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Does Your Business Have an Active Shooter Protocol?

Unfortunately, 2013 proved that no school or business is completely safe from random shooting incidents and potential terrorist activity. Because of this, it is imperative for every company to develop an active shooter protocol so that they can keep their employees as safe as possible if a situation develops. Additionally, this is something that you need to keep in mind if you are in the process of opening a new business. After all, nobody is immune to the threat of having someone simply walk into their business with a gun, and this can lead to disastrous consequences if you are not prepared.

Tips for Developing an Active Shooter Protocol

There are professional security companies such as MSA Security, which can help train your staff to deal with an active shooter situation. You can also implement safety measures such as a security checkpoint at the entrance to help minimize the risk of dealing with this type of issue. However, it will still be necessary to give your staff members some training about the steps that they should take if they become aware that there is an active shooter on-site.

According to experienced security companies, there are certain things that every civilian should do during active shooter situation, including stay calm, turn off the lights, remain silent, lock or barricade all windows and doors, hide or flee depending on the situation, call 911 if possible and play dead or hide if a shooter is in the same room. It is also necessary for all of your staff members to understand that they will need to make their hands visible when the police arrive and avoid making any sudden moves until they are told that is okay to do so.

Working with Your Insurance Company

Some insurance providers will offer you literature that can help you develop an active shooter protocol. Additionally, it is possible that you could receive a discount on your insurance if you put an approved plan in place. After all, this will help minimize your insurance provider’s risk, so it is always a good idea to inquire about this possibility. Either way, you should still be committed to developing a protocol that will help your employees avoid serious injury or death if an active shooter makes the decision to target your business.

Should I Invest in a Security Company?

It can be difficult for small business owners to contemplate utilizing part of their budget for a security company, especially if they do not operate in a high-profile industry. Therefore, you need to carefully consider your company’s specific needs and risks to help you determine the appropriate steps to take. Fortunately, many security companies are willing to do a one-time assessment that will include helping you develop your active shooter protocol without needing to pay for their services on a continual basis.

As you can see, it is necessary for every business owner to be cognizant of the fact that an active shooter could enter their building at any time. Due to this, you need to develop a proven method for assisting your employees during this stressful situation. Putting an active shooter protocol in place and ensuring that each of your employees understands exactly what to do can make the difference between a controllable situation and a bloodbath.

Why Giving Back Is A Good Business Investment

If you are looking for a new way to promote teamwork and attract new local customers, you should carefully consider looking into volunteering opportunities for your company. After all, many consumers prefer to support businesses that place a focus on giving back to their community. Therefore, it is always a good idea for companies of all sizes to be charitable, and volunteering your time often has a bigger impact than making a cash donation.

Top Reasons to Volunteer as a Company

1. To Instill Goodwill in the Community – Every company needs to be concerned about their reputation, and volunteering will help cast your business in a much better light. This can become crucial if there are ever any controversies that impact your company, and it can also make a big difference if your business ends up teetering on the edge of needing to file for bankruptcy. After all, members of the local community are much more likely to rally around your company and offer support if you have given back in the past. It’s always good to look for Local volunteer opportunities within the community.

2. To Boost Company Morale – It has been proven by psychologists that volunteering has several emotional benefits that make it good for everyone to be involved in giving back. Due to this, many companies decide to volunteer as a team because it can have a direct impact on company morale. Additionally, getting people out of the office and letting them work with each other on a good cause can help smooth out interoffice difficulties.

3. To Reap the Marketing Benefits – Your company could spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on marketing without receiving the same positive boost that often accompanies being included in a press release or news story due to your team’s volunteering efforts. It is also important to note that you will gain the right to mention your volunteer and charitable work in your marketing materials, and this can definitely capture the attention of a much wider audience.

4. Community Service Opportunity – Regardless of whether you simply work in the local area or also live there, it is always a good idea to take advantage of a community service opportunity because this will make the entire area more desirable to consumers. After all, volunteering as a team to clean up a stretch of highway or rebuild a local park will boost your community’s profile by making it more aesthetically pleasing. Ultimately, this could lead to an influx of new residents who are likely to become customers of local businesses such as yours.

