Genzee Ltd

With the recent Swine Flu outbreak many business owners need to be looking at their contingency plans to ensure their business can survive the potential disruption. Over the last few days Mexico City has turned into a ghost town with millions staying at home as schools and businesses are closed (Not to mention the earthquake on the 27th). So how will your business cope should this happen with London?

The Government's advice is for small businesses to plan for temporary absences for 30 - 35% of employees during a pandemic and even more for smaller businesses! So here are a few things that can help your business be ready for these kind of disruptions and in many cases save you money as well:

• Stay up to date
  Knowledge is the first step for any preparation and there are many sites with information and regular updates. The key is to stay up to date so you can be prepared and this is where Web Feeds come in handy. Simply subscribe (Outlook 2007 supports this) to a News Site's Web Feed and you will stay up to date with news instead of having to frequently go and revisit the site.

• Invest in VoIP
  VoIP has great benefits and can simplify Home Working arrangements. Staff can work from home and still receive calls on their office extension without incurring call forwarding charges, and also make calls from their office extension. In a situation where staff need to stay at home due to travel disruptions or school closures, they can still easily be contactable on their normal extension without needing to distribute mobile phone numbers.

• Go Hosted
  One of the great benefits of Hosted Solutions, such as Hosted PBX (Telephone System), Hosted Desktops, Hosted Exchange, etc is that these solutions are designed to be accessible from anywhere making Home Working very easy without having additional security challenges. One of the big advantages of Hosted Solutions and "Cloud Computing" is that remote users can easily be supported. So there is no need to dispatch a support engineer to a physical location.

Why not get in touch with us and see how we can help your business prepare for large scale disruptions such as a flu pandemic or severe weather? Call us on 0800 047 0390 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 
Useful Links:
Information on Web Feeds
NHS Information on Flu Pandemics
Department of Health Pandemic Flu FAQ
Government Guidelines to plan for large scale absences
Information on our VoIP products and services