A conversation that all businesses need to have, especially during times of viral epidemics and other public health crises, is how to keep the business running efficiently during these times.
If an employee experiences any symptoms associated with the ongoing epidemic, it’s highly advised that they stay home, especially if they’ve recently traveled to areas that have recently become epicenters of infection.
It’s a real possibility that when epidemics grow to a certain point, local health authorities will advise businesses to suspend operations at their normal place of work to lower the risk of spreading sickness. In the interest of public health and the well-being of their employees, businesses should take these advisements seriously, and have contingency plans for keeping the business running when most, if not all, employees are unable to come into the office.
Having solid policies put in place for remote working will be invaluable for keeping your business running smoothly for when you are forced to have several or nearly all employees working from home.
It’s in this state that your business should provide employees with all the necessary tools to do their jobs from their home, as well as be able to effectively communicate with coworkers. Luckily, SaaS applications make it easy for workers to access their most used software from nearly any computer, meaning that even if it’s impractical to take their computer from work home, they can still do the job from their home computer.
Having the Right Tools
For businesses that rely on having constant access to their documents, it’s possible to have 24/7 access to your filing system, without having to compromise on security or convenience. A cloud-based document management system such as Rubex by eFileCabinet can allow you and your coworkers to get work done from just about anywhere. Documents are protected through a secured connection to the cloud server but are quick and easy for users to access.
Communication is vital when it comes to remote work. It’s essential to have platforms for communication and collaboration that are intuitive to use and responsive. Both of these are achievable through Rubex, thanks to its versioning features which allows users to create new versions of a document and append/prepend documents with additional files. The preview view allows users with the right permissions to add annotations, redactions, and even draw on the document. A comment section is also attached to the document, so coworkers can exchange feedback and notes. Users can view the version history of each document, so they exactly what has changed, when, and who made the changes.
Even though you’re no longer at your office, there are still plenty of ways to interact with coworkers and even clients, right from your document management interface. When needing to share documents, whether they’re part of your company or an outside party like a client, you can share a document along with a message to those individuals.
Clients can become guest users, so they can download the shared files from the same, encrypted environment. This tool is also useful for requesting documents, where they can be automatically uploaded to the location of your choice.
Being able to work with your documents, whether you’re at the office or at home, is essential if your business faces closures due to a sudden public health crisis. Stay effective and stay healthy by preparing yourself and your coworkers for periods of mandatory remote work.
Andreas Rivera is a technology writer with experience in both reviewing and marketing tech services and products. His areas of expertise include writing about B2B, SaaS companies and how they best address the pain points of businesses. Since early 2019, he has been the Marketing Content Writer for eFileCabinet and has become well versed in how document management software helps businesses reinvent their manual processes and spur growth. Contact him at arivera@efilecabinet.com.
