If you are planning an office move, you should know that the biggest challenges and headaches will come from your IT and Phones. Here’s some advice that will help to minimise downtime and interruption for you and your clients.
Moving to a new office brings a set of challenges for your business to manage. Having just moved office ourselves, we experienced first-hand the technical issues that need to be navigated when settling into new premises. There are a potential for a number of different problems to arise when you’re trying to set up your IT, communications, and office equipment. All of which basically means, the move will likely mean downtime for your business.
However, you can put plans in place to minimise the interruption to you and your clients. The best thing that you can do is be prepared and plan your move carefully so that you can make the move as easy as possible. Whether you’re downsizing or upsizing your office, here’s how to manage some of the key technical concerns.
Ensuring Internet and Network Connectivity
Connectivity is going to be one of your main concerns when you move into a new office. Any modern business needs to be connected to the internet and get all of their network connections up and running. Ideally, everything will be ready to go when you move in, so you can get your hardware set up and working with your internet connection. You’ll need to think of things such as how long it’s going to take for your internet service provider to get you set up, as well as the number and location of wireless access points that you will need.
Phone Contact with Clients
In addition to your internet connection, getting your phone lines set up is another essential task. You don’t want communication with clients and others to be disrupted during your move. We found that during our own move, having a VOIP system made this particular aspect of moving office a lot easier. We could simply move our phone system from A to B, with no worry about being out of touch with clients. There was no wait for connections to be available or need to manage new phone numbers. A VOIP system made it all so simple.
Meeting the Needs of Your Employees
The technical infrastructure in your new office needs to meet the needs of your employees. You will need to consider how and where everyone is working, planning the right layout for your staff. This can involve considering whether everyone is working from laptops or desktops and if each person will have their own workstation. Other equipment will need to be considered too, such as printers and photocopiers, to ensure there’s enough equipment to meet the demands of the office.
Getting Moved In
On moving day, handling all IT equipment, and getting everything set up smoothly is your priority. It’s a good idea to have someone on-site who can manage all of the technical details and ensure everything is working correctly. When it’s time to open up your office and start operating from there, you will definitely want someone available to work out any initial kinks and tackle problems that arise. A good project management leader for all of your IT needs can help you.
We can take the hassle out of the IT and telecoms elements of moving your office. We know the challenges you face and have experience with handling them. Contact Us for more information.
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