Verizon Business is stepping up its efforts around the globe to help keep its enterprise customers and critical infrastructure providers operational during the COVID-19 pandemic. As companies are looking to transform their operations and, in many cases, their focus, to better serve their customers and their communities, the Verizon team is stepping in to assist.
“We are talking every day with companies all around the globe that are feeling the full force of this immense disruption,” said Tami Erwin, CEO, Verizon Business. “They’re worried about how to keep their business going during this crisis, and how to set themselves up for the future once the pandemic is over. We have been able to help many organizations take simple steps to update their digital infrastructure and get better use of the technology they have today.”
A new business focus
Business transformation is something many global organizations are urgently undertaking, refocusing their operations to better support their communities in these unprecedented times. For example, many companies are switching manufacturing capabilities to build critical healthcare equipment, or produce hand sanitizer, and others – especially supermarkets – are building new distribution centres and expanding their fleet services to support the rapid increase in demand for home delivery services. Verizon is continuing to support all its customers as they adapt their business strategies, with the Verizon professional services team front and centre of transformation programs.
Remote working
Many businesses are looking for solutions to allow employees to work remotely without sacrificing security or performance. Verizon’s first priority here is maximizing the capacity and availability of its expansive global IP network – a strong network foundation is vital to support remote working, and, in the U.S., Verizon’s award-winning fiber optic and wireless networks continue to perform well.
In addition, Verizon’s Virtual Network Services (VNS) product suite can help meet the need for secure and reliable remote access from home offices, mobile devices, and Internet hotspots, wherever workers may be. Verizon’s Hosted Internet Breakout solutions bundle and VNS Secure Gateway have built-in support for thousands of remote clients.
Verizon itself is just one of the many companies worldwide which has switched to remote working over recent weeks. Over 80% of Verizon’s employees – 100,000+ people worldwide – are now working from home, leveraging collaboration tools and virtual private networks (VPNs) to collaborate and access business information.
Virtual customer care
Verizon is seeing a big increase in demand for virtual contact centres as companies work to support their own customers from home, whether by simply changing an operative’s phone number, or adding the ability to talk over a computer and Internet connection. Companies are also requiring additional network capacity, or new numbers, and other expansion tasks – in some cases, up to 6x their normal volumes – or automation and callback solutions that balance traffic and agent resources over time.
Verizon’s own call centre agents are also now using remote work functionality to support customers. Currently, almost all of Verizon’s US-based consumer call center employees – roughly 17,000+ people – are working from home, alongside 95% of the Verizon Business service operations teams.
Security & business continuity
Security is another concern for global corporations – phishing and other attacks are on the rise as cybercriminals look to exploit the situation. The Verizon team continues to support customers with a comprehensive range of security solutions designed to help keep them informed of emerging threats, and better able to protect their employees and their customers.
Verizon recently issued guidelines on steps businesses should take to address the well-being of employees and maintain service to customers. These include preparing their network to accommodate a large scale remote workforce; implementing technology to enable remote collaboration; prioritizing and developing a critical infrastructure plan; using tools to give customers confidence and access; and securing both physical and network access points.