Why 9-5 is a thing of the past - and customer expectations are changing

  • Outsourcing
  • The Office
Why 9-5 is a thing of the past - and customer expectations are changing

The traditional nine-to-five is becoming an “antiquated relic from the past”, according to Forbes. Statutory changes will mean that, from April 2024, workers will have more power to request flexible working allowances from their employer, while the majority of firms that participated in the UK’s four-day week trial have since made the policy permanent. The pandemic has also contributed to a growing expectation for service providers be reachable outside of normal office hours.

Many senior lawyers will likely already know that the working day rarely ends at 5pm sharp, and the line between office hours and downtime is often blurred by the use of Microsoft Teams, email, company WhatsApp groups and other communication channels. But for many firms, important calls (including new business enquiries) continue to come in outside office hours – and our research has recently found that many Top 250 firms still rely on voicemail to handle them.

With generational attitudes to voicemail messages changing, and the legal landscape more competitive than ever, are answerphones, receptionists or in-house switchboards enough to ensure your customers receive an outstanding experience? Here’s why we think that 2024 should be the year that law firms rethink their switchboard solution to keep up with evolving customer needs.

When did you last leave a voicemail?

There’s a common belief that people under the age of 35 strongly dislike using voicemail, and will avoid doing so wherever possible. But it might not only be millennials who have turned their back on voicemail – our in-house research suggests that as many as 60% of people don’t leave a message if the person they’re calling doesn’t pick up the phone.


This can be a problem for law firms. Up to 6% of new business enquiries are made after-hours, and if they end with a voicemail prompt, chances are the caller will pick up the phone to a competitor instead.


This means losing out on an opportunity before you’ve even had the chance to follow it up – which is not ideal for your marketing ROI.


Voicemail doesn’t provide much data

Have you ever found yourself thinking, “This firm doesn’t get that many out-of-hours calls?”.

This is traditional thinking amongst many firms that aren’t using an external switchboard supplier to gather call data. It may sound obvious, but if calls coming in outside of regular business hours aren’t being picked up, they’re probably not being recorded either – meaning that the data is skewed towards the belief that most callers stick to the 9-5.

In a post-pandemic world, customers are more likely than ever to expect longer business hours, or even round-the-clock communication. Outsourced switchboards that pick up calls 24/7 — and capture analytics data – will be able to give you a clearer picture of who’s really calling you when you’re not able to get to the phone (as well as making sure your out-of-hours new business calls don’t go to a competitor instead).

What's the alternative?

There are increasing opportunities within organisations to employ alternative communications options, but not every call can – or should – be a webchat.

“Over the past 12 months, the availability of powerful generative AI tools, especially large language models (LLMs) that can parse and respond to unstructured text or speech, has opened new possibilities for technology in customer care”, according to McKinsey.

Before you commit to an AI solution for customer care, the same article states that “Gen Z customers are 30 to 40 percent more likely to call than millennials, and use the phone as often as baby boomers.”

This paints a more complex picture of the future. With more communications channels available than ever, many of us prefer to use quicker, less personal channels, like email, text, AI assistants or self-serve portals.

But this only holds true when we have to do something small – like pay a bill, chase up a non-urgent enquiry, or request a copy of a document. As seamless as self-service can be, most people still pick up the phone for urgent, complex, difficult or personal issues – and for the legal industry, these kinds of call are the ones that matter most.

Customer experience relies on difficult, sensitive or unusual calls being handled expertly and empathetically, and clients will almost always prefer to phone up and speak to a real person. They won’t try to deal with a difficult situation via email or webchat, and they certainly won’t feel grateful if their call is met with a dial-tone or a perfunctory voicemail message.

However, outsourcing your switchboard to a trusted supplier ensures that your firm is available around the clock. Suppliers such as ComXo provide highly-trained, empathetic and multilingual staff, dedicated to confidently handling client calls with a personal, human touch.


The 9-5 doesn't reflect your clients' lives

Does your client – or a potential new client – have an employment law dispute to discuss? If so, they may not be able to call during normal office hours, when they may be in earshot of their colleagues or their manager. It’s more likely you’ll get a call just after 6pm, or perhaps before 9am, where small windows of time become increasingly important for clients to have a resolution to their call.

Likewise, callers with family-related enquiries may be more likely to contact you on their lunch break, when they have more privacy than the evening hours. For many firms, 12-2pm can be a blind spot in terms of telephone cover – your own staff will likely be taking lunch breaks during these hours, and your cover may not be at full capacity.

As an extra consideration for the marketing teams, being able to make the most of the new business opportunities that come from your marketing spend is crucial for your ROI – so it’s vital to understand why the cover provided by an in-house switchboard might not be meeting evolving customer needs.


