This article lists 21 software programs that are currently discounted, on sale, or free to help offices overcome the consequences of the Coronavirus. We collected these tips from various sources and organized them into categories that we consider essential for our clients.
Online sales / E-commerce
With closed doors, it's very difficult to make sales in the retail sector, but people still need to live their lives and buy supplies. Instead of customers coming to your store, how about having your products delivered to their homes?
Below are some tools that can help your business set up an online store or app and keep your sales active:
Shopify
- Offer : 90-day free trial
- After the free trial period: starting at $29/month
- Offer link: https://pt.shopify.com/covid19
Wix
- Offer : Free plan with ads
- Entry-level plan without ads: starting at R$13/month
- Website link: https://pt.wix.com/
Ecwid
- Offer : Free plan forever with limited features.
- Entry-level plan with professional features: starting at $15/month
- Website link: https://www.ecwid.com/br
Productivity / Communication
Perhaps you have many employees in the office who don't have business emails, but still need to communicate with the remote team and maintain productivity. Here are some tips on software that helps communication between employees, regardless of their location and without costing anything extra.
Microsoft Teams
- Useful for offices that want to stay in touch with remote employees via email, chat, video, and online calls.
- Offer : Free plan for remote teams with limited resources.
- Paid entry-level plan: Microsoft 365 Business Basic starting at R$23.60/user/month
- Website link: https://www.microsoft.com/pt-br/microsoft-365/microsoft-teams/free
Quip
- Useful for companies that use Salesforce and don't have documents and spreadsheets in the cloud.
- Offer : Free until September 30, 2020
- Price after discount period: US$10/user/month
- Link to the offer: https://quip.com/work-from-home
Slack
- Similar to Microsoft Teams, Slack is useful for grouping company communication in one place and dividing topics by channels and departments.
- Offer : Free plan for small teams that want to test Slack for an unlimited period.
- Initial paid plan: Standard price of $4.80/user/month
- Website link: https://slack.com/intl/pt-br/
Accounting and Operations
If your office has complex on-premises software, it becomes very difficult to manage your business from home. Therefore, ERP systems running on local servers are gradually being replaced by online ERP systems. The advantages of a cloud-based system are numerous when working remotely. And the current moment is opportune to reassess your back office and prepare for a post-pandemic boom.
QuickBooks Business
- Ideal for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
- Offer : Try it free for 30 days.
- After the trial period: R$ 64.50/month
- Website link: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/br/
Bling
- Management system for micro and small businesses
- Offer : Try it free for 30 days.
- After the trial period: Initial payment of R$25/month
- Website link: https://www.bling.com.br/home
Tiny ERP
- Optimize your company's routine.
- Offer : Try it free for 30 days.
- After the trial period: Starter plan R$50/month
- Website link: https://tiny.com.br/
HR and Health
Your office is empty and all your employees are working from home. Are they able to concentrate on their tasks? How is their mental health? These survey tools help you communicate informally with your team to find out if they are doing well and if they are able to generate results for your company.
Qualtrics Remote Work Pulse
- It helps you understand if your organization is prepared for a remote workforce and if your employees have what they need to succeed in this new environment.
- Offer : Free for organizations of all sizes, with no end date.
- Price after discount period: not found
- Link to offer: https://www.qualtrics.com/pt-br/estamos-aqui-para-ajudar/
Feedz
- Employee Climate Survey for Remote Work
- Offer : Free
- Link to offer: https://www.feedz.com.br/pesquisa-de-engajamento-gratuita/
Vitalk
- A platform that helps you take care of your emotional well-being during this period, in addition to informing you and assessing the need to seek care based on the symptoms you are experiencing.
- Offer : Free
- Website link: https://personal.vitalk.com.br/novocoronavirus/
Livia.bot
- A virtual assistant that helps with questions about COVID-19 and the requirements for blood donation.
- Offer : Free
- Link to the website: https://livia.bot/
Web Security and VPN
Many employees are working from home , handling confidential documents outside of the secure corporate network. Here's how you can protect your employees and confidential company data, wherever they are.
Cisco Umbrella
- Cloud-based firewall, web gateway, threat detection, and DNS layer security.
- Offer : Existing customers receive all additional licenses free of charge until July 1, 2020. New customers can extend their free 14-day trial to 90 days (upon request).
- Price after the discount period: approx. US$2.70/user/month
- Link to offer: https://signup.umbrella.com/
Lumiun
- Cloud-based service that protects your company from internet threats, making the network more secure and the team more productive. Firewall and internet access control : reports on internet usage, web content filters, and greater browsing security. Business VPN: A solution that will bring external collaborators closer together.
File sharing
If you don't want to use a VPN to access your office file server, you can move your most important files to cloud-based storage services. Companies have been using online storage for many years to improve collaboration between employees and partners.
Amazon WorkDocs
- It's basicallybox for businesses. It replaces the file server with a cloud-synchronized desktop drive and collaboration features such as comments, approval workflows, offline editing, version control, and robust data security.
- Offer : Free for the first 50 users (1 TB per user) from March 16 to June 30, 2020.
- Price after discount period: $5-8/user/month (prices vary by AWS region)
- Offer link: https://aws.amazon.com/pt/workdocs/pricing/
Box
- File sharing and collaboration platform
- Offer : 90-day free trial
- Price after discount period: US$51.90 for 3 users/month
- Offer link: https://account. box .com/signup/business?tl=oWgBWV
Digital signatures
During this time of social isolation, it's difficult to go to a client's company to sign a contract. Digital signatures have legal validity and are possibly more secure than a signature on paper.
DocuSign
- It helps millions of users send and sign contracts remotely.
- Offer : 3 months free for the Business Pro plan, offer valid until May 30th.
- Price after the discount period: starting at $10/month
- Offer link: https://go.docusign.com/o/trial/br-goog-trynow-90day/
Video conferencing
The problem with holding meetings solely via phone calls is the loss of body language. That's why video conferencing emerges as a major advancement, making meetings as good as in-person ones. Now you can try it for free.
Cisco Webex
- Offer : The free plan now includes unlimited usage, support for up to 100 participants, free dialing, and VoIP features.
- Price after discount period: US$13.50/user/month
- Link to offer: https://www.webex.com
Google Meet
- Offer : Until September 30, 2020, Google Meet's advanced video conferencing features, such as larger meetings (up to 250 participants), live streaming, and recording, are free for all G Suite customers.
- Price after the offer period: R$ 24.30/user/month
- Offer link: https://meet.google.com/
Zoom
- Offer : Basic plan, up to 100 participants, unlimited meetings, 40-minute limit.
- This plan is free forever, but if you want advanced features you can subscribe to the Professional plan for $14.99/month/host.
- Offer link: https://zoom.us/docs/pt-pt/covid19.html
Did you like our tips on free software to keep your office running? Then check out our other article with tips on tools to keep your business running smoothly .
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