Partner and Customer Message – Coronavirus

It has today (2nd March) been reported by Public Health England (PHE) that the widespread transmission of coronavirus in the UK is now ‘highly likely’.

Many of our customers are rightly concerned about the potential impact of the developing situation and how it may impact their business.

The below is an update to inform customers how GHM can provide support if the situation escalates, and also to offer a helping hand to help protect your business should you require it.

Keeping Our Business Running

Over the last two years, we have been investing significantly in systems and infrastructure so that our business can continue to operate under many different scenarios. Enabling our people to work easily from home is key in the event of large-scale self-quarantine.

Telephony – we continue to support our customers on the phone and can take calls anywhere as we have a fully deployed Cloud PBX phone system which operates in the cloud and can deliver calls to customers wherever they may be.

Cloud – our customer service systems operate in the cloud and can, therefore, be accessed from anywhere by authorised personnel. We also use Office 365 for all our collaborative work and data storage and so can continue to work regardless of location.
IT Equipment and Infrastructure – we have re-equipped for the majority of our people, so they can work remotely and securely with modern devices (Mobile and desktop) and upgraded our security infrastructure to cope with the load of a large number of our people working remotely to ensure this can be done securely.

Will I Still be Able to Buy What I Need?

We are in regular contact with our main suppliers to see if, and how the equipment we provide to our customers will be affected if there is a prolonged impact in our key manufacturing countries. At present we are being told that supply is largely unaffected. However, we believe that, if the spread widens or is sustained, shortages may well develop which will mean we are unable to supply key pieces of equipment, or prices could rise. If you have a time-critical project you might want to review if this could impact your business and its plans.

Need Some Help?

We are experts in helping organisations work remotely whilst maintaining security. If you are concerned about the impact of the above, or just want some advice – please feel free to us on 01865 367111.