Challenges
Supporting hybrid and remote staff
Hybrid working breaks at the edges: unmanaged laptops, calls to empty desks, a home connection that drops mid-call. Manage the devices, move the calls to the people, and fix the connection at both ends.
The challenge
Some of your team are in the office two days a week, some work from home and some are on the road. A home connection drops in the middle of a video call, a laptop has not been looked at in months, and calls to the office number ring at an empty desk. Everyone has found their own way round it, and none of it is managed.
If it is left
The workarounds become the system. Staff give customers personal mobile numbers, so the record of the call and eventually the customer leave with them. Laptops that never return to the office never get patched, and the Microsoft 365 account on them is the attacker's easiest way in. A director's home broadband becomes the weakest link in a board meeting. And because nobody owns the set-up, every new starter gets a different one.
What good looks like
Every laptop, desktop, phone and tablet built to one standard, enrolled in Intune and protected wherever it is used, with a lost device wiped remotely. Business numbers ringing in Microsoft Teams or the hosted voice app on whatever the person has in front of them, showing the business number. The office on a connection sized for the people in it, with a 4G or 5G backup, and a clear answer to what the business will and will not do about home connections. The same set-up for everyone, documented, and one service desk to ring from anywhere.
What to do first
Before you call anyone
Write down who works where
Office, home, road, and on which devices. The list shows how many unmanaged laptops are reading company email, which is the first risk to close.
Stop personal numbers going out
A simple rule, before any technology: customers get the business number. If staff cannot take it at home yet, that is the next thing to fix.
Check the office connection on a busy day
Hybrid working moves the load: a Tuesday with everyone in on video calls is the peak. If the line struggles then, the fix is at the office, not in people's homes.
Decide the home policy
Whether the business supplies a connection or a 4G router to people who work from home routinely, or supports only what it supplies. Either is defensible; undecided is not.
Switch on multi-factor authentication
For every Microsoft 365 user. A laptop outside the building is only as safe as the account on it.
To see what your connection gives you now, run the speed test: download, upload, latency and jitter in under a minute, with no name or email needed.
What we would do first
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Find out how people work
Who works where, on which devices, and what they need to reach: applications, files, calls, and the connection each location relies on.
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Bring every device under management
Laptops, desktops, phones and tablets built, secured and enrolled in management, with lost or stolen devices locked or wiped remotely.
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Put calls where the people are
Business numbers and calling in Microsoft Teams, on computers, mobiles and desk phones, so callers keep dialling the same numbers.
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Fix the connection
Business broadband matched to what the office can get, and 4G or 5G data for staff on the move or as a backup when a fixed line fails.
How we approach it
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Map the ways of working
Who works where and on what, what each person needs to reach, and what each location's connection is. The output is one standard set-up per role.
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Standardise and enrol the devices
Laptops, desktops, phones and tablets built to one image, enrolled in Microsoft Intune with compliance and app policies, protected with Microsoft Defender and Huntress detection and response, and the Microsoft 365 accounts behind multi-factor authentication through Entra Conditional Access.
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Move the calls to the people
Business numbers ringing in Microsoft Teams through Direct Routing, or in the hosted voice app on desk phone, laptop and mobile, with hunt groups and opening-hours rules so the main number is answered wherever the team is, and outgoing calls showing the business number.
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Size the office connection
Business broadband or a leased line sized for the peak day rather than the quiet one, with a 4G or 5G backup that keeps calls and cloud applications running if it fails, and 4G or 5G data for the people on the road.
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Support from anywhere
One service desk, answered within three rings, that can see the device, the account and the call wherever the person is, and a monthly report of what the hybrid estate is costing in hours.
The services that apply
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Mobile device management
The phones and tablets reading company email outside the building are the unmanaged edge; enrolment, policy and remote wipe close it.
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Microsoft Teams
For a team already in Teams all day, the business numbers ringing there on laptop and mobile is what stops personal numbers going to customers.
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Business broadband
The office connection carries the hybrid peak, the day everyone is in and on video; it has to be sized for that day.
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Mobile 4G and 5G data
Data for the people on the road, a backup for the office line, and the answer for a home worker whose broadband cannot be fixed.
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Desktops and laptops
Laptops and desktops supplied built to the role's image, enrolled in management and ready on day one, so a new starter at home gets the same build as one in the office.
How you would buy it
Every hour we work falls under one of four engagement models. These are the ones that fit this situation; How we work compares all four.
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02
Fixed price
A defined piece of work or project
Standardising the devices, enrolling the fleet and moving the calls to Teams or hosted voice is a project surveyed and priced as a fixed sum before we start.
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03
Retainer
The way most of our clients work with us
Managed or co-managed IT for a hybrid estate is bought as a retainer: hours each month sized to the devices and users wherever they are, with the per-device management charges billed monthly and unused hours carrying forward.
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04
Fractional
Scheduled on-site days, added to a retainer
A larger office that wants an engineer in the building on the days everyone is in adds scheduled days to the retainer, and saves the small works for the visit.
Who you would work with
An account manager
Agrees the standard set-up per role and the home-connection policy with you, and reviews the monthly report.
Our engineers
Build and enrol the devices, set up the calling and size the connection, as Odyssey employees.
The service desk
The number every member of staff rings from wherever they are, answered within three rings.
A client who has been here
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Client story, Retail
Charles Clinkard
A phased refresh of Charles Clinkard's hosted Mitel system across stores, concessions and head office, with no unplanned downtime.
Read the story →
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Guide
Phones that follow you: hosted voice for summer and hybrid working
Half the office is on holiday and the other half is working from home. How hosted telephony makes sure customers still get through.
Read the guide →
Questions people ask
Can staff take calls to the office number from home?
Yes. Your numbers can be moved into Microsoft Teams, or the hosted voice app can ring as the person's extension, so staff make and take business calls on laptops, mobiles and desk phones, callers keep dialling the same numbers, and outgoing calls show the business number.
How do you keep laptops at home secure and up to date?
Every laptop, desktop, phone and tablet is built to one standard, enrolled in Intune and protected with endpoint and identity protection, so updates and security policies apply wherever it is used, and multi-factor authentication protects the account on it.
What happens if a work phone or laptop is lost?
We lock it or wipe the company data remotely, so client and business information does not go with it, and a replacement arrives already built and enrolled.
What if the office internet connection fails?
A 4G or 5G router takes over automatically when the fixed line goes down, so calls and cloud applications carry on, and switches back when the line is restored. The same service gives staff on the move a connection.
Do you support staff home broadband?
Yes, where the business pays for it. We can order business broadband at a home address or supply a 4G or 5G router, billed to the business and supported like any other connection. Where a home worker is on their own connection, we help diagnose but cannot fix their provider.
Can people use their own phones for work?
Yes, if they enrol them. Company email, files and apps sit in a managed area that we can wipe without touching personal photos, and the device must meet the passcode and update policy to reach company data.
How does a new starter at home get set up?
Their laptop is built to the role's image, enrolled in Intune and protected before it is sent, with the Teams or hosted voice app and the password manager on it, so it works the day it arrives and the service desk is one call away.
Will the same set-up suit everyone?
The standard is per role rather than per person: the warehouse, the sales team and the directors get different builds, but everyone in a role gets the same one, documented, so a new starter gets it on day one.
Talk to a human about hybrid and remote working
Call and we answer within three rings. Or tell us what you need and we will call you back at any time.