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Hints & Tips – Coping with travel disruption

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Christmas is over and the bad weather is inevitably on the way. So now is the time to make sure you are prepared for the worst; check the tyres and keep a can of anti-freeze at the ready.

By StoneHouse Logic.

What if your team is stuck away from the office by the weather; is your IT system ready to help you cope with the disruption? We discuss how to be prepared for the worst and what to consider in the event that you can’t make it into the office.

Preparation Ahead of Time - Set up an “Emergency Call Tree” and “Telephone Divert System” in the case of emergency. - Take home an up-to-date copy of the company phone list and make sure you are always accessible by phone. - Use an online messenger service to keep in communication, we recommend Microsoft Lync which is part of Office 365

Set up “Remote Access” - This allows the user to log into a system as an authorized user without being physically present. - Make sure you can access your email and contacts from anywhere you need to – Microsoft Outlook Web Access could be a great way to achieve this - Email is great – but also consider how you access business systems like Sage to be able to process customer orders etc.

Consider “Cloud Computing” - This practice uses the internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer. - With this you can access customer information to continue working with clients or to continue working on projects with other users. - This is particularly beneficial for software such as CRM or Office Tools like Word etc. - Office 365 is a cloud solution that provides anywhere access to outlook, office, Lync and company files

When the snow lands: - Get Online, Stay Online - Use the systems you have put into place (Lync / Outlook / Remote Access) - You may not be the only one not in office, send message through email as well as Lync to make sure all your customers & colleagues are aware you won’t be in the office. Make sure this is tested ahead of time so that you are not caught short. If you are worried your system isn’t up to scratch then it might be time to upgrade, Office 365 provides a great many cloud based solutions great for such an emergency!