Maintaining business continuity during a cyber attack

  • Uncategorized
Maintaining business continuity during a cyber attack

Ensuring Business Continuity During Cyber Attacks

In today's digital world, cyber attacks are a looming threat. The white paper "Maintaining Business Continuity During a Cyber Attack" offers crucial strategies to help businesses stay resilient as well as an hour by hour example of what happens when a cyber attack hits. Here’s a brief overview:

  1. Preparation:
    • Conduct regular risk assessments.
    • Develop a detailed incident response plan.
    • Ensure secure and frequent data backups.
  2. Response:
    • Contain affected systems immediately.
    • Communicate transparently with stakeholders.
    • Restore systems using backups promptly.
  3. Resilience:
    • Train employees regularly on cyber threat awareness.
    • Continuously update security measures and response plans.

By following these steps, businesses can effectively manage cyber attacks and maintain operational continuity. Read in full below:



Written by
Harris

Royal Windsor Flower Show 2024 - "Alan Titchmarsh's favourite show!"

  • Uncategorized
Royal Windsor Flower Show 2024 -

In the recent Country Life Magazine, gardening legend Alan Titchmarsh, said of the Royal Windsor Flower Show “Here is a show that radiates good will and good gardening… other flower shows could learn a lot from this small but beautifully formed treasure”

The Royal Windsor Flower Show 2024, held on June 6th in the picturesque grounds of Windsor Great Park, once