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Writer's pictureLori Lombardi Ryan

Complete Resource Guide: Working Virtually During a Pandemic

Here are 12 free digital tools to make your life easier while you are working remotely.


#1 Toggl - Free Time Tracking Software


Features:


  • ONE-CLICK TIMERS - It only takes one click to start a new time entry or to continue tracking a previous task.

  • TRACKING REMINDERS - Forgot to start the timer? The Toggl Button and Toggl Desktop apps remind you when you're not tracking. Forgot to stop the timer? Toggl detects idle time and lets you decide what to do with it later.

  • PROJECT DASHBOARD - Compare project progress to estimated time with the Project Dashboard. Spot problems early and fight off scope creep with easy-to-read visual data.

  • TEAM MEMBERS - Track the progress of your team members on projects you share.

  • REPORTING - Toggl lets you easily filter your time tracking data, showing you the information you need when you need it. All reports can be exported into Excel, CSV or PDF’s.


#2 Grammarly - Free Online Grammar Checker

Features:


  • Advanced checks for punctuation, grammar, context, and sentence structure.

  • Vocabulary enhancement suggestions.

  • TONE DETECTOR - By analyzing word choice, phrasing, punctuation, and even capitalization, Grammarly can tell you if your message sounds friendly, confident, concerned, or something else entirely.  

  • MS OFFICE® PLUG-IN - Grammarly integrates seamlessly with MS Word and Outlook.

  • WRITING STYLE ANALYSIS - It makes your written word more engaging and effective.


#3 Calendly - Free

Features:


  • CALENDAR INTEGRATIONS - Connect with up to six of your Google, Outlook, Office 365 or iCloud calendars so you're never double-booked.

  • COLLECT PAYMENTS USING CREDIT CARD OR PAYPAL - Accept payments from invitees as they schedule meetings with you with Stripe and PayPal integrations.

  • WEBSITE EMBED - Allow your customers to schedule directly from your website.

  • INTEGRATIONS WITH EXISTING SERVICES - Integrate directly with GoToMeeting, Zoom, and Salesforce, plus connect other apps through Zapier.

  • TIME ZONE DETECTION - Display availability in your invitee's time zone with intelligent time zone detection.

  • MINIMUM SCHEDULING NOTICE - Avoid last-minute meetings and give yourself enough time to prepare.

  • BUFFERS - Add extra time before or after events.

  • DAILY LIMITS - Cap the number of meetings per day.


#4 Trello - Free

Features:


  • WORK WITH ANY TEAM - Whether it’s for work, a side project or even the next family vacation, Trello helps your team stay organized.

  • BUILT-IN WORKFLOW AUTOMATION WITH BUTLER - Let the robots do the work! Boost productivity by unleashing the power of automation across your entire team with Butler, and remove tedious tasks from your to-do lists with: - Rule-Based Triggers - Custom Card & Board Buttons - Calendar Commands - Due Date Commands

  • INFORMATION AT A GLANCE - Dive into the details by adding comments, attachments, due dates, and more directly to Trello cards. Collaborate on projects from beginning to end.


#5 Doodle - Free Simplified Group Scheduling

Features:


  • SKIP THE EMAIL GUESSING GAME - Outsmart back-and-forth emails by giving a clear visual snapshot of your availability. It’s quick and collaborative. People can get back to work in minutes.

  • NO MORE JUGGLING TIME ZONES & BUSY SCHEDULES - Check availability across time zones, so key players don’t get left out of important meetings - and projects move faster.

  • KEEP YOUR CALENDAR PRIVATE - Your calendar - and your attendees’ calendars - are personal. With Doodle, events, meetings, appointments and daily activities stay out of public view.

  • SET A PROFESSIONAL TONE - Too many changes and updates can look unorganized. Doodle keeps updates and reminders in one place, so everyone’s inbox stays clean.

#6 Google Drive - Free File Sharing & Storage

Features:


  • 15GB OF STORAGE - Store files, save your email attachments, and back up photos and videos.

  • KEEP ANY FILE - Photos, videos, presentations, PDFs – even Microsoft Office files. No matter what type of file it is, everything can be stored safely in Drive.

  • SHARE HOW YOU WANT - Files in Drive are private, until you decide to share them. You can quickly invite others to view, comment, and edit any file or folder you choose. It's online collaboration made easy.

