At the start of 2020, I was at odds with having to define what ‘normal’ meant, or indeed what the ‘new normal’ would mean to the UK. In contrast, my colleagues at FluidOne were quick to adopt the new terminology, and have regularly reminded me of my issue to adapt to the new times. 

There is no doubt that the global pandemic has made it important to consider what we define as normal, especially as we look ahead to 2021. The global pandemic changed our perception of ‘normal’ and forced us to look at how we move on; whether we evolve or remain in survival mode. As lockdown restrictions continue to fluctuate across the UK, it’s hard to quantify if anything has, or ever will, return to our old view of normality. 

Over the last 9 months, I have been in various discussions with senior management from my supply chain and our customers where the underlying theme has naturally been uncertainty and facing the challenge of delivering consistent results. The hardest part of dealing with the pandemic is not knowing how far in the future a return to normality lies and whether the normality we return to will be the same as it once was. Is the ‘new normal’ here to stay?

The recurring theme in my discussions with customers has been the need to remain connected,  secure and have reliable availability. We have supported many industries during Covid-19, and the main challenge with most businesses has been mobilising their workforce without business continuity plans to support prolonged working away from the office. 

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This year, businesses across the nation have navigated many challenges after mass emigrating to remote working. From timed-out virtual calls, sketchy connections and limited access to important databases, there have been many hurdles to overcome. Thankfully, our partnership with 8x8 launched the FluidOne 8x8 cloud UC solution aims to solve these problems and make remote working less challenging. 

On net via our award-winning fibre network, Platform One, the solution offers contact centre workforces diverse connectivity, no matter where they are, with the highest call quality experience in the market to promote collaboration, efficiency and ‘business as usual.’ 

To continually diversify our Platform One offering for our partners, we recently launched an exciting new partnership with 8x8, a cloud UC solution. To ensure you get the most out of this new service we have broken down in detail how this new cloud communications platform can help your customers be number one in their fields. 

Working from home used to be considered a privilege or even a benefit for workers, but as the recent Covid pandemic has shown us, sometimes organisations need everyone to work remotely as a matter of business continuity. It is in times of crises, created by a pandemic, technology outage or even a natural disaster that sometimes the only way to conduct business means everyone has to be working remotely.

The Olympic Games will be an exciting time for our capital city, but with over 11 million spectators and athletes set to make our busy transport infrastructure even busier, how will businesses be affected?