For a lot of employees, working from home means more than just video conferencing. There are a few other tools we think you should know about.
Over the last few weeks you’ve probably seen some good lists of tools that improve working from home.
Task management and communication are obviously an integral part of company processes but what about security?
For many companies, a challenge they face, with staff working remotely is the lack of accountability and security they have, now they’re away from the office.
We thought it would be a good idea to talk about a few tools that your remote working team should have, along with some recommendations of which ones to use.
There are also a few suggestions for other bits and bobs, that we think are great.
At home you’re no longer part of the company network. Now this would be fine, except your company network is probably a lot safer.
It also allows you to access apps, data and resources that enable you to do your job. Fortunately, there’s a solution. We’re good at those.
Virtual Private Networks or VPN’s are a way of tapping into another network or server from your own IP address. You may have heard of them before, mainly to access streaming services in other regions.
However, they have a perfectly legitimate and useful purpose for work too.
VPN’s will create a tunnel between your IP address and the server of your choice. Not only do they allow you to access data and resources you need for work but they also encrypt all your internet traffic whilst using that VPN.
This means you’re essentially teleporting your internet to a different location for the duration of working hours. It’s a bit like the Tardis. Your activity will be completely safe from anyone attempting to intercept it.
It’s important that the VPN you use is an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) or TSL (Transport Layer Security – a newer protocol) VPN. These are what allow the user to access and secure the internet browser of that company.
It’s how you can get the resources you need and it’s end to end encrypted. This means data transmitted between your IP and the company network is super secure.
You can get VPN’s which are simply remote access management tools. These can work but require more effort to set up and are not as secure.
For a good VPN, we recommend SonicWall’s VPN solutions. They are highly secure and have a number of features including mobile access.
If you want to try another VPN, unrelated to what your company uses, you could try Google Remote Access extension. It’s free!
ExpressVPN, SurfShark and NordVPN are all popular and easy to use alternatives particularly for personal use.
It’s vital that as a company you don’t let your guard down in the area of security when a large part of your workforce is working remotely.
VPN’s provide some security when you’re working from home but on your home PC you are still vulnerable to some attacks.
Using a Firewall is a sure-fire way of ensuring you aren’t vulnerable to any attacks. We talked about them in this blog Click Here
Handily, SonicWall’s main offering is their excellent firewall solution.
With SonicWall’s Firewall software you can make use of your company’s firewall from a remote location. The firewall hardware might be on company premises but wherever your employees are, they can be protected.
All that’s required is for them to download the relevant application and log on.
If you’re dealing with company data, it’s vital that you take care and use good cyber security.
We mentioned we would talk about some other tools that are great for remote working.
For communicating with our teams and ensuring we are operating on the same pages, we use… Microsoft Teams. Surprise, surprise.
It’s one of the best at what it does and integrates fully with the rest of Office 365 if you use that. It also includes Skype for Business so that’s your remote video conferencing sorted too!
Another task management tool we use is Trello. Again, you’ve probably heard of this but it’s worth pointing out. It’s super easy to use and integrate with other apps and systems such as calendars.
So there you go, just a gentle reminder that if you’re working from home right now, it’s still good to consider internet security. Make sure your business is secure by implementing some of these tools.
If you want to know more about what they are and what they can do for your company, have a word with us. We’d be happy to explain.