One-call resolution is the ideal outcome for customer service

While the service industry has often relied on being reachable beyond traditional office hours, the pandemic has led to a growing sense of expectation that all kinds of companies should be more accessible. This may mean that customers have less patience with businesses that appear to be difficult to reach.

In a world where your gym is open 24/7, packages are delivered to your home late into the evening and most large businesses have customer service coverage outside of traditional hours, client communication expectations have clearly shifted.

For law firms – and especially larger law firms – there is a standard of professionalism to maintain. If customers are paying for premium legal support, they’ll also expect outstanding client communication. Ensuring you have the resources to meet those expectations could give you a competitive advantage, as our research shows that first-call resolution significantly enhances client experience and helps build deeper, longer-lasting relationships with your clients.


Looking for a flexible switchboard solution? Here’s how ComXo can help...

ComXo are industry-leaders in transformational switchboard and business support services, committed to redefining the switchboard for law firms. With a combination of technology and great people, we help you deliver exceptional experiences more flexibly, and maintain peak productivity as you adapt to the challenges of hybrid working.

Our 24-hour switchboard service lets you filter cold calls, triage calls according to urgency, direct enquiries to the right people or department, and meet growing customer expectations in a hybrid world.

Why not talk to our team about how we can support your firm.

Written by
Harris

The Ultimate Guide to TUPE: What You Need To Know When Outsourcing To A UK BPO Supplier

  • Agile Working
  • Business Continuity
  • Client Experience
  • Data
  • Outsourcing
  • Productivity
  • Solution
  • The Office
The Ultimate Guide to TUPE: What You Need To Know When Outsourcing To A UK BPO Supplier

We asked specialist HR Consultants Kane HR to write our guest blog this month, covering everything you need to know about TUPE and the considerations when outsourcing.

Robert Burden, Managing Consultant dives in with an overview, the pros and cons, and some top tips for managing TUPE effectively.

TUPE stands for the Transfer of Undertaking (Protection of Employment) Regulations. Its purpose is to provide protection to employees who are transferring from one employer to another because of a business transfer or service provision change (SPC). It safeguards employee’s rights when there is a transfer of a business or service from one organisation to another and means that the grouping of employees concerned have a legal right to automatically transfer from one service provider to another on their existing terms and conditions of employment and with all their existing employment rights and liabilities intact, including their continuous service.

Under TUPE, both the current employer (“Transferor”) and receiving employer (“Transferee”) have a legal obligation to inform and consult with either elected employee representatives or a recognized trade union, if there is one present. Only in the event where there are fewer than 10 employees (and in the absence of elected representatives or a recognised trade union), should an organisation consider consulting directly with the individuals affected.
It’s important to remember that TUPE is a legal statute, therefore, even if it may seem that a business service provider can provide their services more efficiently, if the transfer falls within scope of the activities below, then TUPE is still likely to apply, and both organisations have a legal obligation to inform and consult. The following activities will indicate that TUPE is likely to apply.

  1. The activities that are currently being provided by a client are to be provided by a third-party provider. This is more commonly known as outsourcing.
  2. Activities currently provided by a contractor to a client are to be provided by a different third-party supplier to the same client, known as ‘contractor to contractor SPC’.

Options when handling TUPE
When choosing an outsourced provider, organisations are often looking for an effective and efficient solution, which can mean when TUPE applies there may be more staff currently doing the job than required if the work is to be outsourced.
In such instances, it is first important to establish which internal employees fall within the scope of the undertaking i.e. "fundamentally the same" as the activity to be carried out by the outsourced provider, it’s important to do this to prevent employees being assigned to a TUPE transfer who should not be affected.


Second is to understand your legal obligations to inform and consult regarding the transfer, it’s important to recognise that if found to have failed in fulfilling this obligation, liability could be both joint (i.e. shared between the transferee and transferor) and individual if taken to a tribunal.
Crucially, it is important to remember that any dismissal where the sole or principal reason is the transfer itself will be automatically unfair. However, there are of course practical and commercial considerations, that give options to handling structural changes during TUPE in a lawful, fair and practical way for all parties. One of these, is if the transferee envisages that there may be a potential redundancy situation by reason of economic, technical or organisational factors (ETO), and more on this is outlined further below.


In some cases, prior to TUPE it may be appropriate to offer staff members redeployment opportunities to other business areas or departments. Keep in mind that employees have a legal right to transfer, therefore, they may reject any offers.
As the current employer, there may be extenuating circumstances that result in a decision to provide individuals with an opportunity to exit from the business prior to the TUPE taking place, and generally this would form part of a settlement agreement. If considering this approach, it’s always best to seek independent employment law advice, as this wouldn’t mitigate from your obligation to inform and consult regarding the transfer.


