As parts of the UK shut down yesterday after experiencing their heaviest snowfall since 1991, unified communications vendors have been talking up the benefits of collaborative and home-working solutions.
Although it is too late to install comms solutions to overcome the current crisis, Stephen Beynon, managing director of ntl:Telewest Business, said it was clear that disruptive natural events were becoming more commonplace, "so organisations need to have a continuity plan in place to ensure that operations do not hit a standstill when the worst happens".
Michael Calvert, UK general manager at Aastra, said it was unsurprising the country had ground to a halt.
"Unfortunately though, many companies do not have a communications infrastructure which is flexible enough to allow their workers to be productive wherever they are. Even if such adverse weather conditions are short lived, the cumulated impact on companies' performance can be significant."
"To address situations where the normal service could be disrupted and have an impact on the customer experience or order intake, equipping staff to work remotely is also an important consideration to take into account for contingency plans," added Calvert.
Research conducted by the Cranfield School of Management on behalf of Siemens Enterprise Communications, out today, said that well over three quarters of UK SMEs wanted to improve productivity through communications.