Photo by Andrea Caramello on Unsplash
Work From Anywhere Workplace is becoming the standard mode of working. Many of the top companies have started providing Work From Anywhere Workplace as an option to the employees. According to the survey by Buffer, 98% of the respondents will prefer remote working if given an option.
Many software and hardware tools are required to ensure that Work From Anywhere Workplace experience is as good as Work From Office. These resources and tools are only valid when the nature of the job enables employees to work remotely. Unfortunately, not all jobs fall into this category.
Even though there are so many resources available for Work From Anywhere Workplace, there are still gaps needed to be filled.
THE TOOLS
To work efficiently from anywhere, one needs a set of correct tools. These tools increase productivity.
Any person working in the technology-enabled domain has to have the basic tools like hardware that establishes connectivity to the external remote work. This hardware tool runs the software. Depending on the need and nature of the work, this can be a smartphone, a tablet, a desktop, a laptop, or an ultra-book.
To make use of hardware, seamless connectivity is required. Always-on high-speed internet networks are so crucial that without it none of the tools running on top of the hardware can be utilized fully. High-speed connectivity is defacto but still suffers from issues of downtime and intermittent slowness.
Connectivity also comes in the form of ensuring enough ports are available from the power outlets to multiple USB and HDMI outlets via a docking systems.
Communication is a key aspect of Work From Anywhere Workplace. It requires a reliable cell network for tasks that demand urgent inputs from the team. Many use VoIP tools nowadays, but the fact that calling and asking for solutions establishes resolves issues quickly.
Audio and Video are key tools to Work From Anywhere Workplace. Getting up from the cubicle and walking to the colleague for help is not possible in remote work. The only way to efficiently hold project presentations and important work calls are by using audio and video compatible tools.
All these tools discussed above are good to work efficiently from anywhere. Workplace need not be just home but can be any place like an outdoor place, co-working area, or even a coffee shop.
If all the tools that are required for remote working are available then what is the missing link?
THE NEED
A quiet place to work is everyone’s dream setup. No interference mainly from the surrounding noise is key to working efficiently. To eliminate any type of noise, many have started using noise cancellation headphones. These work perfectly and do the job of eliminating noise but are often costly to afford and not everyone is willing to pay the high premium cost. On top, not everyone likes to keep headphones on all the time.
Another solution to a focused workplace remotely is to have a dedicated room that can allow focused working. However, finding a quiet place in a home environment with family members is not an easy task. If the employee is working from a public places then too it is difficult to find a quiet corner.
Apart from noise, there is a privacy concern too. What you hear can be routed through headphones/earphones/speakers, but then when one speaks over the work call, then it is not possible to cancel the outgoing noise. In Work From Anywhere Workplace environment, one can be working next to anyone, thus inviting privacy concerns when sensitive work information is discussed.
If we take a holistic look, then there are different types of sounds that a person working in an remote working environment has to deal with. These ambient sounds can be from nearby houses or roads, or from people in close proximity. All this leads to audio privacy concerns.
This audio privacy concern is the missing link from calling a Work From Anywhere Workplace a perfect workplace environment. The question is how to ensure audio privacy with the help of Audio Privacy Technology.
THE SOLUTION
Audio Privacy Technology solution involves eliminating noise/sound without the need for a dedicated headphones/earphones. Even if one uses headphones/earphones, then these devices are only capable of eliminating ambient noise but do not ensure that the output audio from the employee is only heard by the employer and the team, and no one else.
A perfect Audio Privacy Technology will ensure that without using any device and by only having the workstation, one is able to create different focused Work From Anywhere Workplace Zone.
These focused sound zones work in harmony with the nearby environment to ensure that none of the ambient sounds sneak into Work From Anywhere Workplace Zone. It also ensures that the sound generated from the Work From Anywhere Workplace Zone does not disperse.
These two features working in synchronization ensure that there is bi-directional audio privacy.
Audio Privacy Technology is audio aware. It provides breakthrough solutions that can not only be used for Work From Anywhere Workplace but can also be applied in different zones like in cars, public areas, airports, flights, and many more places where audio privacy is non-existent.
Another impact of Audio Privacy Technology is the elimination of headphones/earphones. With the decreasing number of ports in laptops to smartphones, wireless devices are the only solution. With wireless, the solution is not an issue but the degrading battery power when working remotely for longer hours is.
Thus, having a chip-based feature that is embedded inside the smart devices which is capable of creating audio zones is the need of the hour. This will also make headphones/earphones obsolete. On top of it, not everyone likes to be wired all the time, and having bi-directional audio privacy without the need for headphones/earphones can make people more productive.
THE BREAKTHROUGH
There are already Audio Privacy Technology solutions in the market. The key is to make it accessible at large scale. Like the elimination of audio jack lead to the adoption of wireless headphones/earphones. Similarly, one-day electronic chips embedded in the smart devices will remove the need of having headphones/earphones. One less device to carry as embedded chip with Audio Privacy Technology will ensure more privacy and noise cancellation than any other solution currently in use.
Noveto Systems already have the SeatCentric by Bose already has Audio Privacy Technology. It will be interesting to see how soon they can release products that can be used by employees Working From Anywhere Workplace. Hyundai also has the Audio Privacy Technology ready, and “>certainly, it looks promising. Samsung owned HARMAN also showcased a similar solution back in 2015 CES. It will be interesting to see how the future of Work From Anywhere Workplace evolves with Audio Privacy Technology. This breakthrough technology will not only help audiophiles but can literally make headphones and earphones obsolete while ensuring that anyone can work remotely at any given location by soundproofing the work zone. Audio Privacy Technology can also be applied in Work From Office environment where one doesn’t like to listen to colleagues speaking loudly, or the noise from table fan used by someone next to the work cube. There will be concerns about not being able to hear emergency information from nearby surroundings, but then the same applies when someone is wired in with noise cancellation headphones. Surely, there will be options and features to enable emergency information to sneak in. Only time will tell how the solution will evolve, but certainly Audio Privacy Technology breakthrough is must for Work From Anywhere Workplace.
