How your business can avoid the impact of the ‘pingdemic’ through flexible IT systems
With England’s COVID-19 restrictions being lifted, the pandemic is leading to the ‘pingdemic’. As over half a million people in England and Wales were told to self-isolate by the NHS’ Track and Trace app in the first week of July alone, many businesses are being left in the lurch as workers are sent home without flexible IT systems.
As a result, they are left with significant gaps in their workforce due to enforced periods of isolation. Here are a few ways businesses can prepare themselves with the help of flexible IT systems:
Collaborative working
Some businesses are being exposed with this latest wave of employees needing to self-isolate, as they are without any form of cloud functionality or collaborative working. Microsoft Teams is a perfect communications platform that allows colleagues who are distanced to stay in touch. Whether it is through audio or video calls, or the text-based messaging service, Teams is straightforward to pick up and is a perfect fit for those with Microsoft 365 systems.
Microsoft 365 is another potential avenue for businesses that require flexible IT systems. When an entire business is supported by Microsoft 365, colleagues can easily share documents and work collaboratively on projects despite distance. This makes it ideal for the future, as it is unknown when businesses will be confident enough to host all staff under one roof again, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
As well as Teams and M365, businesses should consider Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). While pre-pandemic, most companies used Private Branch Exchange (PBX) phone systems, that are hard-wired to work within their office, it was quickly discovered that these phone systems wouldn’t work during the pandemic with most workers moving to home. Many businesses switched to VoIP systems, such as Microsoft Business Voice, that works through data network connections, meaning it can be used from any location on any device, like a phone, tablet or laptop.
ERP/Business Systems
ERP systems help a business to improve its productivity and data-based decision making, especially cloud-based systems such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. This is achieved by ensuring the business is fully connected throughout so that company decision-makers can see the full picture. Many businesses have IT systems that were put in place over periods of time, and as a result work in silo’s not allowing for a holistic, unified set of data to base decisions on. Cloud-based ERP changes all that, providing connectivity across every element of your business.
Through an implementation of Microsoft Business Central with the help of Neuways experts, businesses can get back on track. Our consultants have decades of experience in implementing business systems across many different industries, with customers of all sizes. This places them perfectly to ensure that each ERP implementation Neuways carries out is different and bespoke to the customer in mind.
A new business system can give companies an opportunity for real growth and the potential to take that next step. By bring disparate, disconnected systems together through the power of ERP, an implementation brings a business together to create an organisation that is more joined up, clear-minded and focussed on being successful than ever before.
Internet of Everything
The Internet of Everything reduces the need to have a business physically on-site. But how? Through technology. By unifying people and processes through technology, over data networks, businesses can work more productively. Data can be converted to allow for intelligently informed decisions to be made.
By implementing things like a radio frequency identification system (RFID) companies can increase their efficiencies. The technology helps to automate businesses by aiding machines or computers to identify objects, record metadata or control individual targets through radio waves. By connecting an RFID reader to an Internet terminal, readers can identify, track and monitor objects attached with tags in real time. Automating processes can lead to an item that is low on stock being replenished with ease, to allow for no kind of disruption to a service for customers.
The better the customer service, the happier a company’s customer will be, rewarding that company for implementing the Internet of Everything within its processes. Is your business coping with staff being made to self-isolate? Or are you looking to upgrade your IT systems to avoid a period of downtime? Get in touch with the experts at Neuways today, to secure your company’s future. Call us on 01283 753333 or email at hello@neuways.com.
