We are currently running a trial of our new Enigin e-marketing system with a small number of our distributors.
The e-marketing applications allows our Enigin Partners and Distributors to send promotion emails in HTML to their customers, all via an easy-to-use interface.
More details to come when the software is finally launched. Hopefully next week! 
Having spent a lot of time working remotely for Enigin and various other companies, i’ve compiled a list of what I consider to be the ultimate guide to remote working. Often called ‘working from home’, but that’s way too descriptive.
1) Prove it works
The first thing you need to do is to persuade your employer to allow you to have a trial period working out of the office. This may not be easy if you work for an old-fashioned company, but most technology companies, including Enigin, are very open to ideas which increase employee happiness and productivity.
You need to be smart at approaching this subject with your employer. I compiled a list of benefits and case studies from other companies who allow a large percentage of their full-time staff to work remotely. Sell the benefits rather than dwell of the fact that you’re not in the office.
Once you’ve completed a trial period, talk about working from home on a regular basis, maybe once or twice a week.
2) Technology is your friend!
There are many ways to communicate with your office people. Skype is the main programme which I use and it is more than just a voice application. You can use it to share screens with other colleagues, send large files and also to use it for group chat. We also have access to our company file server via a VPN (Virtual Private Network) link.
In the development team we also have access to an online source control repository, which holds all of our programming code. This enables us to work together on projects, as if we where sat opposite each other in the office.
3) Forget the 9 – 5, but be available
If you are remote working then you shouldn’t feel you need to put in a 9-5 working day. How about 6-2? or 12-8? or 7-10 and 12-4?
Try to find your most productive hours of the day, if you can fit 8 hours work into 6 then you should enjoy the fact that you finished early that day (or get a head start on the next project).
There’s once big caveat to this. ALWAYS BE AVAILABLE! If your colleagues need to contact you during normal working hours then you need to ensure you are available. If the poop hits the fan and you’re not on the radar then your working from home days are going to cause resentment among your office-based buddies! Not good. Always be available, even if you’re not always in front of a computer.
Interestingly enough, I usually find myself working longer when at home!
4) ‘Working from home’ redefined
Everyone talks about working from home, but why limit yourself? In the building next to my apartment there’s a great little cafe/bar which provide free wi-fi. A pair of headphones and I can work just as effective as I can from home or the Enigin office. Generally no-one bothers you and you’re only a few steps away from lunch and drinks!
5) Get the work done!
Remote working allows you a flexibility you’ve probably never had before. If you are not a self-motivated individual then it’s easy to just think of it as a day off. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Your company is paying you to operate remotely just like any other working day. You need to make sure you get the expected level of work completed.
If you are seen to be dropping in terms of productivity then your days working remotely are probably coming to an end.
6) Be social – People are good for you!
If you are going to be working from home for a sustained period of time then you need to ensure you don’t suffer from ‘cabin fever’ – being locked up on your own for a long time. Try to find some time in your day to get out or visit some friends. Being around other people can be a real motivator and being somewhere like a cafe really helps with this. I find it pretty cool working from home in the morning and then heading out to a cafe for lunch and then working for a few hours after lunch in the same place.
7) Quit, if it doesn’t work out
If you discover that working remote doesn’t work for you personally, then don’t be slow in giving it up. It’s better if you decide it’s not working rather than your company does. You can always try again in a few weeks/months.
To maintain concentration whilst remote working takes a certain amount of self-motivation. It’s not for everyone and it’s fairly easy to get distracted but it’s a great way to work if you can get it right!
Photo by Giorgio Montersino (http://www.flickr.com/photos/novecentino/2340521934/)
Over the last few months Enigin have undergone a systemization process to streamline the way which we handle our customer service. This has been driven by our Managing Director Ian, but all of the staff at Enigin have brought into the concept completely and can see how it’s helped to make our jobs easier, whilst also delivering a vastly improved customer service experience.
12 Months ago we had 4 business support staff who were on the telephone 8/9 hours a day, personally dealing with distributor enquiries. We found that the majority of the time was spent answering the same questions over and over again. Apart from being inefficient for us, it also meant that Distributors could only get answers to their questions during UK office hours and also they had to queue on the phone to get the support they needed. Since we operate globally, this was inconvenient to a number of our Distributors.
So we hit this issue hard in two ways:
1) We built a ‘Knowledge Base’ which contains 100′s of answers to common questions raised by distributors. The system was built using our IGLOO system and put together by the Enigin Developers. It is now fully maintained by our support team who add on average 2 articles a day. These new articles are emailed out to our distributors at the end of each working day so they can benefit everyone. We have recorded many ‘screencast’ videos for the Knowledge Base which have provided to be very popular. They say that ‘A picture tells a thousand words’, well, each screencast contains upwards of 4500 frames (pictures), so that’s 4,500,00 words! and all without actually speaking to us!
Result: Distributors now have access to our complete knowledge 24 hours a day to browse at their leisure. Repeat questions have dropped dramatically and it allows the support team the freedom to work on other projects.
2) The next area which needed attention is how we dealt with emails from Distributors. Historically, distributors have emailed each team member individually with their comments or problems. If the staff member was on holiday or out of the office then this email wouldn’t have been seen or replied to. It also meant that the Management team at Enigin had no idea about the volume of questions or which area of the business they related to.
Enter the ‘Ticket System’. An online application which allows us to organize incoming questions and enquiries by department and support member. This system had completely changed the way which we work and had improved our workflow immeasurable. Each staff member is alerted when a question is submitted which is in their department and they either answer it or delegate it to someone else who is more specialised in that area. It also allows our Management team to view reports on the questions answer, who’s answered them and which one’s are outstanding.
Result: Emails are handled efficiently by a member of staff who specialises that that particular area of the business. We aim to have all questions answered within a couple of days, and so far, we’re doing pretty well
We have had so many positive comments from our Distributors about our changes and it’s always nice to hear that what we are doing is really helping them with their Energy Saving Businesses.
If you are an Enigin Distributor and would like to see a technical video about how our support team work then please visit the following link:
(You will need to have a Knowledge Base login.. if you don’t then sorry for now!)
Image by Light Knight (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lightknight/3394726696/)
There’s a rumour around the Enigin office that a new version of Eniscope Real-time and Analytics is launching this month. I can’t say anymore but the development elves are working very hard on the next release. Faster displays and more powerful analytical software… Sounds like a winner to me! Find out more later this month
The iPad has been available in the states for a good month or so, and as always Europe is left behind! But no more! Apple have finally allowed us to pre-order the iPad from today!
So this Enigin developer has signed up, paid the cash and now has a 3 week wait before the product is in my hands!
Apart from having all the fun of an iPhone but with a larger screen, there’s another use I have in mind.
Here at Enigin we are always on the edge of technology and as soon as the iPad was announced we spotted it’s massive potential as a hand-held device to view your energy usage. So, all those who have been asking about an iPhone app can be assured that we are on the case!
That’s it for now but i’m sure you’ll hear more about the iPad and Enigin in the very near future!
Nikolai is the primary software developer on our flagship Eniscope product. He is responsible for turning our visions and expectations into real products, both our Eniscope Real-time and the soon-to-launch Eniscope Analytics. He is a developer with a vast range of experience (and an abnormal craving for bacon!) and enjoys nothing more than being left alone with his headphones on coding!
Nik is a great guy to have around and is always calm and relaxed, even when the stakes are high.