Most businesses approach to sales is different to their approach to customer service.  Sales teams have targets.  They are on commission.  They have lots of meetings, and generally have varied schedules and busy diaries.  Customer service teams on the other hand are in the office 100% of the time, usually with the same schedule every day. 

There was a time not too long ago when typewriters filled offices and documents were sent by fax or by post. It was a time when no one had a mobile phone, but rather a home phone and answering machine.  And it, like the eras before, and the eras since, was considered a time of technological advancement.

By Gemma Christie

At the beginning of the pandemic almost all meetings and interactions had to be rapidly adapted from face-to-face to being held over the internet. I doubt there’s a business that hasn’t had to conduct a virtual meeting at some point over the last couple of years.

However, as we slowly begin to return to the office, what's interesting to see is that cloud communications and virtual meetings and interactions aren’t slowing down – in fact, all the research suggests that these “new normal” meeting alternatives for our hyper-connected global world are here to stay, indefinitely.

By Gemma Christie

The Royal Mint are releasing an extra-special £2 coin to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of the father of the not-so-humble telephone, Alexander Graham Bell. The outstanding design of the coin by Graphic Designer Henry Gray celebrates the iconic three by three numerical keypad with the words “pioneer of the telephone” inscribed on the keys. A fitting tribute, considering the keypad design was synonymous with the modern telephone for many decades.

By Lauren Murphy

More and more businesses moved online during the pandemic, and with that, internet usage has sky-rocketed to new heights. Now it’s perfectly acceptable (and preferable for most customers) to do all sorts of things online that perhaps weren’t an option or not seen as plausible previously.

By Gemma Christie

It’s only at the Digital Primary Care Conference: Keeping a foot on the pedal of innovation where you can hear our CEO, Robert Walton discuss the pros and cons of using emerging technology in a primary health setting and specifically, “What is The Health and Social Care Network and how can you use it to innovate?”. We will also be discussing our most popular service, GP Cloud Voice.

By Tom Goldsworthy

It's been an unusual year for businesses amidst the pandemic. Thousands have had to quickly pivot their working practices and begin offering remote working to employees - perhaps even when they haven't done so before.

Of course, under usual circumstances, it would be advisable to plan for such significant changes to working practices, but, of course, that simply wasn't possible for many. As time goes on, it's becoming more and more apparent that remote and hybrid working is here to stay. More businesses than ever are embracing the hybrid working model, essentially a mix of office and remote working, over fully remote working.

And, although there are some challenges inherent to this style of working, there are many tools and plenty of advice available to tackle these and promote a happy, healthy hybrid working environment.

By Tom Goldsworthy

It's no secret that remote working has been the buzzword of the last few years. The "digital transformation" and an increasing shift to digital across multiple industries, coupled with the pandemic, has meant that businesses who previously weren't considering telecommuting had to implement remote working structures quickly. 

Unified communications aren't a new idea, but it is now increasingly crucial for those who want to, need to or have to continue offering remote working for the foreseeable future. So, what is “unified communications”?

By Tom Goldsworthy

Many factors play a significant role in the growth of a business. However, one crucial factor determining a company's growth and profitability is its customer service. 

While many companies are still working with a siloed model with a reluctance to share information across the company, the impact of customer service and support in organisational operations is enormous.

By Tom Goldsworthy

Back in April 2020, the shift to remote working was having a dramatic impact on the use and adoption of technology. Speaking at the time, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said his company had seen “two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months”.