If considering this approach, there is always the risk that the transferee could be liable for an unfair dismissal claim as they have not been privy to the agreement. In such cases, it may be an acceptable decision for all three parties (employee, transferor and transferee) that the employee does not transfer, and therefore a tripartite settlement agreement could be introduced to provide the necessary protection for all parties involved.


The commercial bits
When considering outsourcing arrangements, it's crucial to anticipate the potential impact of TUPE on the financial aspects of the agreement. One common strategy involves the inclusion of indemnification clauses in the commercial arrangement between the outsourcing organisation and the service provider.
Indemnification in the context of TUPE essentially means that the outsourcing organisation agrees to compensate the service provider for any additional costs incurred due to the transfer of employees under TUPE regulations. This can include expenses related to maintaining existing employment terms, addressing potential legal challenges, and handling administrative complexities associated with the transfer.


While the necessity of such indemnification clauses may not be immediately apparent, seasoned service providers recognise them as an essential aspect of risk management. They provide a safety net for service providers, ensuring that unexpected costs arising from TUPE do not become a financial burden that jeopardises the viability of the outsourcing arrangement.
It's important for both parties to engage in open and transparent discussions during the negotiation phase of the outsourcing agreement. Clearly defining the scope and limits of indemnification clauses, as well as detailing the specific scenarios under which indemnification would apply, lays the foundation for a successful and sustainable outsourcing relationship.


Redundancy situations?
We have covered that dismissal of an employee for the sole or principal reason of TUPE is unfair. However, certain circumstances may arise where the new service provider needs to make changes that could result in redundancies. This is where ETO reasons come into play. These changes are generally outlined within the measures of the new service provider, as part of the initial TUPE consultation process. Depending on what is agreed with the current employer, redundancy consultations could commence prior to the transfer taking place, with the view that redundancies are effective from the first day of an individual’s employment with the new service provider. Alternatively, the service provider may transfer employees, and then proceed with redundancy consultations afterwards.


ETO reasons refer to economic, technical, or organisational factors that entail changes in the workforce. These factors may necessitate alterations to the employment structure for the continued viability of the service that’s being provided. Here's a breakdown of each:


Economic Reasons: This involves situations where the employer faces financial challenges or restructuring to ensure the sustainability of the business. Cost-cutting measures, mergers, or market-driven changes fall under this category.
Technical Reasons: Changes in technology or the methods used to carry out work can trigger the need for workforce adjustments. This could include the introduction of new machinery or systems that render certain roles obsolete.
Organisational Reasons: Structural changes within the organisation, such as a shift in management or a restructuring of departments, might necessitate workforce realignment.
In addition to the above, it is very common for an employee’s place of work to change following a TUPE transfer. Where the change in location is significant this may also fall within scope of an ETO reason.
Where redundancy by reason of ETO could be a consideration, relevant legal advice should always be sought to ensure the correct consultation process is applied to avoid any potential unfair dismissal claims.


Positives of TUPE transfers for employees

• Preservation of terms - One of the key advantages for employees in a TUPE transfer is that their existing terms and conditions of employment are preserved.
• Job security -TUPE is designed to protect employees from losing their jobs because of a service transfer.
• Continuity of employment - TUPE ensures continuity of employment, meaning that the length of service with the current employer is usually carried over to the service provider.
• Protection against Unfair Dismissal - Employees transferred under TUPE are protected against unfair dismissal solely because of the transfer.

Negatives for employees in TUPE transfers

• Uncertainty and change - TUPE transfers often come with a degree of uncertainty and change. Employees may need to adapt to a new working environment, management style, and potentially different policies and procedures.
• Potential for redundancy - In certain situations, the service provider may identify ETO reasons that lead to redundancies.
• Integration challenges - Integration into a new culture and structure can be challenging. Employees may face difficulties adapting to new processes, procedures, and colleagues.
• Differences in employee benefits - While TUPE aims to preserve employment terms, there may be variations in benefit packages between the old and new employers.
• Limited control over the transfer - Employees have no direct control over the decision to transfer, and the process is often driven by the employers involved.

What if an employee doesn’t want to transfer?

Where there are employees who do not wish to transfer to the new service provider, they are entitled to refuse to do so. However, unless the individual can be redeployed, this would mean that their employment with the transferor comes to an end at the date of the transfer itself. Generally, the employee is not treated as having been dismissed, but having resigned. It is important to note that there are certain circumstances in which an employee could claim unfair dismissal, so it may be necessary to seek further advice if in this situation.
Although there is no specified manner in which an employee must refuse to transfer, it is sensible for the transferor to obtain the employee's refusal in writing, by way of the individual opting out of the transfer process.

