GBS WORLD NEWS | WEEK 3 | JULY 2022
Unleashed pent-up demand and lifestyle shifts influenced by the pandemic will be core drivers in an improved US travel industry outlook, according to the 2022 Deloitte Travel Outlook Report. This despite recent difficulties by air travel operators to manage spikes in demand. The report indicates that corporate travel is expected to improve gradually through 2022, while remote working travel is set be a major trend among untethered office workers. Movements of traveling remote workers is predicted to accelerate private rental accommodation, although hotels will still account for the majority of lodging spend.
Staying on the topic of travel, Canadian air carrier, Air Canada, has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Emirates that will provide passengers greater choice when travelling on the carriers’ networks while also improving customer experience (CX) throughout the journey. Later in 2022, Emirates and Air Canada anticipate establishing a codeshare relationship that would offer Air Canada passengers more travel options to destinations outside Dubai.
There are plans to create 1,000 new roles in the Cape Town, South Africa community of Mitchells Plain by Sigma Connected with a state-of-the-art contact centre. At the opening of the centre, David Neale, managing director of Sigma Connected South Africa said: “I am proud that we have become the first GBS operation in Western Cape to provide contact centre solutions from Mitchells Plain. Over the next three years we are planning to replicate this model to make a real difference in similar communities across the country.” Sigma Connected is also a certified member of GBS.World.
Also in South Africa, business process outsourcing (BPO) provider, iContact BPO, along with BrainCX, a US-based CX strategist and digital transformation expert, landed a large North American Telecommunications company in an outsourcing bid. Combined factors, such strategic locations, an educated skills pool with strong English language proficiency and labor arbitrage are what drew the offshore buyer to iContact and the compelling value proposition of South Africa. iContact BPO is also a certified member of GBS World.
More positive news in America where BMO Harris Bank has announced the elimination of non-sufficient funds and transfer fees for overdrafts. In addition, the bank will reduce overall overdraft costs to $15 per occurrence, according to a press release. BMO cut the maximum number of overdrafts and NSF charges that a client could incur last year from three per day to two per day. On Aug. 23, NSF charges will be phased out, while transfer fees will be cut on July 12th.
French IT service and consulting giant, Atos, has been named as a Leader in the 2022 Magic Quadrant for Data Center Outsourcing (DCO) and Hybrid Infrastructure Managed Services (HIMS) by Gartner. DCO and HIMS are Gartner’s terms for managed services for hosted and private cloud infrastructure, public cloud, and edge environments, as well as traditional data center environments.
The metaverse is the most effective channel for marketing, claims 60% of surveyed marketers in a new research report from Qualtrics. The study found that 90% of marketers believe there are presently too many channels through which to interact with customers. This has prompted a range of responses: 35% of marketers said increasing growth was their top priority; 29% of marketers stated that improving customer loyalty was their biggest challenge.
Also in South Africa, business process outsourcing (BPO) provider, iContact BPO, along with BrainCX, a US-based CX strategist and digital transformation expert, landed a large North American Telecommunications company in an outsourcing bid. Combined factors, such strategic locations, an educated skills pool with strong English language proficiency and labor arbitrage are what drew the offshore buyer to iContact and the compelling value proposition of South Africa. iContact BPO is also a certified member of GBS World.
More positive news in America where BMO Harris Bank has announced the elimination of non-sufficient funds and transfer fees for overdrafts. In addition, the bank will reduce overall overdraft costs to $15 per occurrence, according to a press release. BMO cut the maximum number of overdrafts and NSF charges that a client could incur last year from three per day to two per day. On Aug. 23, NSF charges will be phased out, while transfer fees will be cut on July 12th.
French IT service and consulting giant, Atos, has been named as a Leader in the 2022 Magic Quadrant for Data Center Outsourcing (DCO) and Hybrid Infrastructure Managed Services (HIMS) by Gartner. DCO and HIMS are Gartner’s terms for managed services for hosted and private cloud infrastructure, public cloud, and edge environments, as well as traditional data center environments.
The metaverse is the most effective channel for marketing, claims 60% of surveyed marketers in a new research report from Qualtrics. The study found that 90% of marketers believe there are presently too many channels through which to interact with customers. This has prompted a range of responses: 35% of marketers said increasing growth was their top priority; 29% of marketers stated that improving customer loyalty was their biggest challenge. 