Welcome

As we enter the 8th week of lockdown, the dust has started to settle on what has no doubt been a busy few weeks for all of us.  I know all of you have worked tirelessly to help both your own and some of our joint customers in rolling out remote working solutions.  I feel very fortunate to work at Gamma and in an industry that is helping so many businesses to stay operational at this critical time.

We are all getting used to working remotely with very little physical contact with the outside world. Technology is our lifeline, keeping us in touch with our co-workers, friends and family. The exponential growth in video calling is there for all to see. We have seen our internal video call usage go through the roof – in fact, I can’t remember the last team call we had that wasn’t on video!

As we start to think about what the “new normal” is going to look like, the one thing we can be sure of is that video calls are here to stay.

So how can we make sure that we’re properly placed to hit the ground running when all of this is over? At Gamma we have our own ideas – some of which are included in this month’s Insight and the rest will be communicated out to you over the coming weeks.

But I am really interested to know your ideas. We are poised to offer support and it is important that we carry on working collaboratively so that we can continue to thrive when our customers and prospects return to business as usual – whatever that may look like.

Do we consider rolling out free Collaborate trials to new customers?  Do we run bespoke marketing campaigns to customers and prospects?  Would you and your team benefit from training sessions on key products such as Horizon Collaborate, Sip Trunk Call Manager and Microsoft Teams Direct Routing?  Or do you want it all?

Please take 2 minutes today to grab yourself a tea or coffee and complete our survey. Your feedback is so valuable to us and we would love to know how we can continue to support you going forward.

 

Many thanks

Neil Taylor
Head of Direct Partner Sales

The May Update:

New brand reminder

Are you up to date with our new brand?

So far 2020 has been a transformational year for Gamma in many ways, the most obvious being the launch of our bold new brand identity. In January we were thrilled to unveil our new and improved brand to both our partners and customers.

Our enhanced brand and values are important to us and so it is important that our new look and feel is consistent across the board.

Remember to check all of your Gamma branded content to make sure that it meets and matches our new brand guidelines and ties in with our mission. This way we can keep providing great service on a unified level.

If you need any of your content updating to match our new brand guidelines, please let the Marketing team or your Account Manager know.

Remote working tips

Feel connected, no matter your location

What is the most effective way to #FeelConnected when working remotely? Distractions are all around us and, for some customers, working from home is a new style that can take a little time to get used to.

Being plucked out of the familiarity and setting of one’s office can be daunting at first, with the fear of a ‘disconnect’ building between departments or lack of motivation.

But along with any concerns come a vast array of benefits including skipping that dreaded commute, not having to deal with the ever-changing volumes of a bustling office and, when it comes to meetings, customers can forget the stress of scrambling to find a conference room – they simply dial in within seconds and from the comfort of, well, any room in their house!

There’s no doubt that this is an uncertain time, businesses and their workforces are expected to be more agile than ever before, but adopting remote technology is proven to make your customers lives easier when working from home.

One thing some of your customers might be wondering is how they can effectively track their teams productivity during lockdown. We’ve got plenty of literature to tackle any remote working woes, including this blog on the best way to maintain productivity within your mobile workforce here.

Customers need to consider their workspace, develop a routine, embrace the perks and invest in reliable technology, but where to begin?

One day in the life of a remote worker

We’ve put together some top tips on how both you and your customer can make the most out of remote working, including a guide on how to break down a typical day away from the structure of the office.

For a more detailed look at how business leaders can best enable collaboration amongst their remote workers, visit our blog. Is your customer building a recovery strategy? Our Disaster Recovery Plan is on hand to guide them through any contingencies or rebuilds.

Business continuity offers

Offers to help your customers make the most of
their remote suite

During this unprecedented time, businesses are assessing how they can facilitate remote working into their organisations quickly, while maintaining productivity.

To offer some relief through this difficult period, we are providing several offers which you can utilise to support your customers with their business continuity plans. Access to upgraded technology is sure to give their teams a boost and utilising them at home will help businesses to really experience the true benefits of unified communications.

These benefits will assist businesses in the immediate future and can become an integral part of their business strategy going forward.

Horizon Collaborate
To help your customers stay connected to their staff and customer base alike, we are offering a 3-month trial period of our Unified Communications platform, Collaborate. Designed for companies looking to increase productivity, improve collaborative team working and accelerate business decision making to better serve customers, Horizon Collaborate is the perfect tool for remote working.

SIP Trunk Call Manager
For existing SIP customers who require additional control, flexibility and resilience over their current call routing and inbound call management, we are offering the SIP Trunk Call Manager service free of charge for 3 months. This does not include call costs, which will be chargeable as normal.

03 Inbound Numbers
Your customers may need to set up a business continuity helpline for their staff/clients to access. To support them with this need, we are offering 03 Inbound numbers free of charge for a 3-month period. This does not include call costs, which will be chargeable as usual. Access to the inbound app can also be added FOC for this period if required by the customer. Customers can have multiple 03 numbers free of charge if needed.

Terms & Conditions apply across all the business continuity offers outlined above. We reserve the right to amend or withdraw any of these offers at any time.

MS Teams Directing Routing is here

Direct Routing release could mean even bigger market for voice

Great news – the cost-effective, scalable cloud-managed direct routing voice solution for MS Teams is now available!

This accessible option allows customers to make calls that are external to their business through the Microsoft Teams app, using SIP Trunks to route the calls. This avoids using Microsoft Calling Plans or other expensive alternatives.

Enabling this type of voice calling through MS Teams could potentially provide a huge market for ‘voice’ in general, as the current lockdown has seen millions of users turning to unified communications platforms while businesses’ teams work from home.

It also allows your customers to maximise their existing 365 licence costs and can reduce their telephony bills. With all the fundamentals of communication, voice and video, housed securely and readily accessible in one place, MS Teams combined with direct routing is an ideal solution for home working.

Key benefits of MS Teams direct routing include:

  • Cheaper than Microsoft Calling Plans
  • Reduce telephony bills
  • Stay up to date
  • Enables collaborative working
  • Improved external / internal communications

Find out about the benefits of Direct Routing by contacting your Account Manager today.

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