Do You Have a Business Continuity Plan to Combat Coronavirus?
By Greg Klausa, VP of Digital Architectures, and Josh Dolby, Senior Sales Collaboration Specialist
Does your organization have a strategic plan in place to support business-function continuity in the face of possible quarantine and travel restrictions due to the emerging Coronavirus situation? In the final week of February, the US stock market plummeted 11.5% due to concerns over the spread of this deadly virus and its effects on business. Trade shows, industry events and other gatherings have already been cancelled or curtailed – the IOC has even discussed the possible cancellation of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to concerns of the virus’ spread
How will your organization handle possible disruptions?
The CDC says “now is the time”” to put a plan in place.
The CDC held a recent conference call urging businesses, schools, and other organizations to begin getting ready for the possible spread of COVID-19. In a transcript overview published by CIO Dive, CDC’s Director of National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases cited during the conference call, that “Businesses can replace in-person meetings with video or telephone conferences and increase teleworking options.”
This is a very practical recommendation – and Aspire can help your organization get started with the tools to execute on an effective plan.
Getting Set Up
Setting up your employees for remote work is fairly easy. Communications and Collaboration tools are available today to assure that business is sustained and running despite the disruptions.
And they’re not just available – they’re advanced and ready for prime time. With the threat of a potential pandemic causing concern, Webex meetings and videoconferencing are quickly replacing face-to-face meetings and business travel, while workplaces and schools are re-evaluating, enhancing and taking their positions on telecommuting out for a spin.
The requirements for remote work or learning using Webex Meetings are not elaborate either. The list includes a laptop or a computer, internet connection, a headset and your employees are ready to go.
Once an invite for a meeting is sent out, Webex Meetings provides you the link to connect and the numbers to access your call – in a secured line via a secured gateway. You can run your meetings and conferences via Webex Meetings as it can accommodate as much as 50 callers in a single dial-in.
Video conferencing is also embedded in Webex Meetings where face-to-face conversations and discussions are life-like. Just like in-person meetings, you can share screens, draw on whiteboards, and collaborate in real-time. All these without having to be in the office or the classroom.
Do We Have Enough Time To Get Ready?
If you’re reading this and wondering if there’s even time to get a solution up and running before the coronavirus gets a serious foothold in the United States, there is. At Aspire, we can literally have you up and running with a fully functional trial version of Webex in just minutes.
A trial version is risk- and commitment-free. We can provide a no-cost 90-day trial, setting you up for success should the coronavirus – or any other natural disaster – require you to conduct school or do business remotely. Aspire also offers the training and end-user assistance that will help you implement your organization’s work- or study-from-home strategy quickly while maximizing your organization’s productivity.
Aspire is a Cisco Master Collaboration Certified Partner
As a Cisco Master Collaboration Partner, Aspire has the highest level of collaboration certification available. This means that our team of experts have undergone rigorous trainings and have passed Cisco’s series of validation tests, thus certifying our expertise in Collaboration solutions. Our technologists can help you get started quickly with a Cisco Webex solution, the gold standard in collaboration tools. Whether you have 250 or 2500 users, Webex provides a completely secure, natural, face-to-face and very interactive environment on nearly every kind of device imaginable. No matter where your school or business users are, they can come together through Webex, be in small meetings of 10 or a big conference of 1,000. Webex can be easily integrated with the everyday applications people are accustomed to as well, providing a comfortable, seamless and easily navigable interaction already in use by around 130 million people each month.
Set up your remote work or learning strategies while you still can. “Now is the Time.”
Contact us today to start a risk-free, no-cost, 90-day trial subscription of Cisco’s Webex. Then breathe a sigh of relief because you’re prepared to operate remotely should the need arise. To learn more, email us at gklausa@aspiretransforms.com or dolby@aspiretransforms.com, or give us a call at 732-847-9600.
To learn more about Aspire, visit AspireTransforms.com
Aspire Technology Partners is a Cisco Gold Certified Partner engrained in solution pillars that set us apart as a true Cisco solutions provider. We are committed to the continuous improvement of expertise and skillsets around Cisco initiatives that enable us to help and guide customers in the adoption and management of technology architectures designed to transform their organization. We hold Cisco Master Specializations in Collaboration, Security, Cloud & Managed Services and is one of only 25 partners in the US to receive the Cisco Advanced Customer Experience Specialization.
