Your Business Action Plan to Weather the COVID-19 Crisis
                     Your Business Action Plan to Weather the 
COVID-19 Crisis - Technology and Strategies 
to Optimize Operations and Build Resiliency 
AS UNBELIEVABLE AS IT'S BEEN, COVID-19 CONTINUES Workforce Interruptions
TO DISRUPT BUSINESS OPERATIONS AROUND THE 
During the COVID-19 debacle and lockdown 
PLANET ON AN UNPRECEDENTED SCALE, FROM 
ordinances, employees have not been able to travel to 
WORLD-CLASS EVENT CANCELLATIONS TO LOCAL 
their main place of work. Disaster recovery and 
SHOPS AND RESTAURANT CLOSURES.  
business continuity plans involving moving employees 
In many cases, business sales numbers have declined to offsite locations have not been helpful, as the 
from double-digit figures all the way down to zero. spread of the virus has reached almost every city 
across the planet. The only viable option left for 
The level of uncertainty surrounding this global 
companies is to mobilize their workforce and enable 
pandemic is high, and this has caused anxiety about 
them to work from home. 
how much longer the situation will last. I have no 
doubt that humanity will eventually overcome this In order to work remotely, though, employees need 
crisis, but I also think it is important to accept the access to all business resources, such as software 
possibility of future disasters that will shock businesses applications, databases, and communications systems 
again. We can start now, during this time of over the internet. This is not something that can be 
unprecedented vulnerability, to take steps to safeguard achieved overnight, and businesses that still utilize 
our future and our livelihoods. legacy applications and systems are being impacted 
the most. Without physical resources, operations are 
The continuity of operations in the short term is one of 
being suspended with no support for customers and 
the biggest challenges businesses are facing, but there 
employees during the pandemic lockdown.   
is an opportunity to learn from this event— to focus on 
re-inventing businesses so that they may become On the flip-side, organizations that are completely 
more resilient against disruptive events long term. digital and run their entire operations in the cloud have 
the flexibility to mobilize their workforce and continue 
COVID-19 has impacted businesses differently. Some 
business operations. 
have lost their entire revenue streams, while others 
have experienced an unprecedented surge in demand. Business communication is arguably one of the most 
Both of these outcomes are devastating to businesses. important factors for business continuity. Without 
Abnormal surge in demand can bring down websites receiving customer inquiries, there will be no sales, and 
and fill up contact queues that become impossible to customers will not get support if they cannot contact 
manage, overwhelming workforces by leaving no businesses. To ensure business continuity, 
bandwidth to support customer demands. While a communication channels and systems must be 
surge in demand may seem like a good problem to preserved and accessible for employees who work 
have, the abnormal rate of increase is actually from home.
detrimental to business operations because it causes 
On Prem Telephone Systems? Oh No...
massive pressure and frustration for employees, as well 
as agony for customers who cannot be served. Traditional telephone systems connected to physical 
services from phone companies (analog telephone 
communication to improve collaboration between Employee Assistants) empower employees to work in a 
internal employees and connect with customers. On stress-free environment while enabling customers to 
the other hand, business operations must be continue receiving service. 
automated as much as possible for the sake of 
Head-to-Head Matchup: Legacy Call Center 
continuity of operations. Traditional methods of 
Versus Chatbot
contact such as telephone calls, fax, and email do not 
fit well at all into automation plans. Not to mention Let's compare a traditional call center scenario with live 
that traditional channels are not preferred by today's agents working from home with a modern 
consumers anyways. The need to adopt preferred conversational platform that utilizes chatbots.  
channels of communication, such as text messaging, 
social media, consumer messaging apps, and live chat, Human agents who work from home do not have 
is evident now more than ever. These contact channels access to the key call center tools such as call queue 
are also automation friendly and can be leveraged to boards and live onsite supervisors. Trying to deal with a 
keep business-customer communications going even storm of frustrated callers with minimal visibility and 
without workforce involvement. corporate support is a very stressful and daunting task. 
Business Automation and Conversational However, in a well-designed conversational platform 
Platforms Dramatically Increase Human scenario, a theoretically unlimited number of incoming 
Workforce Bandwidth inquiries can be taken and handled by chatbots with 
minimal or no human involvement required. 
