2021: Year of digital communications & collaboration

There has been widespread adoption of collaboration platforms across industries to improve and personalise Customer Experience (CX). Organisations are using these platforms in innovative ways to improve, personalise and hence deliver better CX to a variety of customers across rural and urban areas. This has helped companies establish a better connect with a larger customer base and gives customers the flexibility to connect from anywhere, anytime and across any device/platform. Beyond connecting with customers, companies are also using collaboration platforms in a variety of ways such as to enable new ways of working, learning, service delivery, hosting events and empowering a hybrid workforce. While financial institutions are using our platform to serve a growing number of clients who prefer to connect digitally, and to give employees the flexibility to embrace hybrid work; health delivery organizations, health systems, and pharma-biotech companies are using them for everything from virtual visits to global collaboration. Educators have also embraced communications and collaboration to improve equity, inclusiveness, accessibility, engagement and offer an immersive experience to the classrooms and campuses of tomorrow. Organisations across industries are now bringing to the table a total experience through the blend of in-person and virtual connections.

Hybrid and flexibility – a new normal emerges

As we approach the end of 2021, organizations across the globe have understood the importance of the hybrid workspace and are preparing their teams for this new normal. As a semblance of normalcy resumed during the latter half of the year, we saw organizations adopt a mix of remote, hybrid and physical setups in different mixes as were best suited to their objectives. Collaboration platform providers like Zoom stepped up by adding new products to serve the changing customer needs. Many studies have clearly shown that most employees want a hybrid and flexible approach where they are given the freedom to work both from home and from the office. Happy employees lead to happy customers and organisations have started addressing these demands of the workforce for a win-win situation. Employees have become the focus of every work strategy/ approach as they look for an environment where they can be most productive and feel most mentally balanced. In this time of rapid change, reflecting on our progress to identify areas for improvement and stay on the right track is critical for self-improvement.

Virtual care and telehealth are here to stay

The past couple of years have really highlighted the importance of virtual healthcare. Telehealth and video communications have made value-based care more accessible, convenient, and affordable. Various innovations and improvements have improved patient experience to a great extent. Providers today can consult with global experts and continue their medical education with virtual training, certification programs, and conferences. Hospital administrators can convene staff meetings virtually across multiple departments and buildings for routine announcements and emergency communications. Consumers too want to be able to have flexible options — be it with primary caregivers or with overall wellness providers. For telehealth and virtual care solution providers, reliability, consistency, and quality are key to improving the patient experience. Using a video platform that connects everyone along the care continuum can lead to greater information sharing and collaboration for improved patient care and outcomes.

(The author is General Manager & India Head of Zoom Video Communications)