Every time I read a “remote work essentials” article from some Melbourne or Sydney publication, I have to laugh. Standing desks, noise-cancelling headphones, dual monitors—sure, those are nice. But they’re not addressing the real challenges we face out here.

After helping dozens of regional businesses set up remote work over the past few years, here’s what actually matters.

Internet Reliability Comes First

I can’t stress this enough. All the fancy tools in the world won’t help if your connection drops during an important client call.

Before investing in anything else, sort out your internet situation:

Option 1: NBN (if you’re lucky) Check if you’re eligible for upgrades on the NBN Co website. Business-grade NBN plans often include priority support and better service level agreements. They cost more, but the reliability might be worth it.

Option 2: Mobile backup Every remote worker in regional Victoria should have a mobile hotspot as backup. Telstra generally has the best regional coverage, though Optus has improved in some areas. A decent mobile plan can save you when the NBN goes down.

Option 3: Starlink I’ll be doing a detailed comparison soon, but if you’re in a really remote area, Starlink is worth investigating. Several businesses near Hamilton are using it as their primary connection now.

Video Conferencing That Actually Works

Zoom, Teams, Google Meet—they all work fine when your internet is good. The key is optimising for when it’s not.

Practical tips:

• Turn off your camera when bandwidth is tight. Audio-only uses far less data.
• Close other browser tabs and applications during important calls.
• Use the phone dial-in option as backup. Most services offer Australian numbers.
• Download the desktop app rather than using the browser version—it’s usually more stable.

One Ballarat business owner I know schedules all her important video calls for early morning, before the neighbourhood kids get home from school and start streaming. Smart.

Cloud Storage Done Right

If your team is working remotely, files need to live in the cloud. But which service?

Google Drive works well for most small businesses. It’s affordable, familiar, and integrates with Gmail.

Microsoft 365 (OneDrive/SharePoint) makes sense if you’re already in the Microsoft ecosystem. The integration with Outlook and Teams is genuinely useful.

Dropbox has fallen behind but still works fine for simple file sharing.

The key is picking one and sticking with it. I’ve seen businesses with files scattered across three different cloud services—it’s chaos.

Communication Tools

Email is too slow, phone calls interrupt deep work. You need something in between.

Slack is popular but can become overwhelming. Set clear expectations about response times—not every message needs an immediate reply.

Microsoft Teams bundles chat with video calling and file storage. If you’re paying for Microsoft 365, it’s already included.

WhatsApp works surprisingly well for small teams. A building company in Bendigo coordinates their entire crew through WhatsApp groups.

Security Basics

Remote work expands your attack surface. A few essentials:

• Password manager (Bitwarden is free and excellent)
• Two-factor authentication on everything important
• VPN if staff are accessing company systems from public wifi
• Regular backups including cloud data

Don’t overcomplicate this, but don’t ignore it either.

The Human Side

Technology is the easy part. The harder challenge is maintaining team connection when everyone’s scattered.

What I’ve seen work:

• Regular video check-ins (but not too many—“Zoom fatigue” is real)
• Clear communication about availability and working hours
• Occasional in-person gatherings when possible
• Trust. Micromanaging remote workers never ends well.

My Recommendation

If you’re just starting with remote work, focus on:

1. Reliable internet (with backup)
2. One cloud storage solution
3. One communication tool
4. Basic security

Get those working smoothly before adding complexity. The businesses that struggle are usually the ones that adopted ten different tools and now nobody knows where anything is.

Keep it simple. Make it reliable. That’s what regional businesses need.

Business Victoria has resources for businesses transitioning to remote work, including guides on technology adoption and available support programs.