Top Tips for managing TUPE effectively:

  1. Understand the situation as early as possible:
    Early awareness of an impending TUPE transfer is crucial for effective planning and communication. Understanding the scope, reasons, and potential impact allows for better decision-making and minimizes uncertainty among employees.
  2. Seek HR and Legal Advice:
    TUPE regulations are complex, and legal nuances can significantly impact the process. Seeking professional advice from HR and legal experts helps ensure compliance with UK Employment Law and provides guidance on best practice.
  3. Prepare a plan:
    A well-thought-out plan is essential for a smooth TUPE transfer. It helps anticipate challenges, allocate resources effectively, and ensures that key tasks are executed in a logical sequence.
  4. Obtain / Produce ELI (Employee Liability Information):
    Acquiring accurate and detailed information about the employees who will be transferring is crucial for planning and addressing potential issues. The ELI includes essential details about employment terms, contracts, and potential liabilities – legally this should be provided to the transferee no less than 28 days before the transfer date.
  5. Ensure you have plenty of time planned for consultations:
    Adequate time for consultations is vital for addressing employee concerns, providing information, and facilitating a smooth transition.

In summary, managing TUPE effectively requires a proactive and well-organised approach. By understanding the situation early, seeking professional advice, preparing a comprehensive plan, obtaining essential information, and allowing ample time for consultations, you can minimise the impact on employees and navigate the TUPE process with transparency and efficiency.

If you'd like to learn more about outsourcing your switchboard, connect with our team at wearehere@comxo.com.

This is for information and guidance only, please always seek professional HR and legal advice.

Written by
c_admin

How to deliver world-class client experiences

  • Agile Working
  • Client Experience
  • Outsourcing
How to deliver world-class client experiences

According to the Solicitors Regulation Authority there are 9,465 solicitors offices in the UK, of which 71% are incorporated companies or LLPs. The UK legal market is one of the largest in the world, with the majority of prominent global law firms maintaining London offices, alongside prestigious Magic Circle firms.

While there are definitely benefits to being part of an ecosystem of world-class firms – from market stability to regulatory relationships to innovation – it’s undeniable that competition is stiff. Since the rapid digital transformations of the pandemic years, law firms must contend with changing client expectations, the demand for higher productivity and growing competition. In a competitive marketplace, client loyalty isn’t a given – so how can companies make sure clients keep coming back, or better still, that they refer your services to their contacts?

Defining outstanding client experiences

Law firms have a commercial imperative to deliver the best client experience possible. Of course, nobody sets out to provide bad customer experiences – so what are the key factors that define excellent service? How do you make sure you’re keeping clients happy and giving them what they’re looking for?

Here’s a few ways you can be sure you’re delivering the best possible service for your clients.

First impressions matter

Great customer service is all about attention. When new clients walk through the door of your offices, they’re often greeted by a receptionist, and subtly reassured by the professionalism of their surroundings. But how can you replicate that experience in a post-pandemic world, when many first impressions will be via telephone or email? Every point of contact could be your client’s first impression of your practice. You wouldn’t dream of leaving a client waiting in your reception area – nor should they be left on hold for long periods, or being passed around between departments, or having their calls ring out. Attention to every client – whether they contact your business in person, via phone, or by another channel – should be prompt, professional and consistent.

Clear communication

People don’t usually turn to law firms unless they have a problem – something that could be affecting their relationship, their livelihood, their business operations, or even their freedom. Whether your client is a legal department or an individual, it’s important that they receive regular updates, and that any potential issues are flagged in advance. Good business communication is both proactive and reactive, of course – as well as providing updates, you need to be ready to receive and return client calls and emails when they ask for an update. That means ensuring you have enough resource to take calls and return messages. Some legal firms even use outsourced switchboard services to make sure there’s always someone there to pick up the phone, even during busy periods or out of hours.

People value the personal touch

There is a time and a place for self-service portals. Few clients prefer to wait on the phone to find information they could access much more quickly online, or to provide a piece of documentation they could easily upload via your website. In other words, self-service is great for efficiency. But many of your potential clients will be seeking assistance for complex, urgent, or personal matters. Your team must be ready to demonstrate understanding, empathy and professionalism when assisting with difficult cases, and that means ensuring clients can always get through to a real human – someone who can instil a sense of confidence and reassure them of your ongoing support. Leaving them chasing an elusive team member when they need an urgent update is unlikely to leave a favourable impression.

