David Robertson
President of Sales & Managing Director, Avaya
Avaya Canada helps organizations improve employee and customer experiences and adapt to new ways of working.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, about half of Hydro Ottawa employees immediately moved to working from home, including their customer contact agents. The company worried what impact the disruption would have on such a vital piece of its operations.
In less than a week, Avaya Canada, a global leader in digital communications and collaboration, deployed a cloud-based Contact Centre as a Service solution (CCaaS) that enabled Hydro Ottawa employees to safely work from home, with no disruption to customer service or employee productivity.
“Digital transformation helps organizations deliver a more effective, efficient, and personalized customer experience, which is one of the biggest differentiators in the marketplace. COVID-19 has made digital transformation even more critical and accelerated the digital transformation journey for public organizations and private companies,” says David Robertson, President of Sales and Managing Director of Avaya.
Turning to digital solutions
Robertson says that the pandemic propelled organizations to turn to digital solutions in order to keep their employees working and to continue to serve clients, customers, and constituents. Now, they’re evaluating their strategies and tools to see how they can take their digital transformation to the next level.
For example, imagine a customer with a question. She calls a 1-800 number and dials a series of digits before finally being connected to a customer service agent. After answering some questions, she’s transferred to a different agent, until she finally gets the answer she needs. Picture this instead: the customer interacts with an artificial intelligence (AI) self-service chatbot to quickly get her answer. If she does need help from an agent, AI tools that listen to their conversation and, based on what the customer says, provides the agent with the necessary information. This allows the agent to quickly resolve the customer’s inquiry and create a better experience for the customer.
Such solutions improve the employee experience, too. “If employees are frustrated or can’t use their company’s tools, they can’t provide a good customer experience,” says Robertson. “If employees are equipped with the right tools, they’re happier and more prepared to help the customer.”
The new way to work
Unified communications, which is when voice, video, and collaboration tools are integrated for easy flow of communication, also enrich the employee experience. The company’s solution for this is Avaya Spaces, an all-in-one video collaboration app for the digital workplace, changes the way working gets done.
“You used to go into your office and have your phone on the desk. Then, with mobile phones, people could be anywhere,” says Robertson. “Now, people are working from anywhere — on a PC, phone, mobile phone, or video.”
Avaya Spaces allows users to launch a meeting from any device and collaborate with team members over video, chat, or voice. The solution integrates with leading calendar, customer relationship management, and productivity apps. Within a space, users can also attach files and notes, keeping all of this information in one place. Teams can then find all of the related files, notes, and chats, eliminating the need to search through a string of emails.
“This really is the new way to work,” says Robertson. “Companies need next-generation, creative strategies to move along on their digital transformation roadmap and build on what they already have. That’s the journey — which by the way, never ends, because technology is evolving at such a rapid pace.”
