Category Archives: General

19th September 2018

Jai Memorial for #teamsiobhan

In 2012, our client and friends, Vidya Patel and Suresh Vaghela established the Jai Memorial Invitational Golf Tournament in memory of their son Jai Vaghela (1988 – 2007), who was diagnosed with a brain tumour at the age of two. Jai was a very brave and special boy, and someone we’re incredibly proud to honour each year at the tournament, which raises funds for charities that were connected to Jai’s care, or that help brighten the lives of children living with serious illnesses. This year we were all very proud to come together to raise vital funds for: the Hearts of Oak – the Oak Lodge School Foundation, a school for children with learning disabilities; the inaugural Jai Memorial Junior Golf Tournament to promote amateur sport; and to support a little girl called Siobhan.

At the age of two, Siobhan Margaret Mather was diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer, Stage 4 Neuroblastoma. Just 100 children will receive this diagnosis in the UK each year. Like Jai, Siobhan is bravely taking this terrible disease in her stride. She’s undergone various treatments in the UK, but to further her chances of a full recovery, she needs a vaccine that’s only available in America. Her parents are trying to raise £400,000 to make it happen, and have so far raised half of what’s needed.

So last month, we all teed off in Hertfordshire, raising £5,754 to support these fantastic charities, and importantly, #TeamSiobhan. If you’re reading this and are touched by Jai or Siobhan’s story, then it’s not too late to show your support too at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jaimemorial2018.

18th July 2018

OK, I’m thinking of something orange and small…

Got your attention? Great. Read on…

15 years ago Sesui cloud communications was born. In the same year, Finding Nemo was top of the box office, Schwarzenegger became the Governator and we were all falling over ourselves to own a Nokia 3200. On reflection, just two of these things still seem like a good idea. Finding Nemo is still a fantastic film and Sesui is still making vital connections – and getting noticed for it.

We’ve all read the sobering statistics – only 30% of businesses survive the 10-year mark. There are any number of reasons why these businesses slowly fizzle out, but as most tech leaders would agree, the one factor that keeps us awake at night is the idea of being out-competed. That’s why Manveer leads our technology team to innovate our product Sesui Call Manager and then innovate some more. And why Lee’s continually working with our clients to innovate its application. How can we do things differently? How can we challenge the status quo?

The upshot of all of this is that we’re winning new business. And when we do, we come up with new and exciting applications for our solutions. And when we do that, every one of our clients benefit from what we’ve learned. We’ve started telling these stories and it’s no coincidence that we’ve also started winning awards.

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10th July 2018

What’s your Game Plan for Football Fever?

Could it be… just maybe… that football’s coming home? Well if it is, come Thursday, UK employers might just find their employees staying home too. According to the red tops, “MILLIONS” of fans could be calling in sick with barely disguised Footy Fever, costing UK employers a small fortune. Hangovers, late arrivals or simply never arriving at all, are all on the cards. But rather than handing out yellow cards, there is another way to manage absenteeism or last minute roster changes in your business. Flexible working is the answer to handling late starters, earlier finishers, shift swappers, and those most successful negotiators who’ve pledged to make up missed time, sometime after hours.

Don’t be caught ball watching
Whether you’re a small business or large enterprise, Sesui Flexible Working Solutions gives your employees the freedom to work anywhere, at anytime – with your core business hours always covered. Our award-winning software puts your communications systems into the cloud so that your employees can deliver the same level of service or productivity from home. Every voice or video call, email and text message comes through your own secure, virtual contact centre, accessed through any device. Your team have full control to hold and transfer calls or take part in three-way conversations, as well as the ability to integrate customer contact back into your CRM system, or to remotely access your customer directory. And it all happens as though they were sat at the desk across the corridor. And when Fan Flu strikes (and it will), you can pull in and connect a remote workforce to make up the shortfall.

Boss the game
As for your managers, our Sesui Supervisor service helps them to manage the team as though they were all in the same building. The real time statistics give them sight of the big picture with up to the second live reports so they can not only better support your agents or employees working remotely, but they can quickly manage customer call flows. The management reports mean you can see what’s happening with your team on an hourly, daily or weekly basis. No surprises and definitely no shirking of responsibility!

It’s time to park the bus
And the upshot of all of this, is that you can actually start to run your business in a more 24/7 way, providing access to specialist agents or employees outside regular office hours and without needing to tie them down to an office or call centre. This sort of on-demand culture is where the world is headed… what better time to get started.