Volunteering and participating in other charitable ways will also provide you with a tax deduction, and this makes it a win-win situation for everyone involved. Therefore, every business owner should strongly consider encouraging their entire team to volunteer on a regular basis.

In fact, when you consider all of the perks that are associated with volunteering, it is surprising that there are so many companies that fail to take advantage of this mutually beneficial method for giving back to their local community. If you are unsure how to get started, you can easily utilize a local volunteering organization to provide you with some direction.

Why A Virtual Call Center Makes Sense for Your Business

Many business owners erroneously believe that they can provide a higher level of service to their customers by having a live receptionist available during working hours. Although there definitely are some benefits to providing people with the opportunity to connect to a live switchboard operator, this is no longer a necessity due to the virtual call center option. In fact, making the switch to a virtual call center can actually help you greatly increase your customer satisfaction.

How Does a Virtual Call Center Work?

In the standard business environment, a customer’s call will be answered by a receptionist who than determines which office number to connect them with. Unfortunately, there are many drawbacks to this approach, including the fact that calls can be missed when the receptionist is already speaking to someone else. Additionally, it is important to note that even a highly professional receptionist can still have a bad day, and this could end up reflecting poorly on your business.

Due to this, it is becoming increasingly common for companies to switch to a virtual call center company like Avoxi. This option provides callers with a recorded message that politely thanks them for calling and expedites the process of appropriately transferring their call. As an added bonus, you will have many quality control options that you can utilize via an online dashboard such as the option to review the time and length of each call and even listen to them if you have the recording feature turned on.

Additional Perks of a Virtual Call Center

Every company from home-based businesses to large brick-and-mortar locations can save a lot of time, money and customer frustration by switching to a virtual call center. After all, you will never need to worry about someone taking a break, being tied up on another line or treating your customers poorly because they are having a bad day. It is important to note that a virtual call center is less expensive than paying a receptionist’s salary, and it will never need sick or vacation leave. Your customers are also certain to love the fact that they will be able to connect with the appropriate voicemail 24/7 because you have a virtual call center in place.

Effective Call Screening

Many high-profile businesses need to screen their callers to ensure that they do not spend a lot of time discussing irrelevant matters such as whether or not they want to change their long-distance provider. A virtual call center will make it easier to connect salespeople with a specific voicemail that is monitored for any legitimate calls that need to be returned. Alternatively, if you have a live receptionist in place, they are much more likely to get worn down by the persistence of salespeople, and this could cause them to connect high-level employees with undesirable callers.

As you can see, having a virtual call center will provide you with several notable perks. Due to this, it is no wonder that so many leading businesses have already made the switch. You can improve your customer service and reduce your expenses by signing up for a virtual call center and moving away from a traditional receptionist environment.

Starting A Business? Here’s Your Checklist

So, are you tired of living off from your salary? Do you feel like you have been working too hard without being paid just as much? Or are you over with the thought of having to need more than just one job to be able to pay your bills? Or perhaps you are a student, trying to find ways to pay off your student loan as much as you could to lessen your parents’ burden? Maybe you are a retired personnel wanting to invest money and make it grow? Or are you a homemaker whose kids have gone off to college and now has more time for yourself? In any case, today, to be able to survive, it is important to have an eye for business. Why business? Because business is the root of everything—the economy, supply and demand all rely on business and how it will grow. Even some academic institutions were built for the main purpose of profit. This is how important a business is. It is a part of the life cycle which may make or break the person. But just how do you start your business?

Here’s your checklist:

1. An Idea That Sells.

Before thinking of anything else, you have to know first, what it is that you are going to do. If you are good in baking, then you can probably start a bakery but with a twist—you wouldn’t want to be like the other bakeries! Maybe you can do something to lower your costs and then go for an everyday buy one take one, or a food truck that sells authentic dishes that cannot be found elsewhere.

2. A Unique Name.

To catch your customers or clients, you have to come up with a name that’s special and that speaks for your business. Remember, this name will carry your future.

