As news develops around the spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus, we should all take precautions at the workspace. We understand the importance of proactive emergency planning to ensure we respond to crisis situations effectively and minimize the impact to employees and clients. In response to the current public health emergency, businesses across the country are asking employees to work remotely to reduce its spread.
Do you have an emergency plan that includes provisions for telework and outlines a communication strategy to ensure your employees, partners and clients have the essential information they need? As we continue to see the spread of the new corona virus across the U.S., it’s important to ensure your business is prepared for the potential effects of this emergency. Here are a few ways to begin:
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Create and distribute an emergency plan – All businesses should have a written emergency plan that outlines how employees should communicate with managers, where they can receive updated information about business hours and employee expectations, how to secure corporate assets and respond to customer requirements, and more. The plan should be distributed throughout the organization and managers given the tools they need to answer employee questions.
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Discuss remote work options – Consider off-premise collaboration tools for employees. IPFone’s Unified Communication solutions include voice, video conferencing and messaging which keep employees working effectively. In addition, provide managers the training they need to manage their teams remotely and clear guidance on what they should expect from remote workers.
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Secure your network and backup data – Responding to an emergency highlights the importance of implementing strong cybersecurity solutions and training your staff on ways to protect company data and assets, including implementing data backup solutions.
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Implement secure remote server access – Can your team members access the information they need to respond to customer demands remotely? Setting up a secure VPN connection provides online access to key information that is secure and encrypted.
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Identify collaboration and communication tools – Improving remote work outputs is simple with the help of cloud-based collaboration tools supported by a robust Unified Communications platform. Whether team members use tablet, mobile devices or desktop computers, employees can continue to stay connected and remain productive even when they’re not in the office.
The time to act is now! Contact us today at 1-855-464-7366 to discuss how we can support your emergency planning efforts today.
