Top remote working tools for businesses in Middle East
With lockdowns in most countries in the region (rightly so), remote working/learning is becoming more the norm. You can get a list of other collaborative tools like Slack and Trello online and ProofHub did a reasonable job putting a few others together. There are several sites that share tips on what to do and how to make the most of remote working/learning. We thought we would focus on the conferencing element.
Large enterprises have access to video conferencing tools from the likes of Avaya, Polycom, Cisco, or NEC, we are looking at conference and meeting platforms suitable for SMEs that have free options, being used across the region. Once again depending on the local telecom operators some of these may not always be available but they might be.
Our selection is in random order and based on how user-friendly they were for me to check out and reach and use in the UAE across the two telecom operators’ networks. Check with your IT and management to see which tool they have opted for and make the most of these.
Zoom:
This seems to be most popular on personal as well as work levels and it is officially allowed by the TRA. Most of the institutions are using this as a go-to tool. Its Basic version is free and still offers a lot of features that are great for small businesses. You could host your daily/weekly team briefings on this, do your client meetings. We found this the easiest to set up and plan to host events and expert briefing sessions using this.
If you use Microsoft, then check out Microsoft Teams, the hub for teamwork in Office 365. Your teams’ chats, meetings, files and apps are all in a single workspace. You can check with your IT and management to see if you have access to this. Make the most because while it’s not free on its own – it is part of the Microsoft Office 365 pack though not necessarily as well linked to Outlook as I thought unless you set it up through the app.
Like Zoom and Microsoft teams, Webex has a free version that should meet your needs but they have added some free months extra for their starter packages. You need to go through the usual set up etc, but like Zoom, you have a web-based option for your clients as well. Sometimes setting up on this can be complicated depending on your browser and your laptop/phone OS. But like any other online collaboration tool, best to check settings
This is free for anyone that has a Google account. It is probably one of the easiest to access and if you have a Google Apps account – this is easy to use and comes as a default conference option in your Google Calendar.
This is one of the few conference set ups with dedicated UAE numbers and setup. They do offer five free calls when you sign up and offer a 15 min demo call so that you are familiar. The pricing structure seems quite reasonable. They also shared a special article on how to make the most of remote working.
While there are other platforms like Gotomeeting, Zoho Meeting and Bluejeans, I am not as familiar with them but I am sure you could find out more if they suit your needs.
