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Editor’s note: As of March 19, 2020, Zoho had delivered more than 5,000 free copies of Remotely to small businesses globally, and the total keeps climbing.
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Zoho Software is making Remotely, the company’s new virtual collaboration and productivity platform, available to the public free of charge for those who need remote working tools in light of the coronavirus epidemic. The app became free on March 6.
Many companies internationally are requiring their employees to telecommute from home if possible, so remote connectivity and reliable business productivity suites are in demand more than usual.
Remotely, which comprises 11 apps, will remain free of charge until July 1, but the company said it will extend that date if necessary. This is a full edition—not a freemium edition, Zoho said.
Remotely includes Zoho Cliq, Zoho Meeting, Zoho Office Suite (Zoho Writer, Sheets, Show), Zoho Projects, Zoho Sprints, Zoho Assist, Zoho Lens, Zoho WorkDrive and Zoho Showtime. These apps help create a comprehensive and contextual virtual workspace to help business owners continue to run their business and teams continue to keep up their output, Zoho said.
Currently, Zoho’s own 8,000-plus employees are working remotely per company policy and using these tools to stay connected and productive cross-teams, the company said.
Scenario: Construction Site
Business owners will use Remotely in different ways according to their use cases, but here is one scenario that shows why one might need a portfolio of apps, not only a web conferencing tool, to keep up productivity:
- You can create a project and add relevant people including employees, external contractors, designers, etc., using Zoho Projects.
- Assign milestones, tasks, reminders and more, and schedule weekly meetings between various parties to ensure timeliness using Zoho Projects and Zoho Meeting.
- Continue the collaborative discussion regarding the project through ad-hoc remote communication across communication channels—chat or audio/video calls—using Zoho Cliq.
- Create, discuss and share construction documents with the entire team through Writer/Sheet/Show and WorkDrive.
- Collaborate with people in the field with on-site suggestions using augmented reality capabilities from Zoho Lens.
English, French, German and Spanish versions are available.
You can sign up for Remotely at https://www.zoho.com/remotely/.