What is the Coronavirus?
Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe respiratory diseases. COVID-19 is a new illness, caused by a Coronavirus, that can affect the lungs and airways. The first case was reported in Wuhan, China, on 31 December 2019 and there have since been cases confirmed in 105 countries around the world.
The symptoms of coronavirus are:
- a cough
- a high temperature
- shortness of breath
Some people are at higher risk of getting very sick from this illness including older adults, and people who have serious chronic medical conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and lung disease. Because it’s a new illness, it’s unknown exactly how it spreads from person to person, but similar viruses are spread via coughing. There is also currently no specific treatment for coronavirus.
What is the Government’s Current Response?
People are being asked to self-isolate in response to COVID-19 to help prevent the virus from spreading. People may need to isolate themselves if they have travelled to an affected area, or have been in close contact with an infected person. Here, spending 15 minutes within 2m of someone with the virus, or having face-to-face contact, is judged to be a significant risk.
How might COVID-19 Affect your Business?
With people being advised to self-isolate for 14 days, businesses can be impacted in two key ways:
– Loss of staff: If a staff member has come into contact with someone infected with COVID-19, they are recommended to self-isolate for 14 days at home. Should this happen to one or more of your employees, this can lead to a significantly reduced workforce. This poses even more of an issue if your staff are unable to work remotely and need to be in the office to carry out their responsibilities.
– Loss of visitors: As more people begin self-isolating, the number of physical visitors to business’ premises will reduce. Hence, being permanently accessible on the phone, and online more generally, is going to become more important than ever.
5 Ways to Prepare your Business for the Coronavirus:
01. Softphones
Softphones allow you to make and receive business calls from your computer. The software mimics a physical phone handset, allowing you to use all the call handling features that you’re used to, right from your desktop.
Should your staff rely on their desk phones to carry out their role, investing in softphones is a great way to get ahead and ensure your business’ productivity doesn’t suffer as a result of COVID-19.
02. Mobile Extensions
What would happen if your premises were empty but customers were still trying to contact you? Would the phones just ring and ring, and your workforce return to a mountain of voicemails from unhappy customers?
Having a mobile extension allows all calls to your business to be forwarded to your mobile, seamlessly. Callers are unaware of this redirection, meaning there is no disruption to them, and you can answer their call from anywhere in the world, whether it be a sun lounger on holiday or your sofa during coronavirus self-isolation.
03. Remote access
If your workforce needs to be at home, getting your systems set up for remote access allows business to continue as usual, without disrupting the service you provide or the day-to-day running of your company. Access all of your programmes and software from any PC.
04. Mobile Apps
Are essentially the mobile equivalent of a softphone. Take advantage of all of the features of your business telephone right from your mobile. This includes the use of internal numbers, call recording and call logging.
05. Laptops
Do your workforce primarily work on desktop computers based in the office? If required to work from home, do they have the resources to allow them to do such? Providing your employees with work laptops prevents your business becoming unstuck should the premises temporarily close due to self-isolation. Whilst employees might have their own devices at home, they may not be able to run the programmes that your company uses or may have security issues leaving your company vulnerable to hacking.
Here at Yo Telecom we offer all of the services mentioned in this post. Fill in the form below and we’ll help prepare your business.
Don’t miss any opportunities due to COVID-19! Give us a call on 02381 733966 to get this sorted for you.