When using messaging channels, customers do not 
have to wait in long queues for a chance to Virtual Customer Assistants—a type of chatbot—can 
communicate their needs. Messages can be effortlessly handle multiple channels of customer contact, 
communicated in real time. Automated systems including websites, mobile apps, social networks, 
equipped with natural language processing can messaging applications, phone trees, text messages, 
intercept message inquiries and categorize them based kiosks and more, to provide a consistent level of 
on customer intention, then distribute them to the customer service. Customers receive the same 
appropriate departments. In addition, live agents can real-time support experience whether they initiate 
handle written messages a lot faster than telephone contact via telephone call, mobile app, or 
calls with less pressure to handle customer inquiries. Facebook Messenger. 
Even better, Conversational platforms with Natural Hybrid Environments Provide Flexibility
Language Understanding and Intent-Matching During a crisis such as COVID-19, callers and website 
capabilities can conduct natural conversations with visitors can be instructed to engage with businesses 
humans to understand their needs. These systems can using alternate contact channels instead, like text 
be trained to provide services, execute tasks, and take messaging and website live chat. Customers receive 
actions on behalf of customers. Note that automated the real-time support from an automated system that 
systems handle customer inquiries in real time with no does not get tired, does not need to take breaks, does 
human help. This is huge for businesses that not get sick, and can handle a large load of inquiries. 
desperately need a digital upgrade, especially in this 
time of global crisis.  On Prem Legacy Software Applications? Oh No...
Automation and conversational platforms like VCAs It's part of human nature. When times are good, we 
(Virtual Customer Assistants) and VEAs (Virtual tend to procrastinate and prioritize our actions, putting 
key business decisions on the backburner. Although morph into a meal kit service or food delivery service. 
migration from antiquated software applications to Now, to make this transition quickly, the restaurant 
modern cloud-based services seems obvious, many should have invested in technologies and relationships 
businesses have played the waiting game to avoid the like messaging apps, social media, food delivery 
short-term hassle of making changes. But services, etc. 
procrastination has come with a heavy price, as 
Business automation and technologies such as 
operations halt during the COVID-19 lockdown. 
conversational platforms and chatbots make 
Organizations must consider upgrading business businesses more resilient, allowing them to support 
software applications and running their entire different business models. 
operation in the cloud to provide their workforce 
When the Dust Settles, New Battles Emerge
access to business tools from anywhere using any 
internet-connected device.   It's impossible to perfectly predict the next cataclysmic 
event, but it's inevitable that things will happen from 
Software applications hosted on cloud platforms time to time which impact power, telephone service, 
provided by Amazon, Microsoft, Google and others internet, etc. Businesses must support a variety of 
can automatically scale up and down as load increases communication channels to ensure resilience against 
and decreases. This feature optimizes the cost of these unforeseen challenges.  
hosting applications while ensuring application 
availability during massive surges in demand. Just decades ago, advanced technologies cost millions 
of dollars to acquire, customize, and deploy even for 
As part of the overall digital transformation, businesses small businesses. Thanks to the affordability of modern 
and organizations need to develop and organize their cloud-based technologies, businesses of all sizes can 
knowledge base and upgrade their business take advantage of amazing tools such as 
management applications to modern cloud-based conversational platformers, artificial intelligence, and 
software with integration capabilities. The viability of machine learning to optimize and transform the way 
deploying conversational platforms hinges on the they do business—ready to weather even the biggest 
digital readiness of an organization. A digital business challenges that lie ahead. 
is more resilient, more flexible, and more available. A How Is Your Business Coping with COVID-19? If your 
digital business can easily and swiftly morph to business operation has shut down and business 
support new business models. communications have failed during this crisis, then it's 
time for a digital transformation.   
Changing Business Models in a Time of Crisis 
Take the next step by scheduling a consultation session 
The ability to change business models when needed with a Zebyl expert. We’ll discuss the technology and 
adds a layer of shock absorbency to a business. When strategies available to help get your business back on 
one door closes, a window opens and new its feet. 
opportunities are created in the time of crisis. But it 
requires readiness and flexibility to adjust to and take Author: Pejman Rajabian 
March 2020
advantage of these opportunities. A dine-in restaurant 
may be on the verge of going out of business during 
the COVID-19 lockdown. But as owners try to find ways 
to keep the staff employed and save the restaurant, 
they might decide to change their business model and