Haze Season Is a Reminder: Every Office Needs a Plan B.

Every office needs a Plan B because the day staff cannot come in is never announced weeks ahead. A workable Plan B means people can switch to working from home at short notice with the same calls, files and phone numbers, while the equipment left in the office stays up. The same checklist works whatever keeps people away: haze, a flood warning or a building closure.

Store examples where hardware is the gap: the ASUS ExpertBook B1 laptop, Jabra Evolve2 65 headset, Logitech C920e webcam, HP USB-C 100W G6 Dock, Fortinet FortiGate 50G firewall and APC Back-UPS Pro BR 900VA.

The office Plan B checklist

What do NEA and MOM say employers should do about haze?

Use the official pages for every health and workplace decision; IT is a continuity tool, not a substitute for public-health precautions. NEA notes that transboundary smoke haze affects Singapore's air quality "particularly during the Southwest monsoon period from August to October", and publishes 24-hour PSI and 1-hour PM2.5 readings with advisories on haze.gov.sg and the myENV app. MOM's haze guidelines for work ask employers to carry out risk assessments, to refer to NEA's PSI forecasts and 1-hour PM2.5 readings, and say employers are "strongly encouraged" to offer flexible work arrangements such as telecommuting and staggered hours, especially for vulnerable employees. MOM also lists a one-week supply of N95 masks as part of haze-related business continuity plans, and sets out what to do when the 24-hour PSI goes above 300 or 400. Read the MOM haze page in full. For the strategic view, see The Haze Might Be Temporary. Your Business Continuity Problems Aren't.

Laptops or desktops: who can actually work from home?

Count the desktops: each is a person who cannot take work home, or who will use an unmanaged personal PC. Moving those roles to laptops is usually the biggest Plan B improvement. The ASUS ExpertBook B1 B1403CVA-NJ1209X (S$1,499.00) is a typical fleet choice: Intel Core 7 150U, 16 GB DDR5, 512 GB SSD and Windows 11 Pro, which the listing notes supports Microsoft Entra ID join and Intune management. It has a fingerprint reader, TPM 2.0 and a webcam privacy shutter, and ASUS backs it with 3 years of next-business-day onsite service. Our ExpertBook B1 vs P3 comparison covers the step-up model.

What goes in a home meeting kit?

Three items, in this order. First, a headset with a USB dongle, because audio is what other people notice. The Jabra Evolve2 65 MS Stereo (S$330.00) ships with Jabra's Link 380 adapter, and Jabra quotes up to 35 hours of talk time with the busylight off and three microphones. More options are in the Teams certified headsets collection and our best office headsets guide.

Second, a webcam that sits at eye level on a monitor. The Logitech C920e Full HD Business Webcam (S$106.31) records 1080p at 30 fps with a 78° field of view and an attachable privacy shutter. Its microphones ship switched off by default, which suits headset users.

Third, a dock, so the laptop drives a proper monitor and keyboard. The HP USB-C 100W G6 Dock (S$216.00) delivers up to 100 W to the laptop from its 120 W adapter and supports up to three external displays. Issue kits before they are needed. For room-side set-ups that make remote colleagues easier to see and hear, read Can Technology Make Virtual Meetings Feel Almost Like Being There?; home-office tips are in our hybrid-work office guide.

Can your VPN and firewall take the whole company at once?

Many SME firewalls were set up for a few remote users; on a Plan B day everyone connects at 9 am. Check three things: the firewall's rated VPN throughput, how many concurrent VPN users your configuration and licences allow, and whether multi-factor authentication is on for every remote login. The Fortinet FortiGate 50G (S$1,168.80 hardware only; S$1,819.20 with 1 year of FortiGuard UTP) is rated by Fortinet at 4.4 Gbps IPsec VPN throughput and 1.1 Gbps threat protection throughput, per the listing. Then test: everyone connects from home on the same quiet morning. If you use HPE Networking Instant On, see using Instant On for secure remote access; for a failed office internet line, see Why the Next Major Internet Outage Should Change How You Design Your Office.

Microsoft 365 and phones: can work and calls follow people home?

If staff keep files on a desktop's local drive or a mapped drive that needs the office network, move them to OneDrive and SharePoint before you need to. Teams meetings already work from anywhere; the gap is usually the phone. Microsoft's support page explains that Teams can forward calls to voicemail, another number, a contact, a call group of up to 25 people or delegates, and can ring a second person at the same time. Those options need an Enterprise Voice or Business Voice licence, so check yours now. Licences are listed in our Microsoft 365 for Business collection. On a separate PBX, ask your provider how the main number and DIDs are diverted, and write it down. The readiness audit in When MRT Disruptions Hit, Is Your Business Ready for Remote Work? goes further on unified communications.

What stays in the office still needs power

Remote staff depend on the empty office: the firewall, switch, internet router and any on-site NAS. Put that kit on a UPS. The APC Back-UPS Pro BR 900VA (BR900MI) (S$452.50) is a 900 VA / 540 W line-interactive unit with AVR and six C13 outlets; the listing points out that Schneider publishes no runtime table for it, so size against watts and ask us for a runtime estimate. Batteries age, so test them: Your UPS Battery Might Be Dead Before You Realise It explains the warning signs.

Contacts, roles and a dry run

Keep an offline contact list of staff, key customers, suppliers, the landlord and IT support, on paper and on phones. Name who decides to activate Plan B and who tells staff. Then rehearse: one working-from-home day a quarter finds the missing headset, the expired VPN certificate and the phone line nobody forwarded. Events have a Plan B too; see When Outdoor Events Get Cancelled, Can AV Technology Save the Day?

A Plan B that has never been rehearsed is a wish list. Test it on a quiet day so it works on a bad one.

Buying Plan B equipment in Singapore

SourceIT supplies ASUS, Jabra, Logitech, HP, Fortinet and APC with local warranty. Listings state 3 years onsite for the ExpertBook B1, 2 years for the Logitech C920e and APC BR900MI, and HP's 3-year limited warranty for the G6 dock; for other items confirm the term for your SKU when requesting a quote. Prices are as listed on 24 Oct 2026, and every item above was in stock at the time of writing. For kitting out a team, see volume discounts and special pricing, use Request for Quotation on the product page, call (65) 6978 3502 or email Sales@sourceit.com.sg. Government buyers can reach us through GeBIZ / Vendors@Gov.

Frequently asked questions

What should an office Plan B checklist include? Portable devices, home meeting kits, remote-access capacity, cloud files, phone forwarding, UPS for the kit left in the office, an offline contact list and a named decision-maker.

What does MOM say about working from home during haze? MOM's haze guidelines say employers are strongly encouraged to offer flexible work arrangements such as telecommuting and staggered hours, especially for vulnerable employees. Read the full guidance on mom.gov.sg.

Where can I check haze readings in Singapore? NEA publishes 24-hour PSI and 1-hour PM2.5 readings and advisories on haze.gov.sg and in the myENV app.

Can Microsoft Teams forward my office calls to my mobile? Yes, if you have an Enterprise Voice or Business Voice licence. Teams can forward to another number, a contact, a call group or voicemail, or ring both at once.

How do I know if my VPN can handle everyone working from home? Check the firewall's rated VPN throughput, your concurrent-user limits and your internet uplink, then run a test day with everyone connecting at once.

Why put a UPS in an office nobody is in? Remote staff still rely on the office firewall, switch and internet router. A UPS keeps them running through short outages.