So as we build up to full fever pitch, balance your productivity with patriotism and give us a call 03445 600 600. We’re Sesui. We make vital connections. And importantly… Woah England’s going all the way!

22nd May 2018

Sesui named Best Cloud Service Provider

Oxford-based Sesui, creator of award-winning cloud communications software, was last night awarded Best Cloud Service Provider at the UK Cloud Awards.

The news follows a number of recent commendations for the business, including the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation in 2016 and Computing’s ‘Cloud Telephony Product of the Year’ in 2017 for Sesui Call Manager. And it builds further momentum for the business, ahead of next month’s Oxfordshire Business Awards, where Sesui’s shortlisted for the CIS Technology Excellence Award.

Sesui connects people to organisations when it’s critical they get through. Its team of problem solvers specialise in untangling communications systems and putting them into the cloud for organisations that provide a vital service, including those in healthcare, travel, manufacturing and the voluntary sector.

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15th May 2018

Sesui’s a finalist in two British awards for cloud innovation

Oxford-based Sesui, creator of award-winning cloud communications software, is proud to announce it’s a finalist in not one, but two awards celebrating innovation – the Oxfordshire Business Awards and the UK Cloud Awards. The news follows a number of recent commendations for the business, including the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation in 2016 and Computing’s ‘Cloud Telephony Product of the Year’ in 2017 for Sesui Call Manager.

Sesui’s the innovator of award winning cloud communications software that connects people to organisations when it’s critical they get through. It specialises in untangling communications and putting them into the cloud for organisations that provide a vital service, including those in healthcare, travel, manufacturing and the voluntary sector.

Sesui’s a finalist in a new hi-tech category of the Oxfordshire Business Awards – The CIS Technology Excellence Award – in recognition of its focus on advancing its business through the use of IT. And it’s a finalist in the ‘Best Cloud Service Provider’ category of the UK Cloud Awards.

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10th May 2018

Jai Medical Centres uses Sesui Cloud to offer 5,000 extra patient appointments a year

OXFORD-based cloud communications provider, Sesui, has been helping GPs and clinicians work remotely – a vital step in tackling rising caseloads and helping join-up primary care providers to deliver integrated care.

Sesui’s campaign into flexible working for a 24/7 NHS follows research that shows 1 in 5 UK doctors feel their current work life balance is poor and almost half believe current demands are unsustainable. However 45% believe that making patient calls from home could be the answer.

A key story to emerge from the campaign is Sesui’s work with London-based Jai Medical Centre. This five-surgery practice has:

• Adopted Sesui’s Virtual Contact Centre (VCC) to allow five specialist call handlers to answer calls across its five surgeries. In addition to improving the patient experience with no engaged tones, welcome messages and regular queue updates, the VCC has enabled Jai Medical to offer patients secure evening telephone appointments – amounting to 5,000 extra patient appointments a year.

• Installed 50 VoIP phones across five sites and adopted Sesui’s call management platform – Sesui Cloud Call Manager – to help its surgeries join up more effectively as one team. In doing so, Jai Medical has reduced call abandonment by 20% and improved its answering rate to 75% of patient calls within 60 seconds – in line with rigorous QR8 targets set for Urgent Care providers.

Practice Manager Suresh Vaghela said: “At least 90% of our GPs are working parents, so we had to think outside the box on how we could give them a better work life balance while addressing unmet patient needs. Flexible working is how we’ll start to make a difference.”

He added: “Our GPs securely access patient records from home so they can do their admin there – patient letters, reviewing results, booking consultations. They also work two extra hours a week from home to provide patient telephone consultations between 8pm and 10pm; amounting to 5,000 extra patient appointments a year.”

Supporting Sesui’s flexible working campaign, Dr Simon Abrams, Chair of Urgent Health UK said: “This is an important step in helping clinicians maintain a closeness with their patients and the communities they serve; preserving the personalisation of care that makes the NHS so effective. Flexible systems serve patients and clinicians, enabling both to make best use of modern environments. Technology can make a difference in the NHS, especially now when we need it most. We should all be thinking about how we design our systems to match the changes in the way ordinary people connect with technology.”

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15th March 2018

Let’s talk about UNICORNS…

Yes, that’s correct… unicorns.

