Schools are responsible for the wellbeing of their pupils. Although this has always been the case, the threats to student wellbeing have become increasingly complex and are no longer solely centred around physical health and security. As the internet has grown to become an integral part of education, this responsibility has expanded to encompass online elements.

The Department for Education states, “It is essential that children are safeguarded from potentially harmful and inappropriate online material”. This is a complicated undertaking because online protection needs to be much more nuanced, with management functions to reflect this. This is where content filtering comes in.

Content filtering defined

Content filtering blocks pupils’ access to predefined webpage content across the internet, with schools setting up parameters to determine what can and cannot be viewed. Content filtering differs from other filtering methods in that it can be used to block specific content on a webpage whilst still providing access to the page itself.

Education filtering considerations

Although the DfE states, “The appropriateness of any filtering and monitoring systems are a matter for individual schools and colleges, ” they offer guidance. In their ‘Keeping children safe in education 2023’ document, they outline the content that pupils should be shielded from, categorising it as follows:

• Content (illegal, inappropriate or harmful content)
• Contact (harmful online interaction with other users)
• Conduct (online behaviour likely to lead to harm)
• Commerce (risks such as online gambling and financial scams)

In addition to what to filter, the following considerations are highlighted:

• The age range of children
• The number of children
• How often they access the IT system
• The proportionality of costs versus safeguarding risks

The UK Safer Internet Centre suggests that schools should also consider “the ability to vary filtering strength appropriate to age and role”. This means that a suitable content filtering solution needs to be fully flexible, with the ability to segment pupils.

A balancing act

A school content filtering solution obviously needs to fulfil the criteria of protecting pupils, but at the same time, it cannot disrupt the learning process. The DfE warns that schools “should be careful that “over blocking” does not lead to unreasonable restrictions as to what children can be taught.”

There is also an aspect of self-learning involved and being overprotective can end up adversely affecting pupils. An Ofsted report from 2010 differentiates between managed systems and ‘locked down systems’; although the former still has inaccessible sites, there are fewer, and pupils are encouraged to take some responsibility for their own online safety.

“Pupils in the schools that had ‘managed’ systems had better knowledge and understanding of how to stay safe than those in schools with ‘locked down’ systems. Pupils were more vulnerable overall when schools used locked down systems because they were not given enough opportunities to learn how to assess and manage risk for themselves.”

This is another strong case for a flexible educational content filtering solution. This gives a school full control of what is and isn’t displayed, and the ability to adjust restrictions for individual pupils based on factors such as age.

An ongoing process

Once a school has selected an appropriate content filtering solution, there are a few further supporting steps to take. When it comes to staff training, it would be advantageous to roll this out beyond the IT team to ensure its overall effectiveness and a smooth learning process. The DfE suggests ensuring that “the leadership team and relevant staff have an awareness and understanding of the provisions in place”.

Parents and carers should also be informed of a school’s content filtering strategy; “parents and carers are likely to find it helpful to understand what systems schools and colleges use to filter and monitor online use”. This will help to make learning more seamless when pupils need to access online resources from home.

Lastly, employing an ongoing review process is crucial. Technology, and especially the online world, moves at an incredible pace which any related safety measure needs to match. As such, the DfE states that schools should “regularly review their effectiveness”. A filtering solution with reporting can be a great asset here, ensuring that you maintain a historical record and can monitor the effectiveness of any future changes.

How we can help

Working closely with schools across the UK, we have created a solution for safe and compliant internet usage, incorporating content filtering and technology requirements specifically for the education sector. This features the following benefits:

• Increased online safety and compliance with integrated Web Content Filtering delivered through us in partnership with Netsweeper- Netsweeper provides this service to 1 in 3 children throughout England
• More control with the ability to segment Internet users and proactively manage all LAN switches and WiFi access points
• Flexibility with online learning platforms and remote access to school IT resources from home
• Powerful reporting through an intuitive visual dashboard
• Peace of mind with Online Data Back Up and Disaster Recovery

Depending on your budget and operational requirements, we can also add additional connectivity functionality. This includes a comprehensive telephony system to maximise coverage across your school with an integrated lockdown solution increasing safety for students and staff. Every service we supply is supported by a 24/7 Service Assurance Team and a dedicated Account Manager.

If you’d like more information on our content filtering solution for schools, call us on 01256 391 046 or email sales@southern-comms.co.uk.

Twinkling lights are everywhere, carols and Christmas classics are playing wherever you turn and we find ourselves filled with that special warmth and joy that you only really feel in December.  The festive season is referred to as the most wonderful time of the year, and for good reason, it’s the time we gather together, friends and family, give gifts and feel merry. 

With the New Year on the horizon, it is also the time of reflection, planning, celebrating our successes and most importantly, dissecting what may not quite have gone to plan. 

At SCG, we would like to thank you for your custom this year, your loyalty plays a huge part in the success we see and whatever you may have planned for your business comms next year, we are here to help you achieve those goals.

