SPECIAL
Lasting Change
In this interview Matt Worboys, Director – Business
Development Channel at Gamma, explains why he
thinks Remote Working is now here to stay
CBM: What are you long-term
expectations for Remote
Working?
Matt Worboys (MW): Remote
working technologies will have
far reaching and lasting e ects
on the way we work from
here on. Most businesses have
more or less been forced into
remote working which has seen
a demand in Gamma’s own
collaboration and UC services
increase tenfold.
As these businesses begin
to use remote working
technology, they are becoming
more comfortable and the
realisation that business
can continue in a near
normal fashion. For example
meetings do not have to be
cancelled but instead achieved
via a video call, real-time
communication is now over
instant messaging and not
just con ned to WhatsApp,
customer information held
within CRM platforms can be
integrated into the telephony
solution, payments can still
be taken to PCI compliant
standards whilst working
from home helping to keep
the SMB retail sector going
and desktop sharing promotes
the notion that colleagues
can still work collaboratively
together on projects. is
not so gentle push into using
remote technologies has
resulted in the customer being
forced in to seeing the value
of it, which, coupled with all
businesses now wanting to
ensure a long term emergency
remote working plan is now
part of their IT stack, will
ensure longer term retention of
such technologies once we are
through the other side of the
current situation. Try taking
these technologies they have
become heavily reliant on away
from them once they get back
into the o ce!
CBM: How has the mix of
communication technologies
out there helping Gamma
maintain relationships?
MW: LinkedIn, Instagram,
Facebook, WhatsApp and
so on have all helped in
promoting relationships both
personally and professionally.
How many of us have found
ourselves in WhatsApp groups
with customers sharing banter
that inadvertently develops
those relationships (can go the
other way mind!). Introduce
video and audio to the mix
for regular meetings, desktop
and le sharing for conducting
business, webinars for the
likes of product launches and
training to their teams, and all
done from your home o ce,
then yes, key relationships have
and will continue to develop
in the digital realm. at said,
still no substitute for a post
meeting face to face beer!
Beware of consumer apps
Alan Shen, CEO of Yeastar
“Security is the biggest hidden danger. You will worry
about the leak of important fi les, sensitive messages, and
internal (company staff) and external (customers) contact
information. Though every application is labelled safe,
who will take responsibility when the private information is
revealed?”
we’re seeing it accelerate as a
trend, as people are forced to
think creatively about how they
communicate. Now is prime
time to test and learn from
the technology available to us,
whether it’s tools like Microsoft
Teams or video chat, with all or
most free of these to use.“
Matt Worboys, Director –
Business Development Channel
at Gamma commented,
“Whilst the bene ts of
exible working have long
been discussed I think it’s
only now that they are being
fully realised. Prior to the
Coronavirus situation we
were still seeing masses of
hardware ordered as part of a
customers telephony solution,
demonstrating to us that
customers haven’t made a
real shift to exible working.
Current circumstances will
drive the adoption and notion
of exible working in an
increasingly more structured
manner as the routine and
familiarity of it becomes the
norm.”
Justin Hamilton-Martin
added “We have heard people
say that collaboration tools
mean that they are actually
talking to colleagues more
frequently. Sometimes, just
changing the context can create
Justin Hamilton-Martin, UK
Sales Director at Centile
new relationships.
Collaboration tools can
also help keep up employee
morale and team spirit. Here in
Centile we have just introduced
a virtual afternoon co ee
break, to add a social element
into remote working: even
our children take part. ese
kinds of activities are going to
be important in the coming
weeks.”
Paul Clarke at 3CX said,
“Numerous studies have
shown that many of us prefer
to communicate in the digital
realm than face-to-face.
We even tend to share more
personal details about ourselves
in a web chat session that we
would in conversation or over
the phone- that’s why it’s so
essential these days for client
facing businesses to have chat
and SMS capabilities.”
ED SAYS…
The data collected by the industry now on
adoption trends will mould the next wave of
applications and products. There are so many
fantastic solutions on the market to choose
from but it is important to tie any solution into
the customer’s long-term strategy rather than
committing them to the wrong tech now.
44 | Comms Business Magazine | May 2020 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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