3. Investors

You may or may not need investors because it depends on how big your budget is and your vision to the business. However, it would be better of course to have a partner to help you out with the chores and the errands. It wouldn’t hurt too, that they can lessen the money you will cash out.

4. Target Market

Who is your business for? This is in relation to the first item on the checklist. You have to know your bu
siness above anybody else. Your target market will help you in choosing your advertisements and even in the pricing strategy!

5. Paperworks

Now, you have to go on with the paper works such as the different permits you have to secure. In cases where the health may be at risk, be ready for an inspection in your area.

6. Headquarters

The headquarters will serve as your playroom slash boardroom. It is where you will discuss things that you are not comfortable discussing with others such are the tedious tasks, the amount of taxes you have to pay, the multiple permits you need, and the likes.

7. Employees

Unless you intend on a one-man job, you will need several employees to do the tasks for you.

8. Office Space

To grow a business, you need to have a decent office. The difference between this and the headquarters is that, the headquarters can be as messy as you want it to be.The office space needs to be gleaming and presentable at all times. Choose furniture that’s elegant, classy and never goes out of style. Office furniture such as the sofa in the waiting area will show your prospective clients that you mean business. As what they say, “”First impressions last.” . Remember, your office is the reflection of your business. Treat it as your
home.

About the Author: Marie is an Interior Designer and Decorator who specializes in offering design consulting to various Business’s. She occasionally shops for office furniture from Only Office Furniture.

6 Ways To Save Energy In The Office

In these environment-conscious times, ‘saving energy’ is one of the most-used catchphrases for reducing the demand for fossil fuel used to generate power. Not only will it help save the planet, but it will benefit your household budget as well. The same goes for your workplace, naturally, when you apply your home energy-saving habits to your place of work.

Here are a few suggestions.

Don’t Use More Light Than You Need.

You can use a desk lamp for your table instead of the overhead lights when alone in your work room, for instance. Position your desk near windows so you can use the day’s natural light while it lasts: not only will it save you energy, but it is much healthier and pleasant to your eyes than artificial lighting. Use compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) as much as possible: they use about 70% less energy than incandescent lighting. Switch off unneeded lighting, particularly in less-used areas such as storerooms and conference rooms.

Turn Off Equipment When Not Using It.

Switch off equipment such as printers, copiers and scanners not being used. It takes only a second to switch them on for use. Turn off computer monitors if you will be away for more than a few minutes like when going on a coffee or lunch break. Switch off even the computer itself if it will not be used for over an hour. Even a few watts saved each time may accumulate to a substantial amount after a while.

Similarly, unplug all power equipment at the end of the day and most importantly on weekends. Appliances on standby mode still use some power even when switched off but plugged to outlets.

Close the Drapes or Blinds

Do this when leaving for the day or weekend to conserve internal heat and reduce the amount of energy needed
to raise the temperature to comfortable levels for the next working day. Some rooms don’t require heating up or cooling down much such as storage rooms as they are infrequently used. Likewise, cooler or warmer corridors will discourage employees from loitering there, increasing work time.

Program your Thermostats

Make Sure the thermostats switch off during the night and switch on only a little time before the rooms are used. Remember, HVAC systems require about 150 times the power lighting systems need. Heating and cooling comprise about half the total energy bill in offices, so save on air conditioning power and you slice off a significant portion of your power bill.

Maintain Your Equipment Well

A dirty airconditioner or heater will work harder to produce the same amount of coolness, increasing power consumption. This principle applies to all mechanical devices or parts, such as those in printers and copiers. Scheduling maintenance fo
r them will ensure efficient performance from these machines.

Make Your Own Energy

Finally, to save energy, the best way is to install solar power generators to make use of free power. The initial investment will be paid off over time through savings on power bills and, if you generate more than your needs, you may even get paid for the power you plow back into the power grid.

So save energy in your workplace as much as you can. Who knows? Maybe management will share the savings with you via bonuses and other emoluments. Then you benefit direct.

About the Author: This article was written by Kim from MSE. Kim has been blogging for about 5 years and has loved every second. Apart from blogging Kim enjoys music and exercise.