COVID-19 Home Working Support
Business Type – Micro, SME, Corporate, Public Sector
Client – All sectors
Size: businesses with 5 users and above
Product/Services – Covid remote / home working packages tailored to your teams needs:
Dedicated internet, Fibre Broadband, 4G, hosted telephony, e-learning, cyber security, network monitoring.
CHALLENGES
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Spring 2020, the UK Government advised businesses to allow people to “work from home wherever possible”. Pre lockdown around 5% of the UK workforce worked from home. During lockdown this increased to more like 50%. From April 12th 2021, many businesses will be allowed to re open once again, however businesses have adapted and elements of home working, look like they could be here to stay. Many businesses have downsized premises and offering staff the ability to work from home or the office when needed.
Home working has major benefits: No commute, lower travel costs and improved work life balance, but has proven to be somewhat of a challenge. In particular organisations have faced issues where staff normally commute to work to an office space with desktop computers, using legacy on premise applications and fixed line telephones.
Being able to effectively route calls to specific users or departments is not easy without the right equipment for the job. Simply diverting to users own mobiles could address things in an emergency but could also pose regulatory issues.
Having little or no time to re think how to accelerate their Digital Transformation plans, or perhaps not realising how business communications could be affected. Many organisations have had no choice but to limit inbound telephone services and reduce staff due to not being able to work from home.
Millions of businesses trying to work from home have struggled due to not having suitable connectivity or telephony in place. Many now only using live-chat and email to the detriment of callers desperately trying to get through.
SOLUTIONS
We are a solutions led company and help businesses in a number of key areas, whether their team are at home or at their normal place of work. Below is far from exhaustive but gives you an idea of areas we can help with.
Hosted Voice
Cloud / hosted telephony can enable businesses to keep talking to customers and supply chains no matter if they are working from the office or from home. Physical desk phones can be plugged into a broadband connection in order to be able to make and take business calls. Furthermore soft phone applications can also be used on smartphones, tablets and computers, so that calls are never missed. By adding professional audio we can also help give your organisation make the most of it’s telephony with music on hold, comfort messaging, on hold marketing and more
Unlimited Voice, Data & SMS plans
One workaround to a situation that could go on for an unknown amount of time, is issuing staff with business SIM cards to use in their existing mobile phones. We have plans available across all networks with as little as 30 day terms.
Temporary Business Internet Solutions
Many home internet connections have proven to be unsuitable for reliable home working. Additional household internet traffic and general demand on networks during the day time have been much higher than normal. HM Network can provide flexible term fibre broadband with business SLA, and/or 4G connections with a plug in router, to keep business internet use separate from domestic activity.
We have provided a number of organisations with dual SIM business routers, which can operate across all 4 UK mobile networks providing built in resilience and flexibility.
We have helped by increasing bandwidth on leased lines and added resilience for numerous clients to be able to accommodate increased inbound traffic in offices and schools especially.
Cyber Awareness & Compliance Training
Our e-Learning platforms can help communicate safe home working practices, company policies, cyber security awareness, data protection and health & safety information, even when away from the usual place of work, providing organisations with the opportunity to up-skill staff. Our new self serve e learn portal offering business from 1-250 users more than 48 modules of training from just £1.38 per month. See how our compliance e learning can help you
RESULTS
Being able to stay connected during lockdown has helped many organisations keep people in work and deliver vital services to clients and the public.
The global pandemic has made businesses re think “Digital Transformation” strategies and bring projects forward in order to adapt and survive.
Cloud hosted services including telephony, video conferencing, collaboration tools like Trello, Office 365 and Google drive mean projects can be worked on by multiple people in real time no matter the location.
Countless businesses are now reviewing current business premise arrangements and offering home working to many as a full time or part time option. Furthermore this also enabled businesses to attract talent from further afield without having to worry about commute or relocation.
Money saved from renting city centre office spaces can be invested to provide better business grade connectivity and telephony to better support home working.
SOLUTIONS FOR YOU
“HM Network can provide a missing piece to your data puzzle, or an end to end solution. We can work with to help you stay connected to your staff and your clients at a time when you need it most”
If we can help you in any way please contact us.
