We have been asked by a number of clients, what they can do to minimise disruption if they need to close the office during the outbreak of the coronavirus. We thought we would come up with some considerations to help you plan accordingly. Every business is different, and every business has individual needs, so we will try to cover the basics.
Feel free to chat to us about any specific requirements you might have.
Access to telephone calls
If you get your phone system through us, and its currently managed by us, we will be able to make that system available to you and your staff at home. This will either be by way of taking a handset home, and enabling it to work from home, or giving you software on your laptop or mobile phone.
If your phone system is provided by a third party, we would advise you to speak to them to find out what they can support for your setup.
Access to information
If you currently subscribe to a cloud-based product i.e Microsoft 365 or Office 365, you may already be able to access the majority of the data you need outside of the office. If you rely on a data server within the office, things like VPN access and remote desktop will mean you should be able to access the systems you need.
If you don’t think the data you store will be accessible remotely, we can assist you in getting something set up to help you.
Access to secure equipment
Working from home means that staff will be accessing your company data on devices that may not be as secure as their workstation at work. Make sure that 2-factor authentication is enabled where possible, personal devices have an up to date antivirus product. Ensure that enabling your staff to work from home, does not breach your GDPR and Privacy policy.
If your IT budget allows, have some laptops or tablets that are available to staff in the event that they need to work from home. Having company approved and configured devices will ensure that your data is kept as secure as possible. If you are relying on staff travelling with USB Memory sticks or external hard-drives, you must ensure that those devices are encrypted in case they are lost, misplaced or stolen.
We hope that our advice will not be required during this outbreak, but its good practice to have a disaster plan, and to keep it up to date.
If you have any questions about anything above or something specific for your business, please get in touch.
