Many small businesses in Minneapolis have already initiated alternative work arrangements for employees who travel or those who work from home. There are risks involved in this arrangement, given the demands of managing today’s technology, which includes maintaining a company’s IT infrastructure from a central office. Unless a company has a reliable Minneapolis IT support in place, it will not be sufficient for its remote workers to have a personal desktop or laptop at home or internet access to work productively.
For one thing, a remote employee’s personal computer or laptop might have been exposed to viruses already. Furthermore, a computer without support from the company’s central IT is vulnerable to cyberattacks and excessive downtime when the worker’s computer encounters some technical glitches. “Organizations need to determine if telecommuters can use their own computers or if they need to have dedicated computers for work-related activities,” said Rick Albiero, founder of the consulting group, Telecommuting Advantage Group.
For remote workers to have access to IT support service, a small business company should have a budget for IT resources that provide telecommuters with laptops or desktops with broadband Internet connection to the office, including services for videoconferencing, text messaging, file sharing, Voice-over IP (VoIP), and access to exclusive apps or software programs.
Security is a top challenge among small-and medium-size businesses (SMBs) with a telecommunication and mobile workforce. It’s not impossible that an employee who is transmitting information from an airport or a restaurant where the Wi-Fi system is unsecured can have his data hacked. Where Internet access is shared, it’s relatively easy for somebody to tap into an open file on someone else’s computer.
For small business companies with employees spending a lot of time working in public spaces, experts recommend investing in Virtual Private Network (VPN), a security measure that encrypts files and other data being exchanged over the Internet. This makes the encoded data useless with unauthorized access, and ensures access only by the telecommuter. Your IT support system can set this up through the employer, allowing thus secure and safe levels of transmission en route from the telecommuter to his employer.
Business employers should ensure that their small business computer support service share the regulations and telecommuting protocols with the remote employees. Train employees to key in passwords before devices are turned on, as well as enable timeout screens or screensavers. Troubleshooting these issues can be navigated when a company puts in place a reliable IT support service, maximizing the monitoring resources of IT companies like RB’s Computer Service to proactively identify potential problems and resolve glitches before they negatively affect employees’ productivity.
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(Remote Workers’ Success Starts With IT Support, Sara Angeles for BusinessNewsDaily, July 30, 2013, FOXBusiness)