Helping firms to weather the storm

For them, the news of more snow and frost in the days ahead will be badly received. Nevertheless, there are ways for companies to adapt to keep things going no matter what the weather brings. The most important thing an employee needs in order to work in most cases is their office computer, which houses the relevant files and applications. Accessing this as an afterthought can be awkward nevertheless if the company uses cloud computing it becomes relatively easy.

“Really it allows you to access data on the go from any part of the globe once you have your internet connection,” said Aidan McCarron, managing director of cloud hosting provider Dediserve. “I was stuck working at home while the recent snow and I word for word just opened the laptop and could get to work straight away.”

Company hosts their files in “the cloud”

When a company hosts their files in “the cloud”, they are putting them in a remote location and accessing them through a secure internet connection. In terms of access, whether you log in from a computer in the office or in the home makes no difference. Companies can even go so far as to remotely host a user’s desktop, meaning they can access their actual office computer from any device and any place.

According to McCarron, once a company has the infrastructure in place, set-up is straightforward for the individual. A user can connect through a virtual private network or a web-based login page afterwards following a few simple instructions.

“Overall I don’t think the market is educated enough to utilise cloud computing just but and it probably takes things like the freeze for them to look into it more and see the benefits it has,” said McCarron.

Of course, having access to your computer’s files is just one piece of the puzzle – albeit an important one. During many users rely on their mobile phones, others all in all use the landline, meaning they could miss important calls during sitting at home. Call forwarding is one option now a slightly more advanced alternative is the use of a virtual private branch exchange. This is effectively a replacement for a traditional office telephone system and is effectively the telephony equivalent of cloud computing.

The phone system lives in a data network

“Because the phone system lives in a data network, you’re capable of accessing that from multiple locations. So to put it more exactly than connecting to a box on the wall in your office, they connect via a quality internet stream,” said Joe Lavin, senior product manager at Magnet Networks.

All the end-user needs is an internet-connected phone or VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) client on their desktop and the right connection details. Unlike call forwarding, this set-up means calls cost the same as they would from the office and extension-to-extension calls, among other things, are for all that possible.

How flexible it is

“The great thing is how flexible it is. Let’s just say the receptionist can’t make it in. Within five minutes, I can set up an interactive voice response system which at that time re-routes those calls to individuals who are in the office or at home,” said Lavin. “I don’t need to deploy someone who sits at the receptionist’s desk all day taking calls.”

He as well warned companies against opening the doors too wide to people’s personal computers through VPNs as, in the wrong set-up, an infected computer could wreak havoc once given access to the company network.

The last 12 months is the value of SMS has been proven

“I think what’s happened over the last 12 months is the value of SMS has been proven,” said Gavin Carpenter, sales director with Phonovation. “A lot of people saw it as a social tool and not a business tool now things like this have shown people how much more instant it is than the likes of e-mail.”