Or better still… mermaids and centaurs. Or for that matter, omniagents. Yes, omniagents; the most mythical creature of all. That one contact centre agent with the linguistic ability to be a gifted email writer, snappy Tweeter, capable call agent and vibrant video agent – all at the same time. You’d be correct in thinking they’re not just rare; they’re fictitious. And I’m afraid we’d have to agree.

Omnichannel has been a buzzword for a few years now, but in asking agents to do it all, we’re asking for the impossible – omniagents. We’re seeking unicorns. The reality is that contact centres need to evolve into customer experience hubs where no one agent is expected to do it all. Instead, specialised agents work together sharing data and insights, often remotely, to provide a more personalised 24-7 customer experience.

Here are our top five tips to ensure you’re not relying on a mythical workforce to deliver your omnichannel strategy:

1. Know your customers
2. Know your business
3. Know your agents
4. Be flexible
5. See the big picture

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OMNIAGENTS, UNICORNS AND OTHER FANTASTICAL BEASTS – Sesui talks omnichannel at the Call and Contact Centre Expo

Sesui, the bright British innovator of award winning cloud call management software, will attend the Call and Contact Centre Expo (London ExCel, March 21 to 22) to talk unicorns, along with that most mythical creature of all… omniagents.

Manveer Mangat, Sesui CTO explains: “Omnichannel’s been a buzzword for a few years now, but in asking each agent to do it all, we’re asking for the impossible… omniagents. That one contact centre agent with the linguistic ability to be a gifted email writer, snappy Tweeter, capable call agent and vibrant video agent – all at the same time. You’d be correct in thinking they’re not just rare; they’re fictitious. And I’m afraid we’d have to agree.”

Mr Mangat added: “The reality is that contact centres need to evolve into customer experience hubs where no one agent is expected to do it all. Instead, specialised agents work together sharing data and insights, often remotely, to provide a more personalised 24-7 customer experience.”

Pursuing a true omnichannel strategy involves more than just creating a long list of “contact us” options. Taking the stage on Wednesday 21st, theatre 8 at 15:30, Mr Mangat will discuss his Top 5 Tips for getting omnichannel right:

1. Know your customer – blend traditional with digital channels
2. Know your business – match your channels to your operation
3. Know your agent – try skills-based routing
4. Be flexible – run distributed contact centres and offer flexible working
5. See the big picture – use real time reporting

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8th March 2018

Let’s talk about the S word…

SNOW.
Or more appropriately, SNOWMAGEDDON.

Did you have to apologise to your customers, or were you prepared for The Beast from the East? How many snow days did your employees need to take because the weather was bad, public transport wasn’t working or it just took forever to get in? Or like us, did you choose to close the office? Now, for a moment, consider how that affected your organisation?

Many of the big Banks tried to manage customer expectations around waiting times by sending SMS’ explaining how The Beast From The East was affecting their resourcing levels. They had the safety of their colleagues at heart. And they weren’t the only ones. Countless organisations were in the same boat, costing the UK economy an estimated £1bn. But did they even need to be in the boat at all?

If you’re running a manufacturing plant, or you can’t get your High Street shop open, or the delivery guys just can’t get through, chances are you are in the boat. Sorry. But in vast parts of the service sector and in contact centres… a little flexibility goes a long way.

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1st March 2018

Jai Medical to add 5,000 extra patient appointments a year thanks to the cloud

We’ve been banging the drum for our healthcare campaign that explores how cloud communications is helping GPs and clinicians to work remotely, whilst joining up primary care providers to deliver integrated care. Based on our research with UK doctors, as well as input from GPs, our clients and experts from across the NHS (including NHS England), the campaign included:

• A Special Report exploring flexible working through the cloud
• A vodcast roundtable and 1-2-1 interviews
• Coverage of our research across key media
• Endorsements from experts in the field including Dr Simon Abrams, Chair of Urgent Health UK and Mr Ian Sharp, CEO of Digital Health Enterprise Zone

A key story to emerge from the campaign is our work with Jai Medical Centre in the last decade. The brief from Jai Medical was to:
1. Help its five surgeries join up more effectively as “one team” with the installation of 50 VoIP phones across 5 sites
2. Empower its GPs to work remotely, offering patients extended hours
3. Help it answer patient calls even faster, striving to meet rigorous QR8 targets set for out-of-hours and emergency providers
You can read the full case study here. But if you’re short on time, here’s how the story goes… Continue reading →