Success can – and should – be measured

When a customer calls you, their experience on the phone can be measured in terms of “call quality”. High-quality calls are polite, professional, prompt, personable, and problem-solving (although every business might have its own KPIs). The quality of calls matters. Historical research suggests that 50% of clients consider “poor communication” a key source of dissatisfaction in their working relationship. Research from the 2019 Legal Trends report bears this out, finding that responsiveness has a “strong impact” on a client’s decision to hire a firm, and that while 79% of clients expect a response within 24 hours, most law firms fall “far below” these expectations. Responsiveness has an impact on a firm’s Net Promoter Score, too. In today’s competitive commercial environment, poor communication standards can easily mean losing a referral, or even a client’s business, to a more attentive competitor.

Your firm can benefit from monitoring the quality of your calls and implementing Service Level Agreements to ensure that customers who try to reach you on the phone always have the best possible experience – getting through to you quickly and receiving a high standard of service when they do.

Setting yourself up for success

Using an outsourced switchboard service to unify communications across your business can benefit you in a number of different ways. From ensuring there’s always a human available when they pick up the phone – even out of hours – to helping you communicate case progress to managing high call-loads professionally and empathetically, the right switchboard solution provides the attention to detail that defines truly outstanding service. In a competitive market – where a missed call could mean another client for your competitor – a central switchboard team that understands your business could be the difference between unsatisfactory and outstanding in your client’s eyes.

How ComXo can help

ComXo are industry-leaders in transformational switchboard and business support services, committed to redefining the switchboard for law firms. With a combination of technology and great people, we aim to help you deliver exceptional experiences during every call and communication you receive. Our 24-hour switchboard service offers industry-leading service-level agreements – 95% of our inbound call traffic is answered within 3 rings. We act as an extension of your team to provide knowledegable, empathetic and professional service from a real human. Ideal for making a perfect first impression.

Talk to our team today about how our specialist service can enhance your client experience.

Written by
Amanda

Why call data should be every legal firm’s secret weapon in 2023

  • Data
  • Outsourcing
  • Productivity
Why call data should be every legal firm’s secret weapon in 2023

It’s no secret that LegalTech generates a lot of excitement and conversation for law firms looking to gain a commercial edge in a competitive market. By some estimates, as many as 50% of UK law companies are already using some form of AI, according to Oxford University research. But before you start considering swapping out paralegals for ChatGPT, or another ‘silver bullet’ technology, are you confident you’re making the most of your existing tech – like capturing in-bound call data?

If you want to gather more valuable insights, make better-informed strategic decisions and enhance overall customer experience, you definitely shouldn’t overlook the value of a powerful outsourced switchboard service. The right switchboard technology can help your business identify areas for growth, maximise your efficiency, and generate more leads – as well as ensuring a seamless experience for your callers.

Here’s how to use your call data to your advantage and help stand out in a competitive commercial landscape.

Inbound call data helps YOU make better calls

When making decisions for your business, it goes without saying that you want as much information as possible to help decide the right course of action. The more information you have access to, the more you’re able to focus on the important aspects of strategic decision-making – risk assessment, precedent analysis, resource allocation.

Inbound call data tells you more than you might think: where and when do you field most of your new business calls? How do customers and suppliers feel about contacting your office? How productive are your teams in terms of handling inbound calls? How much of your new business comes from cold calls, versus warm leads or referrals? What’s your overall call volume, and are you staffed for out of hours call handling? (Our data shows that 6.7% of calls to legal firms come in outside of standard office hours.) Data drives decisions, so it’s prudent to harness as much of it as possible.

It also makes measuring your marketing much easier

Offline marketing activity can be difficult to measure. But monitoring your inbound calls can help get a better understanding of your campaign’s ROI. By performing conversion tracking and cost analysis on your call data, you can attain a more granular understanding and more control over your marketing activity, letting you fine-tune your marketing for maximum impact and efficiency.

Phone is still the most popular channel for UK consumers

According to Capterra, the majority of UK customers (42%) generally prefer to get in touch with companies by phone. And while that figure is likely to vary across specialised industries, it does underline the fact that most people, when they have a problem that needs solving, want to speak to a real person about it – often urgently.

Calls may be emotionally complex – for example, a call from a potential client who needs to draft a loved one’s will requires a high level of empathy and understanding from the receiver. Giving customers a positive initial impression of your company – including quickly getting through to a real person – is an important first step. Monitoring and analysing how calls come into your business, how well they’re handled, how often they go to the right place, and how satisfied your clients and customers feel afterwards is vital if you’re going to provide continuous improvement to your customer experience metrics. As well as benefitting your business in other ways, such as…

Helping you prepare for busy periods

Unsurprisingly, most businesses want to be sure that they’re allocating their teams correctly, especially during busy periods when finding spare resource can be difficult. And the modern challenges of remote work and hybrid working have added even more complexity to firms’ resource management ability. Analysing call data helps you clearly understand the ebb and flow of your resource requirements. Especially in larger firms, it can be difficult to co-ordinate resource management across departments without having data to describe fluctuations in demand.

