Moving house is reported to be one of the most stressful things you face in life but having just relocated the QDOS Networks offices to Claydon Business Park I can confirm the issues are magnified when moving business.

A business move needs to be planned with military precision to prevent disruption.You need to hit the ground running and avoid an impact on both your staff and your customers at all costs.

Here are a few tips to bear in mind when considering a business relocation:

• Firstly draw up a preliminary budget

Include in your costing factors like acquiring and fitting out your new premises, upgrading your equipment if necessary and the physical act of moving out and moving in.Remember to think about the expenses you may incur because of lost time.

• Draw up a floor plan to decide exactly where your telephone systems will go

You might want to consider having re-wiring work done if the existing set-up is not to your requirements.If you’re going to be at the new premises for a number of years you want to ensure you’ll have enough connections to allow for your expansion.

• Contact your telephone provider as early as possible to find out how you can move with minimal disruption

It would be a good idea to find out what your options are in terms of keeping your old number or paying for calls to be diverted.

We encountered a number of ‘snags’ with our own move including delays in the delivery of ADSL,the Network Carrier accepting an order and then saying they had no ISDN capacity in the exchange and finally the delay of our ISDN and cabling infrastructure because of building delays.

For many businesses these might have been serious problems but because we have direct channels into BT and other service providers we were able to ensure things got back on track immediately.We realise that many companies do not have that luxury, but we have experience assisting other companies with their own move.

When opening a branch office in Woodbridge in the summer, successful local estate agents, Seatons, instructed QDOS Networks to provide and install an Avaya IP Office telephone system together with a structured cabling infrastructure.The system was installed onto ISDN and Broadband with suppliers arranged by QDOS Networks on Seaton’s behalf.

By handling all the voice and data requirements for the move by being proactive in terms of project management, we were able to ensure Seatons encountered no problems with their voice and data connections and could concentrate on other areas of the new business.

If you’re contemplating moving your business premises feel free to get in touch for guidance on the smooth transferral of your voice and data solutions.