294 days ago
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Where able, colleagues across the UK and Ireland are working from home – on either a part or full-time basis. While some people are used to working from home, others are logging on away from the office for the first time.
Here, we share advice on the essentials: getting connected, maintaining security, and introducing some of the tools that can help you to work efficiently from home.
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VPN: A VPN is a virtual private network. This is used to bring you into the Sodexo network when you are out of the office (through the ‘Cisco AnyConnect’ icon in the Windows taskbar). It’s useful for maintaining security when you are accessing documents on our drives. However, a VPN is not essential for using programmes such as Outlook, Skype, Teams or other Office 365 applications such as SharePoint or OneDrive. There is a higher demand for VPN lines than usual, owing to more people working from home, so please be patient if the network is a little slower than usual. Top tip: If you need to change your network password while working from home, use the VPN to ensure this goes through successfully
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Office 365: Office 365 provides a suite of cloud-based tools designed to enable collaboration. While around a third of people have access to desktop versions of the Office 365 apps, everyone with a Sodexo email has access to online apps. To see the apps available to you, head to www.office.com and sign in using your Sodexo details. Need a refresher on one of the apps, or starting from scratch? We have a range of resources to help you, including an introductory user guide. You can also acess our Office 365 worldwide Yammer community, where experts from Sodexo's global footprint are able to answer your questions.
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Keep your laptop happy: Where possible, connect your laptop to mains power to maintain a healthy charge, and be sure to plug-in before your battery level drops below 15%. At the end of the day, or when away for longer than an hour, remember to properly shut down your laptop so that the battery doesn’t drain to zero. This will help battery health and to avoid a loss of data.
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•Be vigilant: In last week’s issue, we told you about the increased number of attempted phishing attacks on our systems. The unfortunate reality is that hackers are attempting to use the Coronavirus pandemic to take advantage of people who have their attention diverted from their normal level of scrutiny, particularly on email. Remember: if an email doesn’t look quite right, report it – using either the Report Spam icon in the top-right corner of Outlook, by sending the email as an attachment to spam@sodexo.com, or by contacting Solutionline.
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Create virtual alternatives: Many of us are used to spending the majority of each day in an office, meeting face-to-face, grabbing lunch with team mates, and picking each other up during challenging times. It's important to replicate as much of this normal office activity as possible. Why not schedule a team check-in over lunch, allowing a little face time on Teams with the people you would usually see each day? If you are stuck on something that the techy-whizz in the office would usually help you with, use the chat function on Skype to reach them. You could also use our UK & Ireland Yammer group to reach out beyond your usual circle, and ask for help that way.
If you're well versed in working from home and have any tips to share, let us know in the comments below or on Yammer!
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