Keeping remote employees connected without hurting collaboration or lowering productivity can be a struggle for today's businesses. Luckily, technologies that allow employees to work from outside the office without feeling disconnected do exist. As an added benefit, enabling remote work can, in fact, enhance productivity. According to an article on Remote.co, "Eighty-six percent of those surveyed said they preferred to work alone to “hit maximum productivity.” What’s more, two-thirds of managers say employees who work remotely increase their overall productivity."

All that's left to do, then, is to put the technology in place that makes remote work possible and effective. 

Putting this technology in place can be a big challenge - especially for government, education or nonprofit agencies that have to abide by strict purchasing guidelines. As you are required to open a competitive solicitations process to multiple providers when buying a new communications platform, it can be time-consuming and daunting. But, there's an alternative solution.

With a National Joint Powers Alliance (NJPA) cooperative contract, you can easily implement a Mitel phone system and unified messaging solution, without the hassle and cost associated with your competitive solicitations process. Before we dive into those specifics, let's look at the needs and benefits of a removed environment.

Today’s Remote Employee

Government agencies, educational institutions and nonprofits are no stranger to the growing need for remote capabilities. For example, consider the structure of a typical suburban school district. District headquarters houses the offices of the superintendent, the IT department and various support staff members. Each individual school has teachers, administrators and office staff. All of these employees need to be able to communicate effectively, whether it is principals at various elementary schools or teachers with administrative staff at the district offices.

A Mitel phone system and unified messaging system make it easy for all of these parties to remain in contact with one another, even though they work in different locations throughout the district and only meet face to face on rare occasions.

What is Unified Messaging and How Can it Help?

Unified messaging is a communications solution that is integrated into a greater communications platform. Unified messaging offers each of these entities a sophisticated messaging and contact network that includes call handling features like auto attendant, as well as message management features such as voice mail, fax and email. The goal is to provide remote workforces with advanced technology to remain in contact, while making it easy to use.

A unified messaging solution helps simplify the task of keeping your remote employees connected, no matter where they work. Voicemail boxes are managed from a single interface on a unified system, feature-rich phone systems make it easier for employees to answer and route incoming calls and collaboration platforms allow employees to communicate through voice, messaging and teleconferencing tools. 

Mitel is a proud partner of NJPA, offering unified messaging solutions for government, education and nonprofit entities. Mitel phone systems are available in several configurations, and each one is designed to suit the needs of different organizational structures. For example, MiVoice Embedded Messaging is an entry-level Mitel phone system that offers voice and unified messaging for entities with fewer than 748 users. On the other hand, NuPoint Unified Messaging is a highly scalable, robust messaging solution that can be deployed physically (on-site) or virtually for organizations with as many as 120,000 users.

The Mitel Cooperative Contract

Government, education and nonprofit entities are often required to open an RFP for new services, such as phone and unified messaging systems. NJPA’s exclusive vendor contract with Mitel gives these organizations access to advanced business technology services, without having to go through a traditional RFP process. An NJPA contract ensures competitive pricing that doesn’t jeopardize the tight budgets these groups operate within.

NJPA provides national contract volume pricing from nationally acclaimed vendors. As a partner with NJPA, Mitel is the exclusive provider of telecommunication solutions. This allows entities that must abide by legal and budgetary requirements to find the right unified messaging solution for their operation, without sacrificing quality and performance.