The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly acted as a catalyst for the fast adoption of technology. In some instances, the use of tech by organisations has transformed almost overnight, reaching a point that would otherwise have taken several years to achieve.
Workers everywhere have adjusted surprisingly well to a new world of work – the dining room table, or for those more fortunate, the study-cum-home-office. As we gradually ease out of lockdown it’s time for businesses to plan the return to work, and what that actually looks like.
Due to the requirements of social distancing to control infection people have been asked to avoid public transport and crowded offices, working from home where possible. Even for those whose offices are opening, the requirements of social distancing mean that not all employees can be in the office at the same time, which means many organisations are looking at a staggered approach to people coming into the office, adopting a hybrid model where people divide their working time between home and the office.
Robust technology to support mixed home and office working
This means that the IT infrastructure that was cobbled together in just a few days to enable home working is now likely to become a longer term, if not permanent, arrangement. For most IT departments, this is a less than ideal way to deploy new technology, as there was little, if any time for testing. In many cases people have used what ever technology they can get hold of, including consumer grade apps, or repurposing tools they had used within the confines of a protected work environment, for use at home (with a lot less network security, for example).
So, for the foreseeable future, until such time as the virus dies out or we find a vaccine, while people will come into the office they’ll be working from home a lot more. With this in mind, we are already working with several prospective customers on more robust, more secure apps that are designed for use in a mixed environment both inside and outside of the traditional managed work environment.
Three pressing reasons why Consumer Grade Apps don’t cut the mustard for home workers
GDPR – we know that most people find this really boring, but a fine of 4% of global turnover is no trivial matter. If your employees are using a consumer app, like WhatsApp but there are others, for business purposes, they will be in contravention of GDPR guidelines. Its only a matter of time before there’s a high profile case!
Zoombombing – the term now given to when someone crashes a video conference. Miscreants do this by intercepting a meeting request with login details, and join a call uninvited. If they join as a prank to hurl abuse, you’ve probably got off quite lightly. It’s the silent ones that are more deadly! They are simply eavesdropping to see what they can find out. Hopefully you won’t be discussing anything that is confidential, sensitive or could passed on to your competitors to give them an advantage, but can you afford to take the risk?
Distinction between work and home – it is important to keep work and home life separate – even when it is all happening in the very same place! It is all too easy for conversations, messages and attachments to end up in the wrong place. How often have you sent a message to the wrong person or group! When its information of a sensitive, or commercial nature, its even more important to keep control of it.
Armour Mobile
In all of these instances, a separate tool designed specifically for corporate communications, that can be used in the office and at home alike, with security baked in, makes a world of difference. The very distinction between an app for business communications with its own address book means that data is far less likely to go astray and your contacts’ details are protected.
- A separate business address book – all contacts protected and cannot be shared without admin authorisation
- Communications, including video conferences, cannot be joined by anyone other than those that have been invited
- User experience is very similar to consumer grade apps, so there is very little training required, and it has all the features people expect, so no need to use a consumer app.
For more information about how Armour Mobile can provide a more secure and managed approach to communications from both home and office, contact us today: info@armourcomms.com
