5 Simple things to help working from home during Covid19 and the future
Right now we’re finally seeing signs of technology fulfilling one of it’s ultimate ideals - keeping people connected even when we need to be physically separated. Once we get through this pandemic the lessons we learn will forever change the way we use technology at work, home and our everyday lives. Here are a few things to help:
Great Internet: Besides electricity, your internet connection is the most important part of the equation. Fibre optic connections are king. Fast, stable, and balanced, they remove any bottlenecks slowing you down. Local Calgary providers Shaw, Telus, and our friends at Moby offer fibre service (even with self-install options!) to satisfy social distancing / quarantine concerns. What happens if your internet goes down?? Why not have a backup connection from a different provider. Since most of us don’t have home phone lines anymore you can put that money towards a backup internet connection. For business or home, two connections are always better than one!
Collaboration tools: Microsoft Teams, Skype, Zoom, FaceTime, Cisco WebEx, and Slack keep the conversations going from wherever. These days most laptops have a built-in webcam for video and if not, you can always use your smartphone. The virtual face-to-face interactions with family, friends and co-workers are essential to staying productive (and sane), when we can’t be physically social.
Remote Access: Cloud platforms like Office 365 and Google GSuite provide email and file access from almost any internet connected device. VPN software can create secure tunnels from home to access office networks. Non-vpn remote desktop programs like TeamViewer, GoToMyPc, and Splashtop can offer an easy way to control your office computers without the more complex VPN setup. Being able to work remotely has been gaining importance for years but now it will be an essential policy for most businesses in the future.
Be patient with technology and yourself. Everyone’s jumping on the bandwidth trying to work and watch Netflix at the same time. Be kind to yourself as you create a new routine by creating a space where you enjoying working and take non-tech breaks to play with your dog, kids, or spend time with your spouse.
Be secure: Cyber-criminals love chaos. Covid19 themed phishing attacks and social engineering scams are everywhere right now. Keep yourself safe online and beware of any suspicious emails or phone calls trying to prey on fears of the coronavirus. It’s a good time to change your passwords and enable secondary authentication methods to smartphones, especially if you’re using the same logins for different sites. You can check if you’ve been compromised in any of the major public hacking breaches by going to https://haveibeenpwned.com and entering your information. Just listen to your gut. If something feels even slightly off then don’t click it!
These are just a few free tips to make uncertain times a bit less stressful. We’re all in this together! If you would like more information or help with IT stuff my team and I are available (from home) to chat.
