The recent stormy weather caused all sorts of mayhem throughout the country with power and water supplies affected and most people staying indoors. Thankfully that weather has passed but who knows when the next storm could arrive.
Once the warnings came through on Sunday night for Hurricane Ophelia many businesses started to make plans for closing their office the next day. Following expert advice, responsible companies knew they would be putting their staff at risk by asking them to come to the office that day.
Many businesses are still playing catch up from the loss of that day and with a bank holiday weekend ahead every day counts when you are trying to complete work assignments.
Work from Home
How you would have liked for your team to continue working for that day – from the safety of their homes? Even if you could have had a fraction of the work completed off site, it may have made the difference in not missing a deadline or completing a project. This is not a pipe dream, or indeed something only for large organisations. It takes planning and thought but it can become a reality for any business.
What Technology?
Let’s look at just a few examples of the kind of technology that is available to organisations today. For meetings you could use something like Webex, a Cisco product that allows participants to dial into a central point and share screens to discuss files or watch a presentation. Just like being in the boardroom, both voice and video can be used and the sessions are recorded for later discussion.
Accessing shared files when out of the office can be done using a platform such as Autotask file sync and share. This allows team members to collaborate and access documents wherever they are, even if they are out of the office. It’s a very secure platform and used by many organisations worldwide.
With the latest technologies in cloud computing it is becoming easier to share and access software and documents. Having the ability to log into software from home and have the same capabilities as when in the office is of great benefit.
Security is always an issue that is top of the agenda when it comes to working online. That’s why it is so important to have the correct levels in place to allow for exchange of data. Encryption, protection of each device, protecting against attack and appropriate levels of security access are all important elements of cyber security. All of which can be advised by your managed IT service provider.
Not just for stormy days
Once you have the systems in place it allows staff members to work remotely at any stage. This is not just for the rare stormy or snow bound days. The flexibility of being able to work from home on occasion is a great perk you can offer staff members and in some cases it can even prevent the loss of staff due to commuting time.
To find out more about the kinds of systems you can put in place for remote working in a safe environment you can speak to one of our expert team at DNA IT Solutions.