We are continuing to monitor the situation on a daily basis and have implemented a number of preventative measures to protect both our staff and service users:
Contact Centre and Office Locations
- Where technically feasible all our office-based staff are working from home
- ARC operators from our West Malling contact centre are working from home and have been since the beginning of the lock down.
- IT Systems at our Eastbourne centre have been upgraded and updated to support home working and this will be rolled out in the coming days.
- Where we have been unable to arrange for our contact centre operators to work from home we have split out the service across multiple floors to ensure if some operators become infected, or have come into contact with someone with the virus, we will only have to close a portion of our centre rather than all.
- Back off staff have been trained and issued with equipment to be able to manage calls in our call centre to ensure we have the capacity to manage calls in the event of staff shortages or increased call volumes.
- Posters are placed across all of our sites in toilets and kitchens encouraging handwashing, use of tissues, etc.
- Hand sanitiser gel and disinfectant wipe distribution has been increased for all staff members to ensure they are able to use
- Disaster Recovery (DR) sites have been checked, deep cleaned and verified for use, and kept closed, ready to be used if we need to go to DR.
- Staff who are in the high-risk category are self-isolating and, where possible, will be working from home for the foreseeable future.
- We have stopped all non-essential visitors to all of our sites and only those people who need to be attending are given access to the buildings.
- Pre-recorded messages have been placed on our incoming lines, to advise callers that they may be asked additional questions for Health & Safety reasons.
- Cleaning contractors have been put on standby to undertake full decontamination cleaning if needed.
Field Services
- Engineers and Mobile Responders have been issued with additional protective equipment. This includes approved surgical face masks, surgical gloves, aprons, shoe covers, hand gels and anti-bacterial gives. They have also been issued with guidelines on their use and are only undertaking essential visits where we have taken reasonable steps to ensure their safety when visiting. Regular deliveries are being made to all staff in the field to ensure they have the appropriate PPE at all times.
- Customer Services and the field-based personnel have been provided with a script and are asking the following questions when contacting customers to arrange an appointment;
- Have you been asked to self-isolate?
- Are you self-isolating by choice and are you still happy for us to attend?
- Do you have any cold/flu like symptoms? (cough, sore throat, fever, etc.)
- Does anyone in your household have any of the above symptoms?
| Risk Level | Response | Action |
| LOW | No high-risk contact | Business as Usual |
| MEDIUM | Has chosen to self-isolate due to age/ medical history. | Minimise visits if possible (postal options)/ precautions with H&S supplies |
| HIGH | Cold/flu symptoms or others in the household with symptoms OR 111 recommendation to self-isolate/ confirmed COVID-19 case. | No visit Corporate clients to be updated on visits that we are unable to attend |
- Where we are unable to undertake a visit to carry out an installation we have designed a drop to door service whereby our engineers will pre-program the equipment and connect all of the cables prior to delivering to the door step along with an easy to follow self-installation guide. They will then support the installation from outside the property or over the telephone.
- Where visits are required, we have been completing all paperwork over the telephone prior to attendance to keep the time on site to a minimum. Our staff have been instructed to practice social distancing where possible whilst in a client’s home.
- We have worked closely with a number of Local Authorities and NHS Trusts to create a home from hospital service to ensure our services can be provided to people in need as soon as they leave hospital.
- Updated processes across the business including quarantining deliveries, equipment returns and cleaning of equipment.
- Processes are constantly being reviewed and updated in accordance with any new information received.
Our contingency plan includes:
- Use of bank staff if we have staff shortages due to illness and/or staff self-isolating.
- Training all back-office staff to undertake front line services should the need arise.
We are reviewing our Covid-19 continuity plans frequently and these are supported by a Covid-19 working group which has been established within the Doro Group. Furthermore, we are reviewing daily updates from the government, WHO, IOSH and other key organisations to ensure we are abreast of the situation and planning accordingly.
Please be assured we are doing everything in our control to ensure our key services, in support of our customers, clients and their families, remain unaffected.