Dallas County Takes Emergency Measures Due to COVID-19
With the recent announcement that Dallas county is now under an emergency declaration due to the novel coronavirus spreading throughout the city’s residents, many businesses are opting to have their employees work from home as schools, colleges, and other institutions follow suit by sending people home. This has led to new protocols being instituted that have not been used or considered before.
Schools are starting to have online class policies, restaurants have been ordered to do take-out only orders, concerts and other events have been canceled, and other areas of life have continued to go into lock-down in an attempt to prevent the virus’ spread.
As new cases continue to arise, it is a time of great caution for many in the DFW area. Small businesses especially have voiced concern, as this can have serious consequences should they have to close their doors or go without steady income for several weeks. This could lead to lasting problems like layoffs of closures as they may not have the resources to stay locked down for so long.
DFW Businesses Closing Doors
Dallas has put a ban in effect for any large gatherings, and as a results many public gathering spots have either had to adjust their business models or shut down completely. This includes may office buildings which have had to close their doors until the threat of infection has lessened.
For many smaller offices and stores, this has led to having to force employees to take the time off entirely. Without having the protocols in places, and not wishing for their coworkers to be at risk for contracting the virus, there have been many businesses in the Dallas area that have shuttered operations due to not having a plan in place to handle such a situation.
Thankfully, there are ways to help mitigate these problems, and allow for companies to continue operations. We’ve discussed before what is possible within the world of IT and how that can allow businesses to perform essential duties while working remotely, but if you don’t already have an IT company or managed services provider, finding one that works for your company can be a lifeline.
Building Better Plans with Your IT
For businesses that are looking to institute work from home policies in the Dallas area, taking those first steps can be rocky. Setting up the infrastructure, protocols, and making sure all the technology can be time consuming and expensive. As more and more cases arise, that can add additional stress to small businesses already grappling with how to handle the situation.
Thankfully, there are ways to manage. If you are working with an experienced, well performing managed services provider, they’ll be able to help you get set up with the hardware and systems you need to manage this, and any future emergencies.
A managed service provider can offer numerous benefits to small and medium sized businesses in the DFW area, but in these times of Coronavirus their benefits may not be immediately obvious. By taking a step back and evaluating what needs to be done, and how they can help you do it however, you can better prepare yourself and your company for changes in the day to day work environment.
What Makes a Good IT Company in Times of Crisis?
The first thing anyone has to ask themselves when looking for managed services in a situation such as the one brought on by coronavirus is what benefits do they provide in emergency situations?
A good IT company should be able to provide services that can cover your needs in the case of technological emergency. These services should include:
- 24 Hour remote help desk support from a knowledgeable IT team
- Software updates and installations for programs including Microsoft Office 365
- Migration assistance to cloud databases like AWS and Microsoft Azure
- Hardware assistance, which can include the setup and distribution of laptop computers to facilitate remote work
- Phone service setup using VoIP services that can be used in work from home situations
- Potential onsite support for needed critical issues
- Backup support to ensure that in the event of emergencies such as a sudden power outage, that data is stored safely
- IT consulting to accurately assess your needs
Getting to Know Your Future Managed Services Provider
When looking at potential IT solutions, consider the benefits offered, and what you think you need for your company. Make sure to call the company to schedule a consultation as well, as any good IT company is going to be able to look at your infrastructure and make suggestions based off of what they think may be best.
Especially in the case where you may have to purchase laptop computers and phones for company use while employees work remote, you want to get what you need without overpaying for systems and features you’ll never have use for. A good IT company will also format and set up these computers so that your employees can have a steady, easy transition to their use.
A good managed services provider should be a partner that is proactive and looking ahead to prevent problems before they happen. They should also be able to be trusted, and act as a natural part of your business operations, and not an additional stress on your work.
How LG Networks Helps Businesses
Providing managed IT services for over a decade, with experience reaching much further than that, the team here at LG Networks has worked with small and medium sized businesses throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area to help with their IT needs.
With the ability to provide technology to allow remote work, as well as a 24-hr. help desk and other benefits, our IT Technicians have been able to assist in the efforts of businesses that are pivoting towards having their employees work from home or other remote locations.
COVID-19 will not always be such a threat. Even now there are researchers testing potential ways to combat the virus and people all over the world have been making recoveries. However, there are other disasters that could lead to situations like this one that will require similar responses and having the plans, systems, and support in place can do wonders to ensure that you are not caught unprepared in the event of another emergency.
