The situation we’re living in is excepcional and rapidly becoming, not only a health crisis, but also an economic one. Employers have been “forced” to go full-time remote without previous notice or guidance and adapt rapidly for the changes to not affect much on company goals and numbers.
This situation is affecting a lot of companies and we all have to put our part in finding ways to make things work. Since one of the most affected sectors is events and hospitality we’re going to base this blog post on how to shift all or some of your services to remote activities and services.
First and foremost is important to point out that there are companies and services that have it easier to shift to online. For example, on one hand, a yoga studio can easily schedule online sessions with their clients. On the other hand, a surf school might have it a bit more complicated. Since the current situation has most of the world on lockdown, there’s no possibility for anyone to put to practise what they have learnt in an online theory surf class.
The three mentioned above have similar features and functionalities.
The first platform to check out is Skype. Quite a lot of businesses use this platform for their day to day communication but we don’t recommend it to to set up calls with external clients. Attendees will need to have a Skype account or download a plugin to join the meeting, activity or workshop that you’re offering.
Zoom wins points in this case; to join in on a Zoom call, there is no need to create an account. You just have to make sure that the attendees get the invite link and you’re ready to go.
Hangouts is probably the most known as it is a Google service and it is integrated on GSuite. The only requirement to kick off a Hangout meeting is that the organizer has to have a Google account, basic or business. After setting up the meeting you will be able to invite guests. Even those without a Gmail account will be able to join, much like with Zoom.
The bigger difference between these three platforms is visible when it comes to how many people can join in on a video call. Skype can have up to 50 people. Gmail and basic GSuite up to 10, or 25 with the business and education plan. Lastly, all Zoom plans allow up to 100 people. In case you want to record the video call and share it with the attendees once it’s over, all three platforms allow recording.
Choosing one or the other comes down to your necessities.
Since we’re avoiding face to face interaction we need to have everything really well planned. There are countless calendar apps out there, but the majority of the population uses the app that comes with their phone because it integrates many calendars in one. In this case, we just need to add our emails to the calendar.
We’re going to point out two useful calendars: Calendy and Google Calendar. These two complement each other as the first one is used to set up a first call with the client and the second to set up the activity and invite everyone that will attend.
Calendy is a scheduling service that can be integrated with a few calendar apps and also to your website or landing page. Potential clients that visit your site will be able to see your availability and request a first call to know more about your service.
Google Calendar comes to play when the activity is a go and you have a date and times agreed with the client. To send invitations to the attendees, set up an event on Google calendar and invite the attendees adding their emails on the guests part. There is no problem if some of them don’t have a google account. Setting up a calendar event you make sure that everyone has it on their calendar and there’s no way to mix up dates or times. You can also add notes and Zoom or Hangout links so that everyone knows where the meeting is taking place.
We know that time is limited, but making things look good is not that complicated. There are quite some apps and platforms that make it easier for people that have little knowledge on design and that are afraid to open an adobe program,
APowersoft is a software that provides digital media solutions. The tools allow users to create digital content via screen, audio and video recording. They have a lot of products and they’re quite user friendly and handy when it comes to digitizing processes and content. Check out their website to know more about their products.
This platform is a google product and is available for anyone that has a google account, basic and business/education. Jamboard is the perfect tool if you’re a workshop provider or trainer as it works like a white board, which allows you to write, draw and add pictures, along with other features. All changes get saved in the cloud and all attendees are able to view and edit, if needed.
This famous design app is very useful for quick assets for social media and on and offline campaigns. It has templates of almost everything, from any kind of post on any social media app, CV templates, posters and invitations. Canva allows you to design from scratch or with pre-designed templates. The free version is more than enough for anyone that is looking to create simple assets and then download them in different formats.
We hope that you have discovered new apps and have a more clear vision on how to shift your activities to remote. If you need help, you can contact us via hello@teamy.pt .
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