With the increasing spread and mounting deaths caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak across the world, Google has made efforts to make it easier for you to work remotely.
The coronavirus which originated late last year in Wuhan, China has spread to over 73 countries including Nigeria. It has infected over 90,000 people and caused over 3,000 deaths.
The spread of the virus has taken a huge toll on the global economy including the Tech Space. Many companies with major operations in China have shut down such operations.
Many tech events have also been canceled as have been many sport events like football matches etc. The virus spreads essentially through body fluid. Therefore, a large gathering of people presents a healthy avenue for it to spread.
Suggested reads: Amidst Coronavirus Fears, Here Are Major Global Events That Have Been Cancelled in 2020
With fears about the virus growing, more companies and businesses are placing travel bans on employees and opting for their workers to work remotely from home.
In order, to help fight the spread of the virus, Google has offered the premium features of its Google Hangouts Meet application free to all its users. This is to make it easier for everyone to work from home until the virus can be controlled.
However, Google Hangouts Meet is not the only resource that can help when working remotely. Here are 5 apps including Hangouts Meet that can help you work easier from home.
Google Hangouts Meet
When you need to explain something to a colleague while working remotely, there are times when sending messages can be laborious. A video call while screen sharing is a better alternative that makes work easier.
Google Hangouts is one of the best tools for video meetings. This is particularly because it also allows calls to people without Google accounts. The app makes it easy to have video conversations with a colleague as well as conduct group meetings. It can also integrate with Google Calendar to make scheduling calls easy.
Remote work is becoming popular in Nigeria. About 30% of Nigeria’s I.T companies and other firms work remotely. With this current virus outbreak, it has become more important to work from home.
Google Hangouts Meet can make it possible for businesses to still operate optimally while working remotely. With Google making the premium features of the app free, users can now have up to 250 participants per call, live streaming for up to 100,000 viewers within a domain, and the ability to record meetings and save them to Google Drive.
The app also allows screen sharing that makes it easier to pass instructions, discuss results, and give or get feedback in realtime. The premium feature will be available until the first of July.
Mail Bird
Email is one of the most basic features that help a business run smoothly. However, it can be one of the most notorious killers of productivity. Luckily, there are apps that tame email interruption and turn it into an asset.
Mailbird is one of the best email apps for increasing productivity. It allows inbox personalization with custom layouts and sidebar themes. With rich features like smart notification which only allows notifications for the emails that really matter, it can make remote working more productive.
It also has automated scrolling for speed readers and integration options with popular productivity apps such as Asana and Slack.
Slack
As reliable as email is for communicating between colleagues, there are several benefits to having a dedicated virtual workspace when working remotely.
Slack is one popular workspace solution that has proven to be efficient for team communication. It has a variety of collaboration-oriented features. One such feature is the channels feature which allows the creation of platforms for different purposes. This makes Slack a good addition when working remotely.
It also allows the connection of various tools and apps.
Strict Workflow
When working remotely especially from home, there can be several distractions. Strick Workflow is a browser extension that blocks distracting websites such as social media. It also displays a reminder of what you should be doing if you try to access such distracting platforms.
Numerous studies show that multitasking kills productivity and Strict workflow allows you to stay on track with the task at hand. The extension has distraction-free sessions where you work for like 25-minute sessions. There are also regular 5 minutes breaks to maximise productivity.
It also has a session timer that shows the time left to complete tasks and tells you to take a break at the end of each session.
Chrome Remote Desktop
This particular app will come in handy to people that make use of desktop systems in the office and can’t take it home. Chrome Remote Desktop is an application that allows you to access your computer securely from your phone, tablet or another computer.
This means that no matter where your device is, you can have access to it without worrying about any security risks. Apart from remote access, it allows a team member to provide support by accessing your device from their location.
It also has a remote support feature that aids collaboration by allowing you to share your screen with colleagues.
There is a chrome extension to give you faster access. However, you can access your computer by typing in an access URL into a web browser or download the mobile app for iOS and Andriod.
So, there you have it, 5 apps that can make it easier for you to work remotely.
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