The last thing a business wants is to find that the majority of lead-bearing client calls tend to arrive on, for example, a Thursday afternoon during a weekly team meeting, or that a significant portion of calls come in after 6pm on a Friday, when there are fewer staff to help them. Monitoring your call data to find out who contacts you and when will help you know what to expect and how to prepare for the true volume of calls you receive – and helps guarantee a seamless experience for callers.

Allowing you to break down your time more accurately

How much of your firm’s time is spent paying invoices? Or on the phone to suppliers? Or soliciting new business? You may have a time management system in place already, like Clio or ProLaw, but with hybrid offices making things more complicated, it’s helpful to have as much hard data as possible to underwrite the accuracy of your time-tracking. Inbound call data allows you to get clearer breakdowns of how time is being spent across departments. You can use it to get accurate, granular breakdowns of how your teams operate, in order to encourage efficiency and improve overall time management.

Adapting and adjusting your business strategy

Of course, business strategy must adapt to meet changing customer needs, fluctuations in demand, and shifting market conditions. And inbound data provides various valuable indicators that can help inform the best direction for your strategy. For example, call data allows you to monitor the types of enquiry you’re receiving, and in what volume compared to previous quarters. If you need to reallocate resource, make new hires or even make large decisions such as rebranding or developing a new product or service, your call data can provide a useful bellwether for changing customer demand.

Driving change internally

Organisation-wide changes can be hard to implement, especially for larger firms. Since it requires the buy-in of numerous senior stakeholders, it can be difficult for teams to prove the business value of a proposal in a way that gains real traction. Measuring and analysing your call data can help you source the hard data you need to back up your case – making it easier to present findings to senior management.

Staying on top of potential new business leads

Letting phone calls go to voicemail isn’t just bad customer experience – it’s potentially letting new business leads fall through your fingertips at the same time. Even if you’re diligent about returning messages, potential clients have many options available to them and could easily have contacted a competitor before you have the chance to get back to them. With an outsourced switchboard service you can be confident that someone is on hand at all times to field calls, so you never miss a lead.

How ComXo can help

ComXo are industry-leaders in transformational switchboard and business support services, committed to redefining the switchboard for law firms. With a combination of technology and great people, we aim to help you deliver exceptional experiences during every call and communication you receive. We provide innovative 24-hour switchboard services to deliver outstanding customer experience, as well as automatically monitoring inbound call data to generate detailed strategic intelligence for your business. Switchboard data is the key to unlocking continuous improvement across your whole business – from helping you identify efficiencies to boosting new business to analysing customer experience to giving you the data you need to make informed decisions.

Written by
Amanda

Ask Andrew: Recession, how real are the risks?

  • Business Continuity
  • Outsourcing
  • Solution
  • The Office
Ask Andrew: Recession, how real are the risks?

Recession and the risk of ongoing uncertainty is high on the list of business challenges right now. 

The last recession in 2008 saw a calamitous and sudden capitulation of capital markets; was a disaster akin to a tornado … sudden and unplanned.  The aftermath saw business cut hard and fast in reaction to it.  This time things feel more like a drought.  We know we are already in it, and we can feel the economic cogs moving slowly but with potentially devastating consequences.  

The headwinds are many: higher prices, supply problems, war, post-pandemic malaise.  Businesses however will be asking the same questions:  how do I cut costs, become more efficient, become less people dependent, how do I remain good value for my customers… how do I protect my stakeholders? How do I keep my job?

In 2008 ComXo experienced the first wave of office support outsourcing in professional services.  We saw the demand for our technologies and managed services increase, as we pivoted to meet demand for business transformation, helping to drive down costs. 

This time we expect even greater demand. 

 The combination of Brexit and the pandemic have changed so many contributing factors that this upcoming financial period is far harder to predict, with risks across a number of areas. The physical office is being used differently, hybrid work has evolved, data is more abundant and the balance in employee engagement has shifted.  The new corporate world is driven by business service personalisation, on demand access 24/7 to integrated services, insight-driven facilities management, self-service, intelligent triage, and outcome driven KPI’s.  Those that have not yet benefited from the technology dividend and business continuity benefits of support solutions, are likely to embrace it, or risk being out-manoeuvred by their competitors. 

Our professional service customers such as PWC are using ComXo outsourced business services to lead the charge of reimagined client experience, cost rationalisation and new generation business continuity.  Our legal and financial customers are following service roadmaps to do the same.  It is clear to see from our clients’ financial results that this approach works now, and for the future of a successfully functioning enterprise.

