COVID-19, or Coronavirus, seems to be spreading exponentially. When situations like this arise it’s important that we all work together to prevent the spread and minimise the damage this virus can cause. One of the main issues facing us currently is the increasing need of employees to work from home. This is where Cisco has offered to help by providing an option for free remote working.

For many businesses, employees working from home is not a viable option right now as the technology is not in place. This will have a big impact if the Coronavirus worsens, which is likely to happen. Companies need to be proactive to put measures in place. If you are a business looking to enable remote working, then Cisco’s free remote working may be an option for you.

Cisco are currently allowing businesses of all sizes to use their Webex platform for no charge on a temporary basis until the Coronavirus threat settles down. Webex allows you to host online video meetings with up to 100 people so your employees can carry on collaborating and speaking to clients wherever they are located.

This will be extremely useful for businesses and individuals alike. Below we have detailed how the scheme will work for different groups:

Existing Webex Customers can easily increase their subscriptions through the Webex Control Hub. Therefore, if only a selection of your employees have Webex subscriptions you can now give subscriptions to every employee at your business for no charge. These will be temporary subscriptions.

If your business does not currently use Webex but wishes to start, you can set this up through a Cisco partner. You will be put onto a Webex Trial service where you can use all the Webex features for free for a limited time.

Cisco already offer a free Webex trial for individuals and small businesses but due to the severity of Coronavirus, they are improving the available feature set. Users will now have unlimited usage, the ability to host meetings with up to 100 participants, and there will be support for toll dial-in (in addition to existing VoIP capabilities).

It’s good to see Cisco and other large companies helping out where they can when we find ourselves in times like these. The ability to communicate when isolated is invaluable and will help mitigate the additional threat of this virus on our economy.

If you need any help with free remote working or have any questions then don’t hesitate to reach out to us.