Etisalat’s key priority during and post COVID-19 was to support the small and medium businesses (SMBs) in their digital transformation journey by becoming a one-stop solution provider that enabled them to deal with a single-player and kept them agile in their business, said Esam Mahmoud, Senior Vice President, SMB, Etisalat.
He shared these insights during a webinar on ‘Post COVID business recovery and growth in the virtual world’ organized by the National Bank of Fujairah. His session focused on dealing with business threats during 2021 and beyond, digitalization efforts that has transformed business planning and projection, and lessons learned during the pandemic.
Etisalat’s initiatives since last year were in line with the UAE efforts to ensure public health and safety, and were based on SMB requirements for virtual meetings, cloud video surveillance and analytics, data, monthly usage of voice minutes, device purchases, and postpaid plans.
“Today we are able to play a greater role in enabling digital capabilities in SMBs with the backbone of a robust and one of the most advanced, fastest and widest network in the region. SMBs today make up about 98 percent of businesses in the UAE, representing over 80 percent of the country’s GDP, therefore represent an important segment in Etisalat business.
“All our initiatives during the pandemic and in the new normal focused on delivering innovative solutions by introducing a comprehensive Business Edge platform that support their day to day business requirements across six pillars, namely smart connectivity, unified communications, office productivity, security and analytics, business devices, and digital marketing,” highlighted Mahmoud.
With the gradual opening of businesses, safety measures, thermal scanners and social distancing procedures were in place. Etisalat launched a temperature screening solution with multiple product types and a wide range of applications that made temperature measurement and screening effortless during these challenging times.
Etisalat’s Video Surveillance as a Service (VSAAS) offered enhanced security and enables them to benefit from the power of video and video analytics. Customers could choose from four Etisalat video surveillance packages, and had the one-time installation waived off.
To support the unprecedented demand for connectivity and help businesses stay connected, Etisalat launched a wide range of device bundles along with access to Etisalat’s unified communication and collaboration platform CloudTalk Meeting.
With a challenging retail environment, Etisalat provided an E-Store service bundled with a managed web solution for new and existing subscribers to transform businesses online and enable them to engage with their clients via Google My Business and Google Maps listing, website listing and website pages.
As some organizations began to reopen and others remained fully remote, small and medium-sized businesses faced a unique set of challenges to keep employees safe, connect with customers, and move work forward.
Etisalat provided SMB customers access to a Microsoft 365 Business Basic package that allowed up to 300 users and included Online Office apps, a 50GB mailbox, a 1TB OneDrive storage, and Microsoft Teams, helping businesses accomplish more and faster with simple file-sharing, real-time co-authoring, and online meetings – all accessible anywhere.
