Microsoft Office 365 Can Improve Social Distancing

Coronavirus Update: How Office 365 Can Improve Social Distancing and Keep Your Staff Safe

If You’re Only Using Office 365 for Email, It’s Time to Embrace Other Features to Improve Social Distancing.

• December 31, 2019 – Officials in Wuhan confirmed dozens of cases of pneumonia from a seemingly unknown cause.
• January 7, 2020 – The outbreak was identified as a new coronavirus with the potential for pneumonia or respiratory failure.
• January 21, 2020 – The United States announced its first confirmed case of coronavirus in Washington.
• February 24, 2020 – Italy became the worst-hit country in Europe as the number of confirmed cases spiked drastically.
• March 11, 2020 – The World Health Organization labels coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, as a pandemic.
• March 12, 2020 – The City of Calgary implemented its municipal emergency plan in response to the pandemic.

A Quick Update on What’s Happening with Coronavirus in Calgary…

The Public Health Agency of Canada is working with public health authorities at all levels of government to ensure we’re prepared to respond to the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, pandemic. Calgary, in particular, has implemented its municipal emergency plan wherein officials are prioritizing delivery and dedicating resources to areas that are deemed a priority. They’re asking all city employees to work from home, if able, and working hard to keep those who aren’t able to work from home safe.

Now is the time to ensure social distancing, and in the event of a quarantine, make sure you’re ready to work from home.

For businesses, social distancing means having the right technology in place to enable remote work if needed. If an employee doesn’t feel well, are you able to send them home right away – without them missing work? If not, it’s time to get prepared. This is especially important as more and more areas around the world are under quarantine.

Mayor Nenshi acknowledged that although there have only been 15 cases in the city so far, it’s vital to take the right steps to prevent further cases and slow down the spread of the COVID-19 virus. He mentioned:

“This is going to get worse. There will certainly be more cases. And we will certainly have serious cases. But there is no reason to panic.”

Are You Making the Most of Your Microsoft Office 365 Investment Now?

As coronavirus continues to spread at a rapid rate, many companies are left with no option: shutting down temporarily or asking their staff members to work from home. If you don’t have the tools necessary to collaborate and work remotely, get in touch with our team. We can help you make sure you’re prepared to move away from traditional offices and embrace social distancing.

Microsoft Office 365 is a great choice. However, many organizations have licenses, but don’t use anything more than email. But here’s the thing… The cloud-based collaboration platform is filled with tools and productivity features that are designed for remote work. You have access to cloud storage, alongside the following applications:

1. Outlook
2. Teams
3. Word
4. Excel
5. PowerPoint
6. Access

If you’re not using anything more than email, let’s talk about what more you can be utilized from your investment to keep your employees safe:

• Run online meetings via Teams, which gives you the ability to create an online conference room for face-to-face interaction.
• Collaborate on documents through online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other tools that give you the ability to edit and access information in real-time.
• Brainstorm on projects using the whiteboard app that allows you to leverage a digital canvas for brainstorming in Teams.
• Prevent distractions with features like background blur during meetings to block out pets, kids, and other challenges related to remote work.
• Share entire files and folders through OneDrive, whether it’s a video, image, document, or something else altogether.

CTECH Can Help You Understand and Leverage the Various Remote Work Capabilities Found Within Office 365!

This is the time to make the most of your investment. Office 365 gives organizations the ability to embrace remote work during this difficult time. We can provide an overview on exactly how to use it, as well as train your employees and provide guidance throughout the process of switching to remote work. If you don’t already have Office 365, Microsoft is offering a FREE 6-month trial of Office 365 E1 in response to the coronavirus.

This trial includes Microsoft Teams, a popular collaboration tool that will help businesses enable their employees to work from home. If you don’t already have this in place, contact our team right away. For your peace of mind, here are the measures we’ve taken to keep our staff, and in turn, the businesses that trust us to manage their technology safe:

1. Our employees can work from home without hesitation.
2. Our employees follow best practices in terms of handwashing, sanitizing, etc.
3. Our employees are kept safe through enhanced cleaning protocols in the office.

Not Sure How to Use Office 365 for Remote Work? Need to Sign Up for Microsoft’s FREE 6-Month Trial? Contact Us Now at (587) 200-9067 to Get Started.

Written by Carl Fransen

posted on April 19, 2020

Carl Fransen

My passion is to make my mark on the world in a positive and lasting way. I want to set an example for my son that his father can compete with integrity in today’s world, be very successful, and leave the world a better place for him.

Combining my technical/business-based education with a long career steadily progressing up the corporate ladder, I decided to build a company that held true to my values. So, I founded and designed the next generation of IT support firm: CTECH Consulting Group Inc. We are a completely automated, cloud-based IT company designed to compete against any other IT firm without the overhead. We promote a lifestyle to all our staff where they can work anywhere, at any time, access any information on any device that is relevant to their job, and collaborate with anyone they want to.