CDC Director Richard Besser, MD confirmed at a recent H1N1 swine flu briefing that “What has been seen with previous outbreaks is flu goes away in the summer. But during the winter flu spreads better, so the virus could go away and come back.” He added that “this period before fall is critically important for community preparedness should [the] virus come back in severe form.”
And that’s not all. A recent article in the Globe and Mail highlighted that “many provinces have passed updated health acts in recent years” giving them the power to take whatever steps necessary to curb a pandemic. That could go so far as to include quarantining schools, day cares and other centers where people gather, like offices.
Public health issues are a relatively new problem for businesses. Few managers have ever had to consider the impact of widespread school closures on employees with children, or worst-case scenarios like wholesale office quarantines. Emergency preparedness doesn’t have to be costly or complicated, but it needs to be addressed.
Pre-empt issues by having a plan and the supporting technologies required to implement it. Because flu viruses are transmitted by close contact, make sure that large offices aren’t as vulnerable to shut down by breaking them into smaller groups. Look at work-from-home strategies for your key teams or call center operators.
Applications like Telax Hosted Call Center offer functionality that ensures productivity isn’t affected by distributed workers. In fact, one of our customers decided to use satellite offices and remote workers during the 2003 SARS crisis and never went back.
In an age where the technology is available to avoid service interruptions, customers will not tolerate a of lack preparedness from their key providers. A lesson some businesses unfortunately have to learn the hard way.
For more information on how Telax Hosted Call Center achieves business continuity for its private and public sector customers across North America, contact us.