  • SAFE AND SECURE - Your file security is crucial. That’s why every file in Drive stays safe no matter what happens to your smartphone, tablet or computer. Drive is encrypted using SSL, the same security protocol used on Gmail and other Google services.


#7 LastPass - Free Secure Password Manager

Features:


  • FORM AUTOFILL - Automatically fill usernames, passwords, contact information, credit cards, and more.

  • PASSWORD VAULT SOFTWARE - A safe for your online valuables.

  • SECURE PASSWORD MANAGER - Solve poor password habits easily and quickly, so you can secure every account with one, simple login.


#8 Timeanddate.com - Free Time Difference Calculator

Features:


  • Provides time zone conversions taking into account Daylight Saving Time (DST), local time zone and accepts present, past, or future dates.


#9 Zoom Meetings - Free Video Conferencing

Features:


  • JOIN ANYWHERE, ON ANY DEVICE - Zoom Meetings delivers streamlined enterprise-grade video conferencing from desktop and mobile.

  • RECORDING - Record your meetings locally or to the cloud.

  • STREAMLINED CALENDARING - Support scheduling or starting meetings from Outlook, Gmail, or iCal.

  • BUILT-IN COLLABORATION TOOLS - Participants can share their screens for a more interactive meeting.

  • MEET SECURELY - End-to-end encryption for all meetings, role-based user security, password protection, waiting rooms, and place attendee on hold.


#10 NoteShred - Send Free Encrypted, Password Protected Notes

Features:


  • VARIABLE ENCRYPTION KEYS - Each note is encrypted using AES-256-CBC with a hashed and expanded version of your own password as the unique key. There are no private or centralized encryption keys that can be leaked. Once your note is encrypted, there's no way to decrypt it without your original password which is not stored anywhere, except for in your head.

  • NOTE LOCKOUTS- All notes have a fixed 5 login attempt limit. If 5 failed attempts are made to view a note, the note is locked for 5 minutes before another attempt can be made to view the note. This is locked at the note level, not the session-level which makes distributed brute force attempts impossible.

  • AMAZON S3 ENCRYPTION - Attached files are encrypted and stored in Amazon S3. NoteShred uses the AWS SDK and enforces client-side 256bit encryption.


#11 HelloSign - Free Legally Binding Electronic Signatures for Contracts

Features:


  • FLEXIBLE SIGNER FLOWS - Sign documents yourself or request signatures from up to 20 different people in any order, or all at once. When the document is fully executed, everyone gets a copy delivered to their inbox. See your document's progress with status notifications that keep you in the loop throughout.

  • BRANDING - Add your logo and company name throughout the signer’s experience, including all emails and signature pages.

  • GOOGLE INTEGRATIONS - Add eSignatures to your favorite Google Apps including Gmail, Docs, Drive and the Apps Marketplace.

  • BANK LEVEL SECURITY - Your documents are protected by SSL encryption and secure server infrastructure hosted at a state-of-the-art Tier III, SSAE-16 and ISO 27001 certified data center.

  • IN-PERSON SIGNING - Have people sign documents in-person on your iPad or Android tablet. ideal for waivers, photo releases, NDAs, and more.

  • IN THE CLOUD - Always up-to-date, no software to download – get started in under a minute.


#12 Zoho - Free CRM

Features:


  • PROCESS MANAGEMENT - With Blueprints, your sales team can find out the next move to make at any moment. Define your sales process for your whole team to follow.

  • OMNICHANNEL - Converse in real-time with customers and prospects. Get notified when someone interacts with your brand—whether they're browsing your website, reading an email, or talking about your brand on social media.

  • ANALYTICS - Measure the performance of every sales activity, and break quotas down into achievable targets with Zoho CRM's reports, analytics, and forecasts.

  • SALES ENABLEMENT - Generate price quotes, and access sales scripts. Permit your customers, vendors, and partners to view, add, or edit information through portals from within your CRM saving your team time and effort.

  • MARKETING AUTOMATION - Get your marketing and sales teams on the same page. Generate new leads, execute targeted email marketing campaigns, and compare ad spending to sales revenue with the Google Ads integration.


There are so many free tools out there that can help you be more productive. We hope this resource guide will make your life a little easier during this time of uncertainty.


If there is anything else we do for you, please don't hesitate to contact OCMG at 407.948.5706 or info@OCMG.net.

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