Today the coronavirus epidemic continued to prompt new travel restrictions and emergency declarations around the world, with the U.S. State Department on Sunday warning citizens against cruise travel and Italy resorting to a massive lockdown affecting millions of people. Work at home declarations from the CDC and other government agencies are probably going to become the new normal. Not only could it become a temporary law, but it's also the best way to protect your employees from exposure to the novel virus.
So how can you as a business owner prepare to transition your workforce into a work-at-home team that still performs at a high level? Here are six things to consider before you go virtual:
HIGH-SPEED INTERNET - The first thing you need to do as a business owner is to survey your employees to see what kind of broadband they are using at home. To run business voice and video calls, they're going to need plenty of throughput. A good standard that should provide enough horsepower is 50 Mb down, 5 Mb upload speed.
MOVE YOUR PHONE SYSTEM TO THE CLOUD - Here are the key features of UCaaS that will enable your work-at-home employees by leveraging the benefits of unified communications in the Cloud:
Video Conferencing
Mobile App
Collaboration
CRM Integration
MOVE DESKTOP WORKSPACE TO THE CLOUD - With Active Directory, you can ensure certain file-sharing rules within your own Local Area Network. Two promising technologies address these features and move them all to the Cloud while maintaining centralized control over access permissions.
Workspace as a Service
Desktop as a Service
MOVE CONTACT CENTER TO THE CLOUD - Does your business have a contact center or help desk in-office? Having a Cloud Contact Center solution allows your employees to support your clients while working from home.
IDENTIFY & PROVIDE NECESSARY DEVICES - Don't let Coronavirus hold your company back; make sure that your employees have the technology they need:
Mobile or softphone
Desktop or laptop computer
REMOTE FILE SHARE
When you send your workers home, they must be able to share, collaborate on, and store files in the Cloud. The most popular cloud file storage providers are:
Microsoft Office 365 - OneDrive
Google G-Suite - Google Drive
Dropbox
Box.com
HOW FAST CAN YOU MAKE THE PIVOT?
If you'd like assistance in putting a work-at-home technology plan in place, contact us.
