Opening a second location feels like a business decision, and it is. It is also a technology decision that many owners only notice after the second site opens. Suddenly there are two internet lines, two sets of phones, a printer nobody knows how to reset and an employee who cannot reach the schedule. Planning the technology before the first day costs far less than fixing it afterward. Here is the outline I walk through.
Start with an inventory of the first location
Before you plan the new site, write down what the current one runs on. List the internet connection and who provides it, the phone system and its numbers, the email and file accounts, the printers and any network equipment, and the software each team uses. The equipment list you keep for the first site becomes the starting point for the second. If you do not have one, build it before you buy anything else.
Decide what is shared and what stays local
Some technology works best as one system for both sites. Email, shared files, the accounting system and the scheduling tool usually belong in one place, with access controlled by role. Other items are local by nature: the internet line, the Wi-Fi network, the printers and the door access system. The split is simple to state. Anything that holds company records should be shared and managed centrally. Anything that only serves people in one building can be managed locally, but it still needs to be documented.
Give each person one login with the right access
Each person should have one business login that works at both locations, with permissions based on their role rather than their building. A manager at the new site may need the same reports as the manager at the first, while a technician may only need the equipment list for one location. Set this up before the new site opens, so the first employees to start there do not share a password or ask for administrator rights on their own laptops.
Plan the internet before opening day
The new site needs a connection that fits the people and systems that use it. Ask whether the building is ready for the provider you want, how long installation takes and whether there is a backup option if the main line fails. A second line is not always necessary, but the question should be answered on purpose. If one outage would stop the front desk, the plan should say what happens next.
Connect the phones to one system
A business with two locations often wants one phone system that routes calls between sites. Extensions let staff call each other without using the public network, and a main number can ring at either site when the other is closed or busy. Decide which number is public for each location, who answers after hours and how calls are transferred. The questions in the six questions to ask before switching business phone systems apply here too, especially the ones about where calls go when a line is down.
Set up devices with security in mind
Every new router, printer, camera and access point should be configured before it joins the business network. Change default passwords, turn off services you do not use and record the administrator login in your password manager. Guest devices should stay on their own network. A new site is also a common place for a device to be installed and then forgotten, so the equipment list should name the location for every item.
Bring the new site into backups and vendor records
Files created at the second location need the same protection as files at the first. Confirm that the new site’s computers and shared folders are covered by your backup plan, and that someone checks the backup reports. Put every vendor for the new site in the same record as the existing ones, so one list shows who provides what and when each contract renews. The reasons to keep vendors organized are covered in the honest pros and cons of one vendor for phones, IT and your website.
Onboard the people who will work there
Technology is only useful when people know how to use it. Before the opening, walk the new team through their accounts, the phone system, the printer and the shared calendars. A short checklist, similar to the one in a new employee’s first day technology checklist, works well for each person and keeps the setup consistent across both sites.
Schedule a first-month review
Plan a review about four weeks after the second location opens. Ask what slowed people down, which devices caused problems and which accounts were missing. Update the equipment list, the vendor record and the backup plan with what you learn. The first month almost always turns up something the plan did not anticipate, and the owner who checks is the one who catches it early.
Get help where it saves time
A managed IT provider can handle the inventory, the network and the documentation for a second site, and it is worth asking how they would do it before you sign. If you do the work yourself, the outline above is a reasonable plan. Either way, the goal is the same: a second location that runs on the same standards as the first, with records that let anyone pick up the work.
Danielle Lemons is Vice President of Operations at DirecTech Connect, a Nashville provider of business phone systems, managed IT services, websites and digital marketing. More about Danielle.
Read more of Danielle’s writing, or see her profile at DirecTech Connect.
