Our response to COVID-19

As businesses, like yours, are forced to adapt and sustain in person and remote (or both) work environments, please know you’re not facing these difficulties alone.

These are extremely challenging times for all companies.

We’re dedicated to responding proactively to all situations and COVID-19 is no different. This is how we’re choosing to ensure the safety of both our team and yours.

First, your business will be ready. During these uncertain times, your company will benefit from timely and expert IT support. We have extensive experience and knowledge in helping businesses efficiently and securely operate remote or hybrid workforces. This also enables us to be successful in running our operations remotely as needed. No matter whether our staff is in the office or working remotely, you’ll still receive the same high level of support and service. In order to keep our employees healthy and focused, we encourage them to stay home when feeling ill, and to tend to childcare and other needs while working from home. In addition, we observe the following guidelines:

• Following CDC recommendations.
• Allowing staff to work from home or from the office.
• Keeping on-site interactions to a minimum.
• Encouraging remote meetings or conference calls.

Second, you are important. We take your technology seriously are making decisions based on your best interests. We'll continue to communicate updates to our COVID-19 response to you regularly via email and our blog. Also, we’ve prepared our team for a variety of contingencies and assure you that we have the correct processes in place to keep your needs front and center. Part of our preparedness includes maintaining uninterrupted service as we re-assign staff to prioritize immediate business support needs and allocating internal infrastructure and the setup of remote tools.

Third, help us help you. Our goal is to keep you as secure as possible during these times. Please make sure that you have a robust business continuity plan and protocols in place as bad actors have really taken advantage of unprotected businesses during this pandemic. Since every business/organization is unique with respect to their technology and business continuity needs, please be sure to ask yourself these questions:

• Do I have a business continuity plan?
• Have I determined who my essential employees are?
• How will my employees work if the office or building closes again for a prolonged period of time?
• Have I communicated the business continuity plan with all staff and set expectations?
• Do all employees that are working from home have the software, hardware, tools, and access to line-of-business applications to be productive?
• Can our remote access method handle an increased demand in the event of a disaster?
• How will our VoIP/phone system be handled, and will incoming calls be routed?
• Do we have a standardized video conferencing system like Microsoft Teams or Zoom for internal meetings?

If you’re unsure of how to respond to these questions or would like to learn more about a business continuity plan, please contact us here.

Fourth, your patience during this time means a lot to us. Our team and support technicians are among the best in the business, and they love solving your technology issues. That being said, over the past year and a half, we have seen an increase in requests for business continuity-related questions. These increased requests have an impact on support levels and project delivery. We appreciate your patience as we process these additional support requests. Also, whenever possible, we’ll be limiting the number of on-site client visits to emergencies or high priority items only. This helps protect our support team so they can continue to offer you the highest level of service possible.

Please rest assured that there will be no interruptions to your IT and technology services. If that expectation changes, we will openly communicate this to you and your company.

As your technology advisors, it’s our goal to manage and secure your technology so that you can keep the focus on running your business. This will continue to be our mantra during these complex times.

Best regards,
The Leadership Team at Cooperative Systems