Last Christmas we were working apart…

The time of COVID truly cemented the era of remote working, with businesses finding new ways of staff communicating with customers and working together from home. Although 2022 has seen the release of lockdown, some have been more reluctant to give up these new working methods, opting to offer staff a more flexible approach to working in the office, or closing their office contracts completely, in favour of a fully remote workforce.

If remote or flexible working is something you want to offer your staff in the New Year, our suite of hosted products can help bridge the gap between office and home easily and seamlessly.

It’s the most vulnerable time of the year…

Telecoms fraud is on the rise and closing the office over the festive season can often leave phone systems unmonitored for long periods, giving hackers the perfect gift of time.  You can do simple things to help secure your phone system, but with hackers becoming smarter and more versatile, now is the time to consider how you can protect yourself if you were to find your business under attack. 

SCG’s Voice Safe service is designed to cover you for up to £10,000 of fraudulent call traffic and has already helped many of our customers relieve the pain of a fraudulent bill, in particular, Falcon Equine Feeds. You can read more about their story here.

Diverting Home for Christmas…

Where are your calls going this season?  Every business is unique and as such, opening hours will vary over the holidays, so it is vital to keep your customers informed of what is happening with your business calls.  Whether you are sending them to a voice message, or re-routing to an out-of-hours mobile, we can help you ensure your customer enquiries end up where they need to be. 

Our focus for 2023 is to help our customers Be More Empowered to reach their goals, seeing More success and More productivity than ever before.  If you haven’t already, contact us on 0800 090 1965 to discuss how we can help give you the best start to 2023.

Do you want to utilise the Cloud and the latest telephony solutions to increase efficiency and provide flexibility for your business to thrive, no matter where you or your staff are located? If so, you need to rely on these technologies to keep you both connected and secure.

Now we are approaching the holiday season there is an estimated 30% rise in attempted ransomware attacks, and a similar spike in telecoms fraud. An unguarded phone system, often caused by reduced staff levels and office closures, makes these activities more likely to succeed and leaves your business liable for any costs that can occur. Regrettably, when left unmonitored, these attacks can result in thousands of pounds of fraudulent call charges.

SCG’s Cloud guarantee means delivering technology twinned with peace of mind to ensure you get the most out of your Cloud and telephony solutions.

Feel more secure with a trusted expert

Whatever your business needs, SCG has the experience and know-how to help make your organisation more efficient and optimised so that you can achieve greater heights with your connectivity and communication.

We have specialised in bringing people and technology together for over 50 years, transforming businesses with our core products, Cloud technology, mobile connectivity, and broadband solutions to help create value in your business domain.

We ensure that your Cloud services and data are secure, backed up, and managed by a highly experienced team of professionals, who specialise in the operation of mission-critical data centre environments.

Join us on the journey to the Cloud, where we have continually evolved better applications to improve business connectivity with leading technology that enables organisations to develop at pace with changing market demands. In a world that is progressively seeking better technology, moving your business to the Cloud will secure you with all its connectivity requirements. We ensure that we deliver strong solutions which will assist your workplace, its growth and communication demands. From January 2022 you might have seen our Cloud outline which represents our commitment that where you see it, you can be assured that the service level you will receive will be second to none. And our commitment doesn’t stop there – we are always developing new ways in which we can assist you and your business. Our aim is to make you feel secure in your decision to partner with SCG.

Rest assured you are covered with our Service Assured Range

At SCG we make it our mission to understand what your business needs and we ensure to keep your solutions up and running even when an unforeseeable fault occurs. No matter what system you have in place we have an assured service to keep you secure. Some of these services are our Broadband Protect, Service Protect, Line Safe, Voice Safe and so many more.

If fraud occurs and you’re not prepared, it can impact you far worse than expected. The Service Assured solutions are designed to guarantee that you never feel the pain of unplanned errors and help protect you against attacks. Keep your mind at ease and your business secure; discover what Assured Services we can offer you.

We aim to make you feel secure when putting your business trust in us. To find out more and start your journey to the Cloud, talk to us to see how we can utilise the latest technology in your business. Call us on 01256 391 046 or email sales@southern-comms.co.uk.

The awareness of absenteeism in the workplace is growing, especially after the pandemic shone more of a spotlight on physical and mental health. However, is there a bigger threat to productivity and the employee experience, which still largely goes unseen beneath the surface?

The greater of two evils

Presenteeism occurs when staff are physically present at work, yet not performing at peak levels. It’s the concept that productivity is more nuanced than a mere correlation to attendance.

Although presenteeism is often seen as the twin of absenteeism, this is an unwise simplification, if merely because it has the potential to be far more damaging. This is largely due to its insidious nature; it often flies under the radar and can even be born out of good intentions.

Considering the scale and scope of the workforce, measuring productivity and therefore presenteeism can be incredibly difficult. However, it’s detrimental to just assume that your employees are always working at their best, whether consciously or otherwise. In essence, presenteeism is a dripping tap with the potential to flood your office. Can you afford that at a time when productivity is more important than ever?

