Do you remember as a child looking out of the window at darkened skies at this time of year and praying fervently that the snow would begin to fall, and fall so hard that school might be called off? Leaving you to happily go sleighing in the snow with all of your friends for the day. Well, that dream seems to be coming true for quite a few children around the UK at the moment. In fact, there might even be a few teachers out there hoping for the same thing!
But a Snow Day is not such fun if you are running a business and severe weather can potentially put your business out of action for a couple of days, costing you thousands of pounds. You might think that the fact your team are all linked up by mobile communications technology would protect you against such disruption, but that is often not the case. A recent study carried out by telecoms provider, Daisy Group PLC, found that even with the growth of mobile business technology, adverse weather conditions prevent an estimated three million UK workers from completing their normal work responsibilities each year.
The study found that a third of UK businesses were affected directly by transport problems, power cuts or broadband and phone line failures caused by inclement weather over the past two years. Your staff might be stuck on a train or in a snowdrift in their car trying to get into work, or your IT systems might have been taken out by fallen power or phone lines. The study also found that 40 percent of those businesses affected by bad weather did not have a business continuity plan in place, leaving their staff unable to work from home or another location.
This does not need to happen. If you have supplied your team with mobile technology or a dial-in service, in advance and you have a communications channel that can send out a message as soon as a problem occurs, then you might be able to stop them making that unnecessary journey. The Crises Control app now has an automatic alert system that can send out a message as soon as the power or phones trip out, or the rail company sends an SMS or e-mail message that the line is closed. Your team can avoid transport problems and work safely from home, maybe even leaving them with some time to go sleighing with the kids!
