How to Better Secure Your Business During COVID-19 Shutdowns

Back in March, when businesses first closed their physical doors and sent their employees home to work remotely, most people thought it was a situation that would just last for a few weeks.

Fast-forward five months, and many California companies are still operating remotely and, if they are following Governor Newsom’s advice they will probably be doing so for the foreseeable future. Some California based businesses intend to keep their employees working remotely through the summer of 2021.

No doubt you have been focusing much of your energies on your company’s network structure so that everyone can keep working remotely efficiency. But what about those shuttered offices of yours? Are they secure? Eventually it’s likely you’ll need them again, along with everything they contain.

Now that you’ve realized that your offices are going to be closed for longer than expected, it’s time to really get serious about security. Here are some tips:

Evaluate Your Security Cameras (Or Install Some)

Maybe you have CCTV around your premises but it’s limited to ‘high risk’ areas like your parking lot. Maybe it was something you always meant to get around to but never quite did. Either way, now that your offices are empty 24/7 it’s crucial that you have a CCTV system in place that can keep a careful eye on it all day (and night) all the time. Both inside and out.

Once that’s done (and we can certainly help there) you also need to ensure that there is a proper chain of command when it comes to camera monitoring and responding to alerts. Even if you have a monitoring company in place they do need to know who to contact at any given time.

Consider Access Control

Maybe some people HAVE to go into the office at times. And they may be going at odd times of the day. Maybe you have to allow some contractors into your premises. Maybe your office IS open but you are trying to restrict who enters from the outside world for the protection of your staff.

Whatever the situation, installing an access control system may help not only better secure your premises but also help keep your employees healthy and give them greater peace of mind about returning to work.

Use Good Old Fashioned Common Sense

Technology like CCTV and access control system is a huge help when trying to keep your currently empty offices as secure as possible. But you also need to employ some good old-fashioned common sense, by keeping the following basic safety tips top of mind:

Remove anything, like posters, retail display racks and similar, from the windows as to not obstruct the view into your business for your security cameras or patrolling law enforcement.

Remove all cash and receipts. Don’t leave donation boxes on the front desk, cash boxes with “floats”, or safes at your business. Empty out cash registers and leave them open.

Remove client and staff personal information that could be stolen and used for identity theft.

Don’t leave any valuables visible or accessible. If you can’t securely store them out of sight on premises remove valuables from your office and take them home.

Remove all alcohol products from display and put the inventory in a locked storage area, or remove it from the premises.

Remove material around the exterior of the property, such as wood pallets, bricks, ladders, or metal poles, that may be used to gain entry.

To increase security, consider installing security film on accessible windows and glass doors to increase glass integrity from blunt force.

Need help securing your business with CCTV or access control? Contact us today to discuss what we can do to help keep your business safe while you and your staff are away.

How Will VOIP For Business Benefit My Company in 2020?

The single biggest reason why so many businesses are making the switch to VOIP these days is a very simple one – it costs less. But just how does it do that and how much can you save?

After all, your current traditional PBX system provider seems to have been offering some decent deals recently. But can those deals match VOIP? Maybe not. Here are some examples of what we mean.

Monthly Cost Savings

If you were to call a phone company about getting new traditional PSTN phone service for your business right now these days, they will probably give you a flat rate for your monthly service.

However, after the salesperson has finished giving you the big spiel they are required to add (probably in a much quieter voice) that the figure they have just quoted you does not include a number of mandatory fees.

The FCC lets phone companies charge you a monthly amount for the privilege of accessing their telephone lines and every phone company takes advantage of that fact. There are usually also line maintenance fees and international calls will cost extra as well. VOIP does not come with any of these charges attached.

Then there are the additional services. Usually, that flat monthly rate will not include services like call waiting, caller ID and conference calling and you can expect to pay quite a lot extra if you want a good voice mail service. All of these things have a straight cost in the case of most VOIP business services – 0 dollars.

Per Call Savings

The days of being charged extra for a call that is out of your local calling area by your local phone company are admittedly pretty much gone, most of them not offer and unlimited local and long distance calling plan for X dollars a month. But X dollars actually tends to be quite a lot, certainly more than the monthly fees that most VOIP providers charge.

Where traditional phone companies still make themselves quite a nice profit is on international calling. If you have a reason to call overseas, and because of the growing global nature of business in general, even small businesses that is likely, those charges can really rack up.

Many small business owners find themselves missing out on international opportunities just because the cost of talking with potential clients or customers is so prohibitive.

VOIP offers very low rates on international calls and many providers even offer a certain number of them free every month.

No More Taxes

If you have a look at your current phone bill you will notice you are charged a number of different taxes every month. It is actually not the phone company’s fault, the federal, state and local governments are the ones collecting that money. And you have to give them all their cut. VOIP providers are not mandated to charge those taxes so this too offers savings that will vary depending upon where your business is located but can be anything from a nice little bit of of extra change every month to a significant dollar amount.

No Repair Call Out Fees

If you have ever had to call your traditional phone company about a problem, you are having with your service you probably know the drill by now. Yes, they will send a technician out, but they cannot quite tell you when. Maybe sometime between 9 am and 5 pm tomorrow. Or the next day.

And if the problem turns out to be on your end, not theirs they will happily charge you a hefty fee for their technician’s time. And if you want a new phone line installed? That is really quite an undertaking both in terms of expense and time.

If you have a hosted VOIP service all of the equipment needed for your phones to function is located at your provider’s premises, not yours. Repairs are made there and there is no physical equipment at your business that needs to be maintained.

Should you opt for an in-house IP PBX that may require onsite repair and or maintenance, so that is something you should ensure you discuss with your VOIP company in advance. These fees are still usually less than a traditional phone company will charge you though and not high enough to put a VOIP system out of reach for almost any company.

VOIP and Remote Workers

The fact is that lots of companies are not even operating from their physical offices right now due to COVID-19 restrictions. But they are still operating, which means employees – and management – need to be able to field phone calls from their home office.

VOIP makes doing so a lot easier. No one has to venture into the office to forward phones. Calls can be routed anywhere in seconds, so if one of your employees has decided to ride out the pandemic in another state they can still get all their work done, and answer calls made to them. And if something does go wrong it can usually be remedied remotely, another big advantage for everyone.

To learn more about VOIP for Business for your company, contact us here.