It is a truth held self evident that there are a few bits of essential office equipment no one can do without.
Some bits keep you safe, and others just make your life easy and your workplace efficient.
We will forgo the obvious tables and chairs and run down the top five bits of essential office equipment you can’t do without.
Cue Led Zep! (Top of The Pops reference for our younger readers)
1) A Reliable Phone System
A phone is the life blood of most businesses, even in the digital age. And with businesses being easily global, one that is reliable and doesn’t cost the earth is a huge boon.
VoIP, or Voice Over IP, is a phone line that most offices prefer. It allows you to place calls over the internet instead of using traditional phonelines.
The benefit of that is that it is often cheaper to make long distance or lengthy calls. Calling PC to PC is usually free!
Another big benefit is that there is no limit to the amount of phone lines you can connect, providing your bandwidth is able to handle it. Unlike traditional phonelines you can have as many phones connected to your line as you need.
2) A Place To Share Files
Office collaboration is important. Usually your team will want somewhere to share files with each other securely or work collaboratively.
Google Docs, for example, lets you all work live on a document, but it isn’t very secure as all the data is viewable, and usable, by Google. So, sharing client data is a no-no.
Office 365 comes with One Drive, that lets your team save files in a central location, but live collaboration is not possible. It is particularly useful to have, though, for storing office policies.
If you are in need to a central location for file storage get in touch. We are experts at IT solutions so can advise the best one for you.
3) Health And Safety Compliance Documents
If your company employs 5 people or more, you are required by law to have a health and safety policy. This should be a written document that all staff have seen and understand. There should be one person responsible for the overall health and safety of the office-usually the MD.
You should risk assess the office environment and have the risk assessment on display. You should also be able to demonstrate that you have taken steps to control the hazards and reduce the risks, rather than it just being a tick box exercise.
4) A Lone Worker Policy
If any of your staff are ever working unsupervised, they are considered to be lone working, even if they are not literally on their own. Reception staff, sales people and account managers out on client visits are all lone workers.
There are no legal requirements for protecting your lone workers in any particular way, but the law states that there should be adequate control of the risks associated with lone working.
Naturally, lone workers are more vulnerable to attack, and can find it difficult to call for assistance if they are injured or are suddenly very ill.
Consider implementing a robust ‘check in/check out’ system where your staff have to call in to say they are safe after completing an activity. Make sure diaries are kept up to date too, so you know where your staff have last been if they fail to return when you expect. There are some great lone worker apps and fobs out there that make it a bit easier for your staff to call for help if they need it.
Having a written policy is a great way to prove to staff that their welfare matters, and they are more than just a number to you.
5) A Decent Website
Ok so it isn’t strictly a piece of office equipment, but a decent website is essential for all businesses. Even if you don’t sell anything online, your future customers are bound to be looking for your types of service online or look you up to check you are legitimate.
Having a decent website that is beautifully designed and full of well written content will give a good impression to your clients and probably bring you more custom.
It works as a great sales tool for your staff and can bring enquiries through search engine optimisation, too.
Here at Bandicoot we build and host beautiful websites and let you have full control over them, too.
Get In Touch
So, there you go pop pickers, our selection of the essential office equipment you can’t do without.
Here at Bandicoot we often help businesses with their IT and computing needs, so we see first hand the types of office equipment and software that really make the difference to the staff and the bottom line.
We can help you too. Just get in touch with us on 01282506616 or email info@bandicoot.co.uk.
