Nick Jones

We all hope the current outbreak of swine flu doesn’t become a pandemic. But as my colleagues have already pointed out in other posts it’s important to have pandemic contingency plans that define what you’d do if workforce absenteeism rates exceeded 40% or you had to close offices. And as you develop and refresh those plans don’t forget that mobile / wireless technology has a huge part to play. A few examples include:

Remote working. Wireless broadband can enable remote working from a wide range of locations very quickly without waiting for a local telco to install DSL. Also take a look at the HSPA adapters with built-in WiFi as a quick way to set up a remote office. It’s probably worth buying some laptop HSPA adapters as part of your contingency plan. It’s also probably a good idea to spread your purchases across several networks, because if there is pandemic or epidemic some may become overloaded. And don’t forget satellite data is an option (if an expensive one) for people outside wireless broadband coverage.

Look for creative uses of mobile devices. Try to identify ways in which you can use mobile devices in new ways. For example drop a copy of your disaster / contingency plan onto every smartphone so that every senior employee has it in their pocket to refer to. Try to identify ways in which you could develop alternative business processes that used mobiles instead of PCs or desktops. Could you perhaps use video phone calls as a low-grade video conferencing substitute to avoid staff travelling to expensive VTC suites?

Teleworking. Have a chat with my colleagues such as John Girard who cover teleworking. You may need to enable teleworking for a lot more staff very quickly. Do you have plans and infrastructure that can cope?

And don’t forget the basics. Make sure you know everyone’s mobile number so you can contact them in an emergency.