VOIP enables working parents to telecommute while staying home with their kids.
In our society, it’s generally agreed that a fulfilling life is one where you can rock at your career and be a parent at the same time, but sometimes the two do not overlap well. Being a dedicated professional and being a good parent shouldn’t be mutually exclusive, especially since to be a good parent, you usually need to have a good job. The business world, in its own way, has waffled between seeing parents as steady reliable workers or as non-team-players. But the real problem is not that parents are more or less dedicated (everyone has their unique work style), it’s that parents can’t be in two places at once. Until now.
VOIP Parents Can Be in Two Places at Once
Traditionally, professional parents have had to make tough decisions. They have to choose when to come back to work after a new baby is born. They have to choose which spouse takes sick time off work when a child is ill. And for single parents, these choices are even more difficult. But often the problems associated with being a parent aren’t about not being dedicated, they’re about not being able to come into the office. This is exactly why VOIP along with sister-software on the cloud are opening doors for professional parents to finally do the impossible: To stay home with the kids and show up for work at the same time.
VOIP Telecommuting When a Child is Sick
When a child is too sick to go to school, a parent must stay home to take care of them. Especially if they can’t find a babysitter or don’t have a retired grandparent available for the task. The child must be comforted, fed nourishing food, and monitored for ‘go to the hospital’ symptoms. But other than that? The child is home napping in bed or watching cartoons in a semi-awake state and the parent is left… cleaning the house? Balancing their checkbook? Weeding the garden?
Trust us, we know that most parents with a napping child home sick would rather be tearing through their work to-do list. With VOIP, a parent can now set up their home office to take the calls they would usually take and collaborate on their ongoing projects with little to no interruption. They can answer the phone for their regular clients and even participate in staff meetings, all while also responsibly home with their sick child.
VOIP Telecommuting With a New Baby
In fact, even parents of newborns can take advantage of the ability to smoothly telecommute with a VOIP platform. Parents who have just brought home a new infant will go through that hallmark hectic sleep-deprived time when their brains are nothing but adrenalin and oxytocin. But once the baby starts sleeping through the night, often there are several hours a day where nursing mothers and bonding fathers have time to kill. They finally have enough sleep, the baby naps for up to 16 hours a day, and they’re left twiddling their thumbs.
When it’s not yet safe to head to the office but the house is quiet, this is where VOIP closes the gap. Parents who might be out of the office for another several months can come back and start picking up the slack from their understaffed team. They can get re-acquainted with projects making their later come-back easier and they can start re-engaging with clients, taking service calls, and managing projects in a way that is beneficial to both the company and the professional parents. The company gets their team back together early with one telecommuting member, the parent gets to refresh their mind from baby-time, and the team gets a few adorable pictures and video chats of a smiling baby to warm hearts and boost morale.
VOIP is the Key to Work-Life Balance for Professional Parents
Companies are always looking for new ways to improve employee work-life balance while getting more productivity from the team, not less. And VOIP is the key. VOIP unifies your phone and communication systems so that no matter where employees are located, they can jump in as if they were sitting right in the office. And while employers might be thinking “This will be great for business trips and unifying multiple offices,” VOIP is also the solution for parents. So they can clock in hours even when they’re home taking care of a child.
Finally, being a good parent doesn’t have to occasionally clash with being a dedicated professional. Because parents can finally be in two places at once, without even switching their phone number. Contact us today to discover how setting up VOIP for your business can keep your professional parents engaged and happily clocking hours even when family obligation takes them out of the office.