Snow Days. Another case for Teleworking!

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I’m entering my sixth day of cabin fever in the Baltimore / DC area, and it hasn’t been as quiet as I’ve expected. I’ve actually been receiving calls from a number of clients who are also snowed in but need to access their work files in order to keep business running. After taking calls on a number of issues, I’ve separated them into three categories:

• “Help! Can I access any of my work files from home? I’ve never done it before but really need to get in!”
• “Help! We set up remote access and VPN months ago but I never use it. I don’t remember how to use it / can’t get it to work / don’t have it set up on my computer anymore.”
• “I’m safe and working from home! Since I’m online, can you take care of a couple of projects / small tasks for me?”

Ideally, I would like to see all of my clients fit into the third bullet. I understand that some businesses don’t require extremely advanced technical systems, and sometimes it’s just not in the budget. However, a snowstorm such as the one that is just starting to wind down in the northeastern U.S. might force a few business owners and managers to re-evaluate change and continuity plans across the board. It certainly pays to at least consider the impact of various events (man-made, natural or otherwise) on the business. Even if the ultimate result is that it is not worth the investment in countermeasures, at least you know what you’re in for.

What you might find from this exercise is that countermeasures actually aren’t that costly. Here are a few relatively inexpensive countermeasures that we can employ for a small business. Given the current weather and its anticipated consequences, I’ll use the case of a family-owned insurance agency.

XYZ Insurance agency operates out of a small shopping center in Montgomery County, Maryland. With the growing number of power outages, roof collapses, car accidents and other calamities, it’s safe to assume that XYZ Insurance is pretty busy handling claims right now. Unfortunately, the employees of XYZ can’t even get out of their driveways and down the street. Even if they could, the shopping center where the offices are located can’t clear its own parking lot. There’s just no way to get to the office.

Normally, this would be a catastrophe. However, just a few simple measures in what I will call an “emergency plan” (some larger organizations call it a COOP, or Continuity of Operations Plan) helped XYZ to keep moving and be highly effective for its customers, even when XYZ itself had some considerable issues in the snow. Let’s talk about a few of these measures:

1. On the company’s letterhead, answering machine, website (and just about anywhere else their phone number is posted), XYZ has an “emergency line” displayed. This line is designed for after-hours usage and any other time that the office can’t be contacted. The emergency line is actually a Google Voice line available free to anyone with a Google Account (also free) but by invitation. Google Voice provides such features as call forwarding to any number of telephone numbers (such as employee mobile or home telephones), voicemail transcription, and more. Now XYZ’s employees can be reachable to clients from an alternate location. Did I mention that Google Voice is free?
2. XYZ keeps some pretty detailed records on clients in their database, including contact and policy information. This is run on an internal server for security and privacy reasons, but the server isn’t actually located in the office -- it is in a safe, reliable data center behind a trusted firewall. While keeping a hosted server could cost various amounts of money (anywhere from $40 per month into the thousands), it doesn’t cost anything to extend access to employees working from home. It’s as easy as installing VPN software provided by the hosting company. Luckily, XYZ thought ahead and ensured that employees had home access to systems in case of an emergency.
3. Most importantly, clients need to be aware of what is going on and why XYZ is not reachable at the office. They also need to be comforted in knowing that this isn’t a problem and that the company is still available to help. By placing an emergency message on their website with current status, most customers can be reached. Additionally, the office voicemail was changed to also reflect current status.

As one of the only local insurance agencies able to stay ahead of the snowstorm, clients praise XYZ for being there when they are needed. The company capitalized on this success and marketed its ability to be “local and available”, leading to new customer lead generation and increased profits.

In the end, XYZ was able to stay ahead of the storm’s incapacitation. What was the cost to implement this plan? Surprisingly, it was absolutely free. The only cost was some prior thought and planning.

I do agree that sometimes it requires an outside perspective to start thinking of an emergency plan. Here’s my shameless plug! If you need help putting together your COOP or emergency plan, especially when it comes to leveraging IT and systems resources during an emergency, I can help. I’ve done it for a number of clients, both big and small. Don’t forget that I have the free consultation guarantee -- try before you buy!

If you’re in the northeast U.S. -- stay warm and be careful digging your cars out!

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