When Covid-19 hit Cyprus, like in many countries across the globe none of us had any idea how dramatically it would affect our day to day lives. We left the office on a Friday, slightly worried about the first cases yet still looking forward to the weekend, and definitely not imagining what would unfold over the next few days and following weeks.
We got the email on a Sunday, telling us that if we wanted we could work from home. Little did we know that in just about a week, we would have no choice in the matter. But luckily working at 3CX meant that, not only could we actually carry out 99% of our tasks from anywhere, but we also had access to a remote working solution that would enable us to continue working as usual. So here’s what it’s like working from home with 3CX!
Working Remotely with 3CX
8:15am - By now I would usually be well into my morning routine before heading to the office, but working from home has allowed me to sleep in. I could sleep a little longer but I get up to grab some breakfast and start setting up for the day. I like to use Trello to organize the day's tasks.
9:00am - The work day has officially begun - this is the time that I find it OK to start contacting people. When you’re working from home, the working hours become a little blurred, so I try not to encroach too much on others’ personal time. I start by responding to any emails that have accumulated over the weekend and say a few “Good mornings” to members of the marketing team with the chat feature of the 3CX Web Client. We use the chat feature a lot. I also respond to some comments left on projects, go over suggestions and make changes to things I’ve worked on in the previous days.
10:30am - I have a web conference at 11:00am with a few other team members to discuss a new campaign we’re going to be working on across all markets. I take a look over the materials that were shared with us and add my suggestions.
11:00am - I can’t find the meeting invitation that was sent, I must have deleted it. I head over to my calendar instead and join the meeting from there. I wasn’t sure if my internet connection would be sufficient for these video meetings but it holds up perfectly.
11:20am - The meeting is over. It didn’t last long, which I appreciate. As much as I miss my coworkers I enjoy the quiet and solitude of my living room to get on with my tasks. I start working on a new press release ASAP. We need to finalise it and get it translated into six other languages.
We use Google Docs most of the time as it’s the most efficient and easy to use for us. I’m thankful for the 3CX Web Client browser extension; it makes it so much easier to be working on one thing and quickly access chat or make a call without opening or navigating to another tab.
12:10pm - The first draft of the press release is done and sent for feedback. So I start working on a case study about the Ministry of Health’s Mental Health Services and how they deployed 3CX for remote therapy during the lockdown.
1:00pm - In the office, we usually take our lunch break at one. I usually try to keep to the routine as much as possible but right now I’m liking my work flow, so I keep going.
1:40pm - Done with the case study for now so I check my emails. The press release has been approved with some minor adjustments. Time for lunch.
2:00pm - The marketing manager calls me on my office extension, which I have provisioned to the 3CX app on my iPhone. She lets me know that the case study is good to go and that we can send it to our contact at the Ministry of Health for approval, and that we also need to work on a press release for it as well.
2:30pm - It’s our graphic designer’s birthday. We usually arrange to give whoever has their birthday a gift with a cake whilst singing Happy Birthday. Since we can’t do that, we all enter a web meeting and sing to her from there.
After our quick team meeting, I get back to the case study press release. I have some questions about the partner that carried out the deployment of their system, so I call the sales manager in charge of the region.
3:30pm - I finish the first draft of the press release and save it to come back to with fresh eyes the next day before I send it for feedback. Now I have something a little more creative to work on. I put together the outline, information and ideas for an infographic to share on our blog, and discuss it for a little while with our graphic designer via chat.
5:05pm - The work day is almost at an end. So I decide to go through some content for new pages we are going to set up to make adjustments. I also prepare for a couple of other pages that I am going to work on, so I have them ready for the next day.
5:25pm - The marketing manager calls me to tell me that we’ve had a last minute release, and asks me to share it on social media.
5:40pm - I update my to-do list for the next day, delete a few emails and sign out! But not before Updating my status from the Web Client.
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