help you set up a telework program that keeps you looking your best. You get immediate productivity and efficiency benefits, plus disaster protection when you need it. Contact us today at (800) 787-4848 or email jnolte@chesapeaketelephone.com.