By Haley Steinhauser, Director of Public Relations & Social Media
Working remote requires a specialized set of tools and a specific amount of patience (dropped calls anyone?) to succeed. As more and more people say “see ya” to traditional 9-5 office environments in favor of communal workspaces (like WeWork) and even their own backyards — the tools available for daily success have expanded.
We know working remotely isn’t all sleeping in and working in your pajamas; it takes immense planning and vision to keep the momentum going. So to keep our FreeConferenceCall.com users up to speed and on top of their to-do lists, we’ve rounded up the top five completely free apps and services to help remote workers rock their space and daily goals.
- Chat it up with Slack: Slack is a fantastic free tool that can be used for equal parts efficiency and humor whether you’re communicating with the other remote users at WeWork or chatting with your colleague in a different time zone. The chat functionality mixed with endless options for customization means that your unread inbox will go down significantly.
- Meet with a purpose using FreeConferenceCall.com: OK, we had to include ourselves on this roundup, but hear us out. Not only can you use this platform for ease of mind when it comes to setting up remote video and teleconferencing sessions, but you can also utilize it to connect with colleagues for touch bases and chats or even send a few Freemojis™ back and forth using the app’s messaging function. Plus, it’s the third largest conferencing provider in the world with users in nearly every country — just saying.
- Organize your day with Trello: Make the haphazard sticky note to-do lists all over your desk a thing of the past. This interface is extremely user-friendly and customizable to your workflow so you can manage tasks and prioritize with a quick click and drag.
- Scan away with CamScam: How many times a week do you find a vendor asking you to fax a contract? If you’re anything like me, you scream into the computer, “No one uses a fax machine anymore!” No worries! CamScanner is here to save the day. Simply download the mobile app, sign up for an account, snap a picture and easily email the contract. I thank my lucky stars weekly for this gem of an app and you will too.
- Pin everyone down with Doodle: Anyone else find it absolutely awful trying to coordinate and meeting times? It’s no easy feat and by the end of it, I always think I deserve a gold medal for making it happen. Well, those days are now behind me. Enter Doodle: the app that makes it simple to send out polls via email so everyone can weigh in on times that work best for them and keep their schedules open for essential touch-bases.
These days, free tools are popping up quicker than you can type ‘free productivity tools’ into your Google search bar. This is awesome, especially for entrepreneurs and startup businesses because with the right combination of tools, your company can improve productivity without a spending a dollar. So go ahead! Mix and match your favorite free tools and get working smarter not harder!