Covid-19 – Technology considerations and 6+ ways we can help

The global circumstances around the Covid-19 outbreak, which the World Health Organization is now calling a pandemic, continue to rapidly evolve. It is important that businesses be proactive and vigilant in order to minimize the risks.

At Crafty Penguins and Kerkhoff Technologies, we are regularly monitoring the situation and putting structures in place to continue to serve our clients in any circumstance. Following are things we encourage you to consider so you, too, can be proactive and vigilant.

Personal and Professional Considerations:

• What are ways you can protect your team members from infection while at the office?
• Can your team members productively work from home to prevent the spread of infection?
• Are you ready to implement potential quarantine restrictions imposed by local authorities?
• Which team members could be affected by family members who may be quarantined, should that become an issue?
• Will your team members be affected by local school closures, and are you prepared to support them in that case?
• How will you respond to team members who are unwilling to come into the office due to perceived risks?
• Is your contact list up to date, so team members who stay home can be reached in any eventuality?

Technology Considerations:

• Be aware of phishing scams related to the Covid-19 outbreak – spend time with your team members to educate them on what to look for (and contact KTI for assistance in this)
• Remind your team to be extra cautious about clicking on links or opening attachments in emails about Covid-19, even if they appear to come from inside the company
• Ensure work spaces (especially keyboards, phones, desktops, chair arms, etc.) are regularly disinfected to avoid the spread of any viruses
• If team members are working from home and you arrange to have calls forwarded to cell phones, test that process to make sure there are no glitches in that system
• Provide any hardware (e.g. headsets, tablets, laptops) – within reason – to ensure that your team can continue to be productive from a home environment
• Make sure that any web-conferencing tools and software functions properly, so your team can continue to collaborate effectively
• Due to the inevitable negative affect on the supply chain, if you are considering hardware replacement plans in the near future, consider expediting those plans to ensure productivity is not lost

Practical ways we can help you:

• Setting up remote VoIP phone services
• Setting up VPN access so users can connect to the office network and their computers, applications, and servers there
• Helping users get access to webmail
• Moving files from office file servers over to secure cloud storage (such as Sharepoint/Onedrive)
• Acceptable-use policies and training to ensure employees price safe working habits at home (avoiding ransomware, phishing scams and such)
• Laptops and docking stations to make working at home more productive

If you would like KTI to assist you in providing and disseminating information to your team members, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’re glad to help.