With thousands of businesses switching from the traditional office to the Working From Home model, there’s a few things to consider when making the transition. Therefore, ThomDigital navigates the swift transition for many office spaces to WFH setups amidst a mass migration to “home” due to COVID-19. 

ThomDigital recently aided a NYC based photographer, Terry Gruber.

Gruber’s office, formerly in the Chelsea area of Manhattan of 10 years needed the switch to a WFH model. Gruber previously had an office of two employees with studio space to conduct his photography sessions. Though he had been considering the downsize for some time now, the pandemic was just the opportunity to  begin the WFH journey. Having the normal concerns around business functionality and its success, ThomDigital was happy to explain what the new work life would look like.

Together our team and Gruber planned to move out of the studio taking only relevant IT hardware needed to mimic the existing functionality at his home uptown. Now, all the servers, WAP’s, printers, and phones would be at his home. For instance, in this project there was a one day turnaround with minimal downtime. In the end, the cost of work was reduced further by selling back unnecessary equipment. 

Scope of Work:

• Adding infrastructure in the home. 
• Switch from trunk lines via AT&T to digital voice over IP (VOIP).
• Troubleshooting hardware costs
• Reduce overall fixed costs for the business

Benefits:

• “By switching we saved an excess of $100,000 in rent for the year. This is money back in my pocket. It’s given me a lot more breaths per day”
• No longer in deals with unhelpful landlords
• By adding amplifier units for the wifi, everyone in the household has stronger connectivity and signal in every corner of the home. (No more teenage complaints!)
• Leveraging local vendors versus costly Internet Service Providers (like AT&T), time, frustration, and money are saved for the client.

Results:

Overwhelmingly satisfied with his results, Terry contributed some thoughtful words:

“What was nice about working with Michael, he was always very helpful and gave me good advice. I’m someone who has to trust someone else to make these decisions. Not many of us know how to navigate the digital world and he was very easy to talk to about it. He laid out  clear step-by-step logic on why someone would want to do this, what equipment is needed, and how to get things done that wouldn’t be crazy expensive.”

In addition, to summarize his experience with ThomDigital, “I saved money and improved quality of my work and personal life. It’s what you want.”

In the end, switching to a WFH model for Gruber provided rewarding cost savings across the board for business security. But, the value that provides a happy family, and health and safety for the photographers has no price tag.

Image Credit: https://www.microbizmag.co.uk