 Want to find out more? Talk to our team for insights and case studies that might help your planning.

Andrew Try, Founder & Managing Director

Written by
Andrew Try

Maintaining business continuity during a cyber attack

  • Business Continuity
  • Outsourcing
  • Solution
  • The Office
Maintaining business continuity during a cyber attack

CYBER ATTACKS - FIGHTING THE INVISIBLE ENEMY

When it comes to Risk and Business Continuity the traditional focus on fire, flood and theft has now been replaced with a less visible, but highly destructive threat in the form of cyber-crime, viruses and attacks on business's data and I.T. environments.

Five years ago almost every business had their traditional IT systems and programs sitting separately from their communication technologies - such as their PBX's, conference calls, outbound and inbound phone lines. Today it is more likely that these services sit within the traditional IT infrastructure. On paper this offers huge benefits but has one major flaw; when a cyber-attack hits, it's no longer just internet access, computers and servers that are compromised. All communication channels are vulnerable. In many situations the only option is to go dark and take everything off-line, resulting in no emails, no internet access, no incoming or outgoing phone calls, no conference calls with clients. A business's ability to communicate internally with its own employees, and with the outside world is significantly impacted.

BUSINESS CONTINUITY DURING CYBER ATTACK

As specialists in integrated communications and infrastructure for some of the top firms in The City, managing their global communications, we have supported firms through potentially catastrophic cyber attacks.

Here are our top ten tips on maintaining business should you be subject to cyber attacks or data breaches:

1. Protect your brand at all costs. Perception is reality.

It is unacceptable for a customer focused firm to be unavailable for any length of time.
Being able to demonstrate that regardless of the situation, you are open for business and capable of maintaining high service levels builds trust, customer loyalty and professional respect.

2. Enable your teams to focus on the crisis.

When a crisis hits, you will require total focus, concentrated effort and coordinated teamwork to survive. Create space and mitigate risk by ring-fencing the front line experience. Triaging internal services, information updates and escalation requests engenders an atmosphere of uninterrupted calm and control, and puts you back on the front foot.

3. Provide a serviced virtual meeting place for stakeholders

Continuous communication is the single most important factor during a crisis. An easy-to-use voice conference room that can be accessed at any time is key. A managed audio conferencing service can facilitate requests to ensure agility and fluidity as the situation develops.

4. Keep your staff informed. Duty of care is essential

Defined, well-rehearsed communication channels minimise confusion and insecurity amongst stakeholders and staff. It is vital to have access to up-to-date stakeholder and staff contact lists for consistent communications (e.g. text, email, voice, hotline).
These comms can be invoked through a managed service in the cloud.

5. Ensure access to your knowledge asset

Having an external switchboard provider that understands your processes could enable you to maintain access to key information and business services even during a crisis, ensuring ongoing efficiency and information flow

6. Keep your IT help desk functioning 24/7

Minimising confusion as a crisis unfolds is vital. Getting and keeping key IT capability up and working is a pivotal step to achieve this. Ensuring clear lines open to your IT help desk gives your workforce assurance that the situation is under control. Using a triage capability to answer calls and service requests; fact find, prioritise and escalate - enabling your own IT staff to focus on the higher level problems.

7. Provide your staff with the right tools for remote working

By providing alternative, company sanctioned and network independent communication tools, staff can stay productive rather than having to second guess
the company's risk, security or compliance regime. A BYOD (bring-your-own-device) technology that's simple to use and allows easy billing will encourage staff to continue communicating.

8. Think Global

For global corporates a cyber-attack could mean that all world-wide communication becomes disrupted. Do you have a global resilience plan in place for communication? Is it tested around your key risks and invoked on a regular basis?

9. Create strong supply chain relationships

When a crisis hits, relationships with key operational suppliers become even more important. Maintaining strong connections with the right people in these organisations will help ensure your problem is prioritised. Share your BCP plans with your supply chain and include them in your scenario planning.

10. Protect new business opportunities.

Industry statistics show that up to 55% of switchboard calls to professionals service firms are existing or new business calls. A crisis hits customer confidence and keeping lines open to answer questions, escalate requests or give advice will ensure your customers do not seek out new suppliers

Cyber security is now considered a vital part of any business continuity plan, helping keep the threat minimised with proactive solutions. If it's something you’re considering and would like some guidance talk to our team.

