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Looking at the long lines forming outside makeshift clinics offering H1N1 vaccines across Canada, a human resources (HR) professional would probably say: "If we hadn't mapped out our business continuity plan in early spring, it's probably too late now."

And they would have a point.

Spring was in fact the perfect time to craft or more ideally “revisit” such plans, according to one HR industry insider.

“Business continuity planning should have been done in spring when we started hearing about the swine flu,” according to Claude Laude Balthazard, director of HR excellence for the Human Resources Professional Association (HRPA), a Toronto-based HR industry organization with more than 18,000 members in Ontario.

But if your firm hadn't done that don't despair. There's still some time to quickly cobble together a low-cost telework program -- and tools from hosted application providers can help you in this process.

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When the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic hit in 2003, many Canadian businesses were caught napping.

The Canadian economy was estimated to have taken a $519 million - $722 million hit between 2003 and 2006.

While many health experts believe governments are more ready this time, many businesses are worried about disruptions to their operations, according to IT research firm Gartner Inc. in Stamford, Conn.. “It's reasonable for managers to expect absenteeism rates of 40 per cent or higher in their own companies and among suppliers and partners,” said Roberta Witty, Gartner research vice-presidentm who is part of the firm's compliance, risk and leadership group.

For some organizations, Witty said, this could create “severe operational disruptions”.

Quick fixes

There's no substitute for early planning, but if you're looking for help in setting up remote workers at short notice, hosted applications and hosted PBX systems from small service providers might be the ticket, according to Roberta Fox, principal of telecommunication consultancy firm Fox Consulting Group in Mt. Albert, Ontario.

“Traditional telcos may take anywhere from five to 10 days to set up an IP voice system, but smaller companies can probably do the job in one to two days,” Fox said.

There are four typical Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) models favoured by small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs):

• Hosted, where users access the IP private branch exchange (PBX) through a Web-based interface

• Managed, where the IP-PBX resides in the user's company but is managed remotely by a service provider

• Do-it-yourself, where the user buys the VoIP system and manages it

• Broadband VoIP, which involves use of an analog telephone adapter to access VoIP through a broadband Internet connection

Fox said companies that have been implementing some form of remote program for all or some of their workers will generally find it easier to set up an emergency telework system to handle pandemic situation. She sites the example of a small tech firm in Etobicoke, Ont. where nearly half of the staff fell ill recently.

“Since everyone was set up for remote work even before the H1N1 situation surfaced, this company managed to accomplish a large percentage of its regular workload.”
Page Navigation 1) “It's reasonable for managers to expect absenteeism rates of 40 per cent or higher." - Page 1
2) Essential steps for an effective telework program. - Page 2
3) "It's not just about the technology." - Page 3

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