None of us know what’s going to happen going forward with COVID-19. That being said, we at Weston just wanted to reach out and let you know that we will continue to be here to support you as well as support our team during this uncertain time.
First off, our primary goal is to protect our clients, employees, and their families. If the need arises, our team is ready to be fully remote (with at most somebody singularly at each office for receiving shipments). Several of our folks are already fully remote, so this is not something new to us. We are also fully committed to the health and safety of our team. We have made it clear to everybody that we will not make any employee work if they aren’t comfortable doing so. Further, if an employee is sick or needs to take care of their family, they can do so, and we are paying them. Our team understands this, but also understands that our core purpose is to better the lives of others. They take this to heart and are helping wherever they can to make sure our clients we work with (who span a variety of industries) are able to do their work and serve their customers.
Secondly, while we are still operating as fully as possible to assist our clients, we are cutting back on-site visits as much as possible until further notice. We have some necessary on-site visits that need to be done for certain projects, and will be there for our CompleteCare clients if there is a complete network down emergency, but many of the issues we see can be supported remotely and we’d encourage you to contact us instead of waiting for the next time we’re on-site. We also have tools where you can show us what’s happening with the camera on your smartphone, if we need to see something not visible on your computer screen or that can’t be easily described.
With all that being said, when you work with us, the tech that knows your environment best may not always be available. We think our consultants are all great at what they do, and everyone here at Weston will do our best to help you, but it may take a little patience as we get through this difficult time together.
We realize that many of you may end up working from home, a couple of notes and tips on that for you:
What You Can Do To Facilitate Working From Home:
- If you are experiencing internet connectivity problems, please restart your internet equipment (modem, router, wi-fi access points). This will resolve many issues.
- If internet seems slow, sometimes this can be caused by a browser with many tabs opened or a computer that hasn’t been recently rebooted. It’s always a good idea to close and reopen your browser if web browsing seems sluggish or, even better, restart your computer.
- It is always advisable to use your company-issued computer to perform any work or access any company data or resources. Your personal computer may not have the same level of protection as your company computer.
As always, if you are working from home you can still contact us for support from 8AM to 6PM Pacific Time. Keep in mind when working remotely that our CompleteCare contracts are for company-owned machines and networks only. If you need help with your home computer or home network, we can usually help, but we will need approval from management at your company to be able to do so as we don’t know all of your home equipment, have not budgeted to support it, and do not want to compromise your company’s security due to something we don’t know. That all being said, if your management team gives us permission, we’ll do our best to try to allow you to work remotely and securely.
Some Worthwhile Tips About Working From Home
- https://www.weston-tech.com/blog/is-your-office-tech-ready-for-remote-workers/
- https://www.weston-tech.com/blog/microsoft-teams-tips-smarter-conversations/
- https://www.onmsft.com/how-to/working-from-home-heres-how-to-collaborate-with-office-365-for-remote-work-using-more-than-just-teams
- https://support.office.com/en-us/article/top-tips-for-working-more-securely-from-home-c3e6c940-43a6-43a3-b780-b8784776c2a8
- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2020/03/10/staying-productive-while-working-remotely-with-microsoft-teams/
- https://www.pcmag.com/news/get-organized-20-tips-for-working-from-home
A Word About New Equipment Availability
Because many manufacturing and supply chains are shut down or otherwise disrupted, it may become difficult to procure new computers and other IT equipment in the coming weeks and months. As it stands at the moment, most computer configurations are back-ordered until mid-April (and could be pushed out further). If you have any new hires on the horizon or other IT purchases in mind that we’re not aware of, please let us know as soon as you can so we can have plenty of lead time to order the equipment.
There’s Always Someone…
Lastly, and sadly in our world, someone is always going to try to profit from others misfortune and Coronavirus is no different. The Department of Homeland Security recently released the warning below, most of which are things you have heard from us before, but a reminder is never a bad thing:
The Department of Homeland Security CISA (cyber and infrastructure) warns individuals to remain vigilant for scams related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). CISA encourages individuals to remain vigilant and take the following precautions.
- Avoid clicking on links in unsolicited emails and be wary of email attachments. See Using Caution with Email Attachments and Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Scams for more information.
- Use trusted sources—such as legitimate, government websites—for up-to-date, fact-based information about COVID-19.
- Do not reveal personal or financial information in email, and do not respond to email solicitations for this information.
- Verify a charity’s authenticity before making donations. Review the Federal Trade Commission’s page on Charity Scams for more information.
- Review CISA Insights on Risk Management for COVID-19 for more information.
As always thanks for trusting us with keeping your business up and running!
— Brock McFarlane, CEO
— Greg Freeman, Exec. VP
— Eric Spinney, HR Manager
— Jeffrey Schillp, Service Manager