Some of the causes of presenteeism are more obvious than others, but just like presenteeism itself, it’s the fact that a lot of these are hard to detect that make them dangerous.

Illness

Absences are, by definition, likely to be visible. Most organisations log sick days in some form, making absenteeism easier to monitor. The hard part is knowing how to deal with it in a way that benefits both employee and employer. What happens when someone comes into the office when they’re not feeling well though? This is one of the most common causes of presenteeism; someone who is ill will never be as productive as when they are fully fit.

This issue can be complicated. Depending on your sick pay policies, asking someone to go home when ill can result in them receiving reduced pay. Another consideration is that an employee might believe they are doing the right thing by continuing to work in the office whilst battling through illness. However, this is one instance where the best of intentions can cause a negative result, potentially infecting other people and further reducing productivity.

Mental health

Mental health issues are much harder to identify than physical health issues, however they can have just as much of an effect. Although mental health can obviously be affected by personal factors, elements such as stress and burnout are often linked to the workplace.

The increased pace of many jobs can put a strain on employees, made worse by bad management or even the individual putting pressure on themselves. This pressure can then spill out into every area of life. This is compacted by the rise of technology, making it harder to switch off even outside of working hours. Again, a member of staff with the best intentions might believe they are doing the right thing by working extra hours, whereas this can be harmful to mental health. This behaviour can spread by example; managers themselves need to be particularly careful of this with their own out-of-hours practices.

Disengagement

Employee engagement is your personal relationship with your job, how enthused you are, passionate you are, driven you are on a daily level by your role. It’s one of the main ingredients of employee experience. There are three states to employee engagement: engaged, disengaged, and actively disengaged. Presenteeism is caused by the last two.

Most people are not inherently disengaged and have simply become this way at some point on their employment journey. Unappreciation, boredom, and unrealistic workload are among the common factors associated with disengagement. It often comes down to a failure to instil company culture into an employee.

Disengaged employees are likely to coast along, doing the absolute minimum to get by. Recently this state has gained prominence by another name: quiet quitting. Worse though is active disengagement, where employees make a conscious effort to actively work against your business from within. Both stages are contagious though, and run the risk of having a huge impact on organisational morale if left unchecked.

Presenteeism prevention

In light of these complex causes, and the fact that presenteeism itself is so difficult to spot, how can you combat it?

Although it might seem slightly counterintuitive, the most efficient course of action is to focus on the causes of presenteeism rather than trying to measure or identify it. Your business will be all the more successful for making that jump of understanding to where productivity cannot accurately be measured by occupied office seats. With this acceptance comes a number of solutions, all of which will make your company a happier, healthier and more productive place even aside of presenteeism.

Review absence policies

It’s easy to draw up absence policies which protect your company from abuse, but do they also support your employees? Absence policies are often part of larger legacy regulations which often go many years without review, and might no longer best suit your organisation and staff. Do your employees feel supported by your organisation when they get ill, and have the ability to step away from work to properly recover without feeling guilt or stress? These are the things to consider to reduce illness-based presenteeism; staff recuperating with adequate sick leave return to the office fully fit and productive.

Enable remote working

Remote working is a flexible working practice which can bring about a better work/life balance. Even hybrid working with one or two days a week at home can improve the employee experience for many, boosting mental health. Where staff have a potentially contagious illness such as colds or flu, the ability to work at home also provides a far better solution than coming into an enclosed area where germs can easily spread.

Lead by example

As a business owner or manager, you might routinely fail to take appropriate lunch or screen breaks, leave devices on past the end of the workday and have an overall poor work/life balance. Although there may be times when this is very difficult to avoid, it’s important to remember that you set an example for your workforce. By exposing them to bad habits, you might end up fostering a workaholic environment which is not only unproductive due to false economy, but also unsustainable from a health perspective.

Review workloads

If a member of staff has a disproportionate workload, ensure you have a process in place to review it. This is something that should be done periodically across your whole organisation, not just for individual workers. Bottlenecks within a business create inefficiency, and no employee should feel that they cannot afford to be ill with no adequate cover.

Create and instil culture

It’s important to foster a strong culture within your company which reflects its core values. This culture should play a pivotal role in removing the stigma of both mental health and taking sick days. Instilling this into your workforce creates an atmosphere where staff feel like they can actually breach the subject with both managers and peers, leading to positive change.

The new now

Times have changed. Just as remote working means that an empty desk doesn’t necessarily indicate an absence, it’s more critical than ever to remember that the inverse is true: a populated desk don’t always equal a worker at peak productivity. Address presenteeism now to improve the working lives of your staff and your business performance.

Want to enable your staff to Be More Present through remote working, but worried about maintaining communication, collaboration and productivity? Southern Communications Group – SCG provide solutions which not only maintain these business-critical factors but actually improve them. Contact us now on 01256 391 046 to find out how.