With people across the country required to work from home if they can, tech startup Collab is launching a new virtual office platform to give businesses a new home in the cloud.
Launching the first pilot this week, Collab will be ‘opening its doors’ to a group of Nottinghamshire-based businesses that have signed up to experience how a virtual office might help the efficiency and effectiveness of working remotely.
Initially based on software designed to host virtual events, Collab has redesigned the user experience to create virtual offices with coffee bars, fitness suites, board rooms and, of course, a desk to work at.
Steff Wright, Chair of Gusto Group and Collab explains: “Businesses that have been used to working from fixed premises with teams of staff all based in physical offices have had a very short time to adapt to a complete change in working habits.
“Teams that normally could look over their desk and speak to each other are now dozens of miles apart and communication is nowhere near as straightforward. That quick question is now an email, a scheduled call or sitting and waiting for a future Zoom meeting.
“Collab is designed to help businesses maintain more constant communication which we think will significantly improve efficiency of remote working.
“By virtually ‘knocking’ on someone else’s door, colleagues can have one-to-one or group video conversations and can make use of additional features including screen-sharing, a communal whiteboard and chat functions.”
Here’s a sneak peek of how the virtual office platform works:
Reinventing remote working, Collab launched the Notts Virtual Office on Monday November 16, and the venue will have an initial capacity of 500 desks for businesses to try out the platform during the free pilot scheme in return for providing feedback.
Ellis Mather Group, Future Prospect Group, and Bluebird Care will be some of the first companies to trial the co-working space from this week, and they will be later joined by other businesses over the next two weeks who also hope to experience operating from a virtual office.
Behind Collab is the tech team at Gusto Group, who, since the beginning of lockdown in March this year, have been working with different video conferencing platforms to create a more realistic experience for users.
The team have hosted local, national and global conferences, business clubs, and a glitzy awards dinner alongside community events and even a virtual wake.
In preparing for this week’s launch, the past week has seen Gusto employees trial run their own virtual office.
Gusto Construction Office Manager, Emma James, said:
“The Collab Virtual Office has been a great asset to the Gusto Group during the current pandemic. The virtual office gives you quick & convenient access to colleagues whether they are in the office, working at home or on site.
“Having the Collab page open and seeing everyone sitting at their tables, knowing that they are just a click away, lessens the feeling of working alone. Being able to have a face-to-face conversation is hugely important and keeps you in touch and working together as part of a team, not to mention what it does for your wellbeing.”
The Notts Virtual Office will see Kerri McGarrigle (Chair of the Newark Business Club) operate at the reception desk in her new role as Virtual Office Manager for Nottinghamshire.
Kerri said: “Businesses are having to adapt at lightning speed and are having to compromise to survive. We’re hoping that Collab can both improve the efficiency of remote working while also increasing the wellbeing of remote workers by removing the feeling of isolation.
“We’re hearing from some employees that they’ve not spoken with work colleagues for months at a time other than via emails, so when they’re back into a familiar office environment, even a virtual one, you can see some of the weight lift from their shoulders.”
The virtual offices are only a starting point for Collab which is hoping to build other virtual venues such as conference halls, entertainment venues, student campuses and even sports stadiums. These will open at the start of December to bring remote-working staff together in the run up to Christmas while preparing companies for the challenges and opportunities which lay ahead.
Businesses can set up Collab virtual offices in their own regions of the UK by visiting www.collab.org.uk.
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