A case study of how the MICE, healthcare, banking and education sectors in these two lands used technology to stay afloat.
Customer experience (CX) has been the buzzword across industry domains, including the technological sector. With the need for even more CX due to social distancing and digital engagement, technological advancements have been pivotal in transforming businesses to keep pace.
Take the Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing and Exhibitions (MICE) sector, for example. A consumer computer and electronics trade show, GITEX Technology Week 2020, held in Dubai, used a hi-tech cloud-based, team-collaboration and meeting application for the first time to facilitate a blended and seamless conference experience.
Multinational visitors at the show accessed over 280 hours of content that supplemented the physical event, on the app. People who were unable to travel to Dubai were able to dial into conference sessions virtually through the cloud platform set up through business communications tech firm Avaya.
The GITEX organizer claims that it is the only major technology event in the world to have gone live in 2020, with its conference schedule bringing together government experts, tech innovators and disruptive start-ups, hosting over 350 technology experts from 30 countries speaking live on stage.
Said the organizer’s Executive Vice-President, Events Management, Trixie LohMirmand: “After a year of missed opportunities, GITEX, in its 40th edition, is finally giving the technology industry a platform to reconnect and do business again through in-person networking and conferences.”
Dubai’s medical sector CX
In the Dubai healthcare scene, American Hospital Dubai (AHD) used the same cloud-based technology to improve each patient’s journey with customer-oriented call center operations and bolstered its customer relationship management capabilities.
The healthcare provider’s wants to personalize patient experience, simplify access to healthcare, and help streamline operations. It has deployed a cloud solution complemented by a range of apps designed specifically to address critical needs in the patient journey. This, in turn, creates a connected patient experience from appointment to the post-care phase.
The hospital’s CIO Ahmad Yahya said: “The Avaya solution has helped us aggregate various data, such as patients’ demographics, interactions with our website and call center, and financial and other relevant details, to create a comprehensive profile for our patients. The connected patient experience solution was demonstrated at the GITEX Technology Week, which was lauded by many discerning visitors.”
Banking CX in Dubai
Along similar lines, the Gulf Bank has commenced a CX transformation to enable a multi-experience approach using cloud computing. The suite of solutions being adopted by Gulf Bank enables the financial institution to not only meet the digital demands of its customer base, but to also create a more flexible working environment for its contact center staff now empowered to work from anywhere.
Mohammed Al-Qattan, General Manager of Consumer Banking at Gulf Bank, said the technology transformation “not only supported us through the worst months of the pandemic by enabling our agents to work from anywhere, but also helped lead the development of our new strategy that meets the realities of today’s market.”
Digital education CX
Elsewhere, Pakistan’s national telco Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) integrated the cloud into its digital education platform, QTaleem to enable a 360-degree digital education experience. This collaborative effort brings live virtual video classes by centralizing voice, video, messaging, chat and task management into one app. The firm’s Chief Business Services Officer Zarrar Hasham Khan said: “As a national carrier, PTCL is enabling an online education framework that has the potential to help more than 53 million students across the country. With this strategic partnership, we are able to address the current challenges facing the education sector in the country by bringing transformational change to delivering education, which is in line with Digital Pakistan.”
