3 Ideas for Empowering Remote Employees to Be Even More ProductiveWith the right tools, a remote work policy could be a great move for your business.

Work is no longer something that exclusively happens at an office. Today, emails can be sent from the couch, coffee shop, or en route to the airport. According to a recentGallup survey, 43 percent of employed Americans said they spent at least some time working remotely.

When handled strategically, this trend can be a boon for business. There's evidence that when employees are allowed to set their own schedules, they're more productive. Per research found in an article from the Harvard Business Review, when the co-founders of a travel website allowed half of their employees to work from a remote location, they found the groupcompleted 13.5 percent more callsthan workers who were required to come into the office every day.

Not all remote working environments are created equal, however. To set up your employees for success outside the office, you need to ensure they have the appropriate tools at their disposal. Without them, even the most motivated staffers will have a hard time remaining productive.

Here are three ways to create a successful remote working environment -- and the services that will help you get it done.

1.Make managing your business lines and conversations easy.

Work no longer just happens behind a desk. Instead, business calls are made from the back of taxis, emails are sent while waiting for a flight to board, and conference calls can take place on the couch. This mobility can be an advantage, as it allows employees to set their own schedules -- but only if the right tools are in place.

MultiLinefrom Sprint Business is an app that allows you to add a business line to an employee's personal smartphone, so they can take business calls on a company-managed phone number without having to carry a second phone. It saves you from having to buy company phones for your employees.

Dialpad Business Voiceis a business-grade voice system that gives your employees a work phone number they can access from their laptops, tablets, or smartphones. (They can even switch between devices on the same call for maximum convenience.) Supporting features, such as the ability to record, transfer, and access voicemail, as well as integrations that pull up recent email messages and upcoming calendar events, make it easy to conduct business calls from anywhere.

2. Use tools that make collaboration a breeze.

Remote work depends on employees' ability to communicate as seamlessly and effectively as if they were physically in the same space.G Suiteenables employees to do exactly that.

With business email, video conferencing, online storage, and file sharing capabilities, G Suite is a one-stop solution for both solo work and group projects. Equipped with Gmail, Google Drive, Calendar, Hangouts, Docs, Sheets, and Slides, it empowers people to work together, access files, and manage devices from virtually anywhere, at any time.

Carefree Cloudsupport from Sprint Business makes it easier than ever for your business to move to G Suite. Customer support team members are available around-the-clock to help with deployment, set up mobile devices, and trouble-shoot your issues. Their job is to focus on your needs, answer your questions, and save you time by getting your people the tools, devices, and features they need to thrive.

3. Utilize a conference tool that does the work for you.

Small business owners need to be able to work wherever their work takes them. Sometimes that means having a meeting while on the go.

When paired with the Dialpad service, the Sprint Business'UberConferenceaudio conference solution allows anyone on your team to host a smart conference call with as many as 100 participants. You can use it on a computer or a mobile device via an iOS or Android app.

What makes UberConference so smart: It comes packed with features like the ability to see who's on the call and who's speaking, integrated social profiles for participants, automatic calling for scheduled meetings, screen sharing, free call recording and call summary emails.

It is convenient, professional, and allows everyone to be even more productive.

Thanks to email, video conferences, cloud software, and chat capabilities, among other services, collaboration and meetings can now take place between workers across town or on the other side of the globe.