New app released to ensure a safe return to the office

In March, amid global office shutdowns, Zoho introduced Remotely, a free suite of 11 business applications designed to help companies of all sizes transition to remote work. Since its release, more than 25,000 organisations are using Remotely, which will remain free for businesses through 1st September.

In the next phase of relief efforts, Zoho unveiled its Small Business Emergency Subscription Assistance Programme (ESAP), which continues to provide Zoho's small business customers free access to their existing Zoho applications. Nearly 20,000 organisations have taken advantage of ESAP, providing financial relief during this crisis.

In April, Zoho's Vertical Relief Plan was rolled out, offering businesses in three hard-hit industries - Retail, Government & Non-Profit, and Education - custom-built tools and assistance programmes to navigate pandemic-related issues. Zoho is entering a new phase with BackToWork, giving businesses around the world a safe and secure way to return to the office.

"We've seen tremendous adoption from businesses moving their entire operations quickly onto the Remotely platform. Likewise, we've seen customers applying to ESAP and rebuilding their organisations online using the VRP," said Sridhar Iyengar, MD of Europe at Zoho. "Now that organisations are planning to re-open in some parts of the world, we want to help them resurge, this time through BackToWork, an application enabling companies to maintain end-to-end workplace safety."

Scalable to companies and organisations of all sizes, BackToWork supports Chief Operations Officers, Chief Human Resources Officers, Facility Heads and their teams in making critical decisions around returning to the workplace without compromising on the safety and compliance aspects.

The robust application consists of six modules designed to address every concern involved in the process of re-entering the workplace, all within one secure, easy-to-navigate solution:

• Safe Entry: Define multiple buildings and locations and control facility access based on employee wellness and travel history via a contactless end-to-end check-in system through generated QR codes.
• Employee Wellness Assessment: Track workplace wellness by defining self-assessment, safe entry, and travel policies. Employees can securely and privately submit a wellness questionnaire reporting travel history, recent medical history, and other pertinent possible exposure history.
• Maintenance and Assets: Define and manage assets and building maintenance requests for employees. Repair/replacement requests can be handled in the app.
• Admin Control Panel: Gain a 360° view of workplace data in pre-configured dashboards as well as add and manage your employees, and define roles for tasks such as approvals, emergency contacts, etc.
• Volunteer: Add and manage your company's volunteer programmes.
• Communication: Materials such as announcements, FAQs, and best practices, policies and safety documents can be shared with employees and managed in the Communication module.

Other Key Features

• The user-friendly application allows organisations the option of advanced customisation to tailor to their specific company needs through Zoho Creator.
• BackToWork is currently available in five languages (English, French, Japanese, Chinese, and Arabic) and will soon be available in three more (Spanish, Portuguese, and German).
• The application can be easily integrated with top HR platforms like Zoho People and BambooHR.
• BackToWork is accessible via progressive web app, iOS and Android.
• BackToWork can be simply integrated with Active Directory and Zoho Directory.
• Zoho has several enhancements in the pipeline including a Travel Management module and integrations with popular video conferencing platforms.

As part of Zoho’s ongoing effort to support businesses during these uncertain times, BackToWork will be offered free of charge until the end of 2020. After that period, it will cost £1.60/user/month for all regions.