Written by
Amanda

3 key points to prepare for the worst and deliver the best in business

  • Agile Working
  • Business Continuity
  • Company Culture
  • Outsourcing
  • Solution
3 key points to prepare for the worst and deliver the best in business

In March 2020 I returned to work from my honeymoon in Australia, well and truly still in holiday mode. Given the extent of Australian news coverage at the time I boarded my flight aware of little more than "There's a toilet roll shortage". I was fairly oblivious as to what faced me upon my return to the office.

Expecting this toilet roll emergency to blow over while I tortured everyone with holiday pictures, I was ushered into our boardroom and given a pandemic reality check. I was asked to prepare for our offices to close and get ready to support all of our clients as they faced the same challenge.

So how do you move over 1 million calls and 70 Virtual Switchboard staff to a remote working environment, and continue to achieve an industry leading service level, with 95% of calls answered in 3 rings? We were of course apprehensive, but we found that our business continuity planning had left us well prepared.

Without giving away the ComXo crown jewels, here's my 3 key recommendations to enable your organisation to prepare for the worst in order to consistently deliver the best:

 Plan and TEST your BCP measures constantly.

  • For the past 5 years, ComXo has had a unit of remote working operators logged in ready to support calls in the event there was a crisis with the office.
  • This team of operators had tested our tech, software and logistics ready for a wider scale rollout of remote working.
  • Our disaster recovery site is regularly tested on a scheduled and unscheduled basis.

Look after your people

  • Rather than increase operator workload, we introduced more team huddles, 1-2-1s, training time and regular "check ins" to ensure the team were coping with the pandemic. Parents were given some extra, much needed TLC.
  • The business took a VERY open stance to the uncertainty of the future and the roles we would all need to play in order to ensure that ComXo and our clients prospered during this period.
  • Educating our staff on "The grief curve" allowed teams to meet, discuss and share experiences.
  • The Zoom Christmas cocktail party and online bake off/pizza making competitions kept up team spirit. These were planned sensitively, especially once it became clear that the pandemic was going to loom for a substantial period of time, and we were conscious of Zoom fatigue.

In return, our indomitable staff responded in kind with sickness and absence levels dropping to next to zero!

Our service levels actually increased to 97.7% of calls answered within 3 rings and adverse feedback dropped to an all-time low.

Understand your true capacity

  • If the workload demand of your team regularly exceeds 80% of their maximum work rate, it's possible you are heading for burnout and staff churn. Look to schedule at least 30% capacity for breathing room, shrinkage, creativity and sudden spikes in workload.
  • Diversify your workforce: working with parents, students and full time professionals to align their wants and needs with your own workload forecast is a powerful thing.
  • Recruit ahead of the curve - if you wait until you need the staff, you are already too late.
  • If you can't measure it, you can't manage it. Understand the scientific equation that predicts your working capacity. If you don't have the tech, you can do this by simply and consistently checking in with your team and asking "Hey, on a scale of 1 - 10 how busy have you been this month?"

Ultimately, we have been very lucky that our clientele have had a mostly prosperous two years and we are proud to have been able to support them on this journey. Looking back, what would I change about ComXo's approach to the pandemic? Not a lot. But on a personal note, maybe I would have invested in some more toilet roll when I landed back in England. They weren't joking about that part.

Richard Gostelow, Director of Customer Service

Written by
Amanda

Why your firm needs a Business Concierge Service right now.

  • Client Experience
  • Outsourcing
  • Productivity
Why your firm needs a Business Concierge Service right now.

If you haven't already thought about outsourcing some, or all of your day-to-day operations within your firm then the current work environment may be the biggest reason to change that right now. Allowing a trusted expert to consolidate and merge your firm's client experience as well as handle your internal employee's tasks can increase brand image as well as productivity. Business or corporate concierge services could include things like virtual support with space booking, management of your diary or human assistance regarding the firm's knowledge based queries.

What do business concierge services entail?

These services include:

  • Instant access to staff directory where the confidential data is managed securely and kept up to date.
  • A knowledge base of policies and your firm's information that employees can remotely access at any time.
  • IT & Facilities helpdesk services where employees can create tickets for issues or requests.
  • Virtual Assistants: Human support at any time to help with the tasks and features mentioned above
  • Client Experience (CX): Services like outsourced switchboard can dramatically increase your brand image as well as the experience your clients receive. In the agile work world of today, this may be a vital cost saving and brand improving option.

Benefits of business concierge Service

  • Employee productivity increases
  • Focus on business growth can increase with more new business opportunities captured
  • Services like secure audio conferencing and desk booking are organised and maintained for you, giving you time to focus on other business aspect
  • Dramatic reduction of costs
  • Specialised mobile device apps help tackle the widely spread out workforce combine and collaborate easily

If you want to find out more about how Business Concierge Services can help your business, contact us now.

Written by
Amanda