It’s the story dominating the news; the coronavirus outbreak and the impact it might have. Companies across the country are having to seriously consider how the outbreak might impact business continuity, and what they can do about it. 

We’re hoping that it will all settle down soon enough, but if you haven’t thought about how your business might continue operating in a situation where staff can’t go to work, have a read of our top tips below. 

Computer systems

How do you store files at work? Where do your emails go? What do you need access to for your business to keep running? 

There isn’t really a one-size-fits-all solution for working from home when it comes to IT, but you’ve got lots of options at your disposal. 

Depending on your IT setup, you might be using a laptop day-to-day, and it’s a simple case of just taking it home, and continuing work as normal. It’s where desktop computers and on-site servers are involved where it gets more confusing. 

If your work relies upon saving and accessing files from a server on-site, you’ll need to think about how you might be able to access any files you need from home. Copying them to a cloud service like Google Drive or Dropbox, or even sending them through WeTranser are all simple ways to send files home. Alternatively, backing up to an external hard drive might be easier if you have a lot of big files to transfer. 

Take your work computer home

If you do all of your work locally on your PC, then taking it home with you might be a good option. It’s the most practically intense solution; If you usually walk to work or take the bus, this might not be an option for you. There are a number of advantages with this solution, including

• Most files are where you expect them to be
• Any specialist software will be in place and work
• Everything is set up correctly
• Performance will be equal to your usual setup

Though the disadvantages are

• Clunky to take home, including susceptible to damage
• On-site resources like servers won't be available (unless your business has a VPN)

If you’re taking home a conventional computer, make sure to pack a network cable to connect it to the internet through your router, as most desktop PCs don’t have WiFi. 

Remote access

There are a number of free and cheap applications that allow you to use your computer from anywhere in the world. To use these solutions, you will require two computers (the one you’re using at home, and the one you’re remotely accessing). There are a number of benefits to this solution

• No need to physically move anything from the office
• All your files are where you expect them to be
• Everything is set up correctly
• Access to any on-site resources like servers
• Any specialist software is in place and works as expected
• The remote computer doesn’t need to be particularly modern or fast, as it’s only acting as a slave device

There are, however, a number of disadvantages

• You’re controlling your computer in the office remotely, so every keystroke is sent to the slave computer, and the screen is relayed across the web, which means the latency can impact productivity
• You need another computer to act as the slave device at home
• A poor internet connection at either end can severely impact the performance

If you want to give this a try, check out TeamViewer or ScreenConnect to achieve the remote connection. These tools are also great for sharing your screen with your colleagues too, when working on projects together! 

Using personal equipment

If you're only performing basic tasks with the IT system at work, and have all the software and resources (like emails and Microsoft Office), you might get by without too much trouble by using your personal computer. The advantages include

• Little upheaval, no need to install software or move heavy hardware around
• Likely to be set up already at home
• If the business relies on cloud storage like Google Drive or Dropbox, it should be easy to get up and running

It’s important to remember some of the downfalls of this approach

• If you rely on specialist software, this might not be available
• You’ll need to check with your IT team that you can access your emails
• Your files might need to be copied across to your personal devices before being able to get on with work
• There may be security issues with holding company files on a personal device

Security and Encryption

When working away from the office, it's important to maintain data security and integrity. We strongly advise people to encrypt their computer in any case, but especially for remote workers, as it ensures if your devices are stolen, any data on the machine can't be accessed. You might have encryption turned on already, but we'd advise speaking to your IT team before taking any actions. It's something you can do both on Windows and with a Mac.

Also, make sure you adhere to any data handling policies your business might have. Be careful when storing sensitive files on personal devices, utilising passwords to protect files where possible, and limit the use of personal cloud storage and emails for file transfers. 

Communication

Make sure you keep in touch with your team while working remotely. Emails and WhatsApp work fine at a push, but tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams (free with Office 365) are designed with the purpose of keeping remote-working teams in the loop. 

Collaborative organisation tools like Trello and Teamwork can help digitise and share task lists and progress reports of everything going on. 

Phone lines

Depending on your phone supplier and system, you should be able to redirect calls to remote workers fairly easily. If you have a standard phone line into the premises, it’s worth speaking to your supplier or submitting a support ticket to see how you might be able to achieve this, likely by forwarding to a personal mobile or landline. 

If you use phones that work through the internet (sometimes known as VOIP), you can simply unplug the phone from your desk, and plug it into your router at home. These systems often support redirection too, including group redirection (calling all your employees at once, and whoever picks up first gets the call) and hunt groups (ring employee A for 5 rings, then employee B for 5 rings, etc.). Again, speak to your supplier to see how best they can support you. 

Wellbeing

If you're working from home, you need to make sure you're keeping on top of your mental and physical health. Working in isolation isn't good for anyone long-term, and you need to build in positive habits to be sure that you're doing your best. 

Taking time out from being at home - going for a walk for even just half an hour - can help to break up the day. And maintaining working hours, making it clear when you're working and when you aren't is key to avoiding procrastination. 

Here at Volute, we've got procedures in place to make sure that, regardless of any action taken over the next few months, we'll be able to operate as usual, so don't hesitate to get in touch with us.