Using technology to stay productive during inclement weather
The recent snow storms here in Seattle will undoubtedly serve as a wake-up call for this region and its residents. By national standards, we didn’t get that much now, but the streets remained mostly impassable, bus service virtually non-existent, and even walking the ice-covered streets became a feat of balance and perseverance.
Our lack of grace and inability to deal was really nothing more than not being prepared. And we weren’t prepared simply because we haven’t had to be. Let’s take the lessons learned this year and make preparations for the years to come – years that will most certainly be influenced by climate destabilization associated with global warming.
One of the ways that businesses can prepare for unexpected weather or other disruptions that affect the region is through the smart use of technology. There are a number of solutions available to small and mid-sized companies that help owners and employees remain productive on those unexpected house-bound days. What’s more is that these technologies, when implemented thoughtfully, can contribute to company HR and sustainability initiatives by providing workers with more options for when and where they work.
Here is a re-cap of the technology solutions available and how they help employees to remain effective while working remotely:
- Outlook Web Access (OWA) is a web-based version of Outlook that comes Microsoft Exchange Server (which is included with Microsoft Small Business Server). It allows employees to communicate and collaborate with clients and colleagues by accessing email, contacts, and calendars using a web browser. Work done in OWA is automatically synchronized with Outlook when employees return to the office and with mobile phones.
- SharePoint is a web-based collaboration and information sharing platform that allows companies to create intranets and workspaces for teams by customizing and combining SharePoint ‘widgets’ such as document libraries, calendars, discussions boards, and wikis, to name a few. Because it’s web-based, it can be accessed remotely in a secure fashion. For those companies that already own a recent version of Microsoft Windows Server, there are no additional licensing costs.
- Remote Desktop allows an employee to remotely control a computer as if he or she were physically in front of the machine. Applications run on the workstation (which has a high-speed local area network connection to files and internal databases) and the only information transmitted between the remote user and the company computer are mouse movements, keyboard strokes, and screen images, so this technology provides a good experience even in lower-bandwidth situations. Plus the remote desktop connection utility is available on all recent versions of Microsoft Windows and can also be downloaded and installed on Macs.
- Terminal Services is a server-based technology very similar to remote desktop from a user-experience perspective. With TS, the server hosts desktop sessions for multiple, simultaneous users, and because the technology is server-based, employees don’t have to worry about leaving their workstation on and connected when they leave the office each night.
- Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a technology allows you to create a secure tunnel to your office network and access resources on the network, such as files, printers, and internal database and applications, as if you were physically connected to the network. VPN works best with healthy amounts of bandwidth at both ends of the connection (office and remote location) and can compliments many of the technologies listed here as part of a remote access technology portfolio.
- VOIP-based telephone systems have an array of features that allow employees to remain in contact by phone while working remotely, such as call forwarding, simultaneous ringing, shared call appearance, remote office, and find me/follow me. Additionally, most modern phone systems have incorporated the ability to deliver voice messages as email attachments, which allows employees to access their voicemail wherever they have email access.
- Instant Messaging has been available from companies like Yahoo, MSN, and Skype for quite some time, but communication using these services is not considered secure (e.g. a conversation that includes private patient or financial information can be intercepted). Instead, small and mid-sized organizations are turning to secure and auditable internal instant messaging systems that can also be accessed remotely for employees working outside the office.
- Co-location allows companies to move some or all of their technology infrastructure from their office to specialized facilities that provide high-quality, redundant Internet connectivity as well as environmental controls such as fire suppression and backup electrical generators. Co-location can be a great solution for companies where remote access to data and information is important to its success.
As you can see, there are a number of technology solutions available to small and mid-sized companies as they look for ways to keep work flowing during adverse weather events.
An experienced technology services company, like X-BAR, can tailor and implement a remote access solution that best matches the goals of a particular company or organization.
