COVID19 Update and Return to Work Planning

I hope you are your team are coping well with the current lockdown situation and staying safe.

We have been in lockdown for just over 8 weeks now, and we continue to work from home for the time being. We have seen that businesses are now thinking about how they will start returning to the office now restrictions are slowly being lifted. The current guidelines are that businesses should continue to work from home if they can. We know that there are situations where this is not possible, therefore businesses have decided to bring some staff back into their offices.

On the flip side there are those businesses who have found that working from home has been positive for them and therefore want to encourage this going forward. Whatever your position, Amshire are here to help guide you through these decisions.

For those businesses that are looking and planning on returning to the office, please engage with Amshire as soon as possible. This will help us to prepare our resources to best support you. The speed at which the lockdown was announced put extreme pressure on everyone to get you working as quick as possible. We received numerous emails and phone calls from you to thank us for the work we did. Thank you for taking the time to let us know, I know that everyone at Amshire appreciated it.

If you are planning to return to work these are some of the considerations and questions to think about that you may need to put in to place:-

• Ensuring 2m space between staff when working. Desks may need to be moved. Are the cables long enough? Do you have network or power points close to the new location?
  
  
• Will you need Amshire on-site to help before staff return to the office to minimise contact prior to return?
  
  
• Ensuring you have adequate hand sanitiser and PPE to protect your staff both in the workplace or if they are visiting a site.
  
  
• Clear instructions for staff for reporting exposure to someone with COVID-19 and how to handle the risks.
  
  
• Clear instructions for your customers on what you need to protect your staff when attending site. Requirement to report any COVID-19 exposure so you can assess the risks prior to entering the office.
  
  
• Clear instructions for your suppliers (like Amshire) on what you need them to do when attending site.
  
  
• We encourage you to engage with Amshire about your plans, this way we will be prepared to support you and your team getting back up and running. This will also help to reduce the risk of us being inundated with support requests.
  
  

Have you thought about potential plans if additional restrictions are put in place in the near future?

• Has your phone system done what you needed it to do?
  
• How did your internet connection cope?
  
• How secure is your new environment?
  
• What changes will be required for you to pass Cyber Essentials at your renewal point?
  

Despite lockdown Amshire have been migrating customers to Office 365, installing new cloud-based Phone Systems as well as upgrading internet connections.

Contact Amshire to discuss your questions or plans.