Amidst the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak, more and more companies are urging staff to work from home. Following this, the government may turn remote working into a requirement.
While there are many benefits to working from home, larger companies are often set up for this and can easily make the transition. However there are smaller businesses out there who may not be set up for remote working.
If you are unsure if you have the right setup, here are the basic essentials.
Are your staff set up to make phones calls from home, as if they were in the office?
An up-to-date PBX is key for enabling this. This is the in-house telephone network used company-wide, which allows users to communicate internally with each other and to outside of the company.
On the one hand is a hosted VoIP PBX which uses the internet to transport calls. Therefore making it easy to call from anywhere as if you are calling from the office (see VoIP for more information). Alternatively, a traditional PBX system is located onsite and can be restricted to internal company usage only.
It is important to note that some of these traditional PBX systems are not compatible with remote working. In this case, your IT Support Provider will be able to verify your system’s compatibility and suggest solutions.
Are the devices at home set up to allow access to business data, as in the office?
Therefore providing speed, security and stability for remote working.
Laptops, desktops, tablets or other computing devices can be set up with a VPN (Virtual Private Network). This enables users to access office folders as if their devices were directly connected to the company’s private network.
A VPN is probably the safest, most reliable solution to getting access to a shared office drive, although there are other options available to share and download files.
On the whole, your IT Support will be able to check the status of your devices and, if compatible, install a VPN onto your system.
How NPIT can support you.
Do you have any concerns about setting up remote working, we can:
- Run a complete health check of your systems and devices. We would assess their compatibility for remote working and whether the security and software is up-to-date.
- Provide a check list of what you need to do to set up remote working.
- Install the necessary software to enable remote working for you and your colleagues.
- If your systems are out-of-date or not compatible with remote working, NPIT can recommend possible alternatives.
