How would the world look like with a pandemic but without remote access technology? How do you think your parents and grandparents will cope with a pandemic during their time? Can you imagine how difficult it must have been to quarantine yourself in your home knowing that there are no delivery services, collaborative project management tools, or online banking to help you manage your life? The way people work has changed because of remote access tools. It wasn’t just because of the pandemic. We’ve seen the impact of the internet and technologies in business cultures and work setups.
Health Care
Telemedicine isn’t new. It started in the late 1960s with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Nebraska Psychology Institute. Some of the first diagnosis made through telemedicine was for psychiatric medicine. Back then, they used a one-way television and two-way audio. What you see right now in the health care industry is more or less the same principle applied before.
The pandemic forced many physicians and patients to sign up for a telemedicine platform. It allows the doctors to diagnose a patient over teleconferencing platforms, although these were just for mild cases. More complicated medical conditions are still rerouted to hospitals. Thankfully, many hospitals and private clinics use MIH healthcare or mobile integrated healthcare. What this remote access technology does is use patient-centered mobile resources in out-of-hospital cases. It allows paramedics and doctors to provide streamlined and effective care for patients because they can access their medical history and past treatments.
Remote Work
Would it even be possible to work from your home without remote access technology? You can collaborate with your teammates, hold a meeting with your bosses, and present to clients through teleconferencing tools. More, you can access projects, files, and documents from your office’s network and system. As long as you have the right credentials and a compatible device, you can work from wherever you choose to be.
This also allows businesses to hire people from outside their country. Many businesses, for example, hire content writers, digital marketers, and accountants from Asian countries. They can save on labor costs. Plus, these companies do not have to provide equipment and pay for the utilities for their use.
They can tap a global workforce that’s skilled and talented. With outsourcing, the possibilities are endless for companies. They are not tied to contracts. They can work on a per-project basis and save money, too.
Distance Learning
Kids will have to make do with virtual learning for now. Many schools have yet to hold face-to-face classes because of the pandemic. A decade ago, this wouldn’t have been possible when Skype and Zoom are not as seamless as they are now. But thanks to the ever-evolving developments in technology, these platforms can accommodate small and big classes. Teachers can hold synchronous classes and give their students a semblance of normalcy under these extraordinary times.
This is only made possible because of the screen-sharing feature of many platforms. Teachers can share their screens with their students, so it’s easier for them to keep up with what’s being discussed. On the other hand, students can do the same when they collaborate with their classmates on projects and tasks.
Relationships
During the height of the lockdown, a lot of people have to stay in their homes. They isolated themselves from friends and families. Couples who were supposed to get married had to cancel their original wedding dates. Some of them pushed through with it, but only with a handful of friends and family in attendance. Thankfully, livestream videos made it possible for loved ones to stay connected and present in each other’s lives.
Couples were able to share photos and videos of their wedding. They also livestreamed their wedding and held the reception party virtually. This would not have been possible 10 or even five years ago. But with remote access technology changing industries and society, it has never been easier to connect with people living thousands of miles away from you. Pandemic or no pandemic, this is one of the most important contributions that this technology brought to everyone’s lives.
It is hard to imagine how the world could have coped these past months without technology. From telemedicine to work-from-home setups to distance learning to maintaining personal relationships, remote access technology is there every step of the way. Not only did it make all these things possible, but it also paved the way for the development of more important technologies through data sharing.