How Toolsite Recreated the Office – Without the Office
When Toolsite CEO Stefan Krulj reflects on what the biggest challenge of remote work has been, one problem stood out above all, isolation.
Toolsite, a fast-growing software company that develops smart solutions for tracking tools in the construction industry, has employees scattered across multiple locations, including some working from home. Everyone connected through Microsoft Teams. On paper, it worked. In practice, something was missing.
“Every interaction felt like a calendar invite,” Krulj explains. “We tested ‘watercooler’ apps, add-ons, and team-building plugins for Teams. But nothing could recreate the natural flow of an office. The barrier was always the same - you had to call someone up or book a meeting just to ask a quick question.”
Breaking the Psychological Barrier
For Toolsite, the breakthrough came with BeZoned - a virtual office solution designed to transform remote collaboration.
Instead of dialing into a scheduled call, employees now simply exist together in a digital space. Developers claim their spots at a shared table where instant sparring happens throughout the day. Sales and support float between rooms, dropping in on conversations just as they would at the coffee machine. And every Friday afternoon, the entire company gathers in a virtual lounge for beers that are, as Krulj puts it, “definitely-not-virtual.”
“It’s the natural office experience we were missing,” Stefan Krulj says. “Suddenly, the friction disappeared. You don’t need to check calendars or push yourself to reach out - you’re already in the same room.”
From Isolation to a natural Flow
The impact has been striking. Toolsite’s developers collaborate more fluidly, exchanging ideas on the fly instead of waiting for the next scheduled standup. Sales and support thrive on spontaneous interactions, catching each other between calls and solving issues in real-time.
The difference, says Krulj, is simple: “We stopped working in isolation with occasional video calls and started working together again.”
Where other tools promised “watercooler chats,” BeZoned reintroduced something deeper - psychological proximity. By removing the formal barrier of meetings, it restored the unstructured moments that often spark the best ideas.
Lessons for Leaders managing Remote and Hybrid Teams
For managers and leaders navigating the realities of remote or hybrid work, Toolsite’s story is a reminder that collaboration isn’t just about technology - it’s about human dynamics. Even the best chat or meeting tools can’t replicate the natural rhythm of an office if employees feel they need to justify every interaction.
By creating a shared, always-on presence, BeZoned allowed Toolsite to shift from transactional communication to genuine teamwork.
“BeZoned has removed the friction from remote collaboration,” Krulj sums up. “It gave us back the spontaneous interaction we were missing—and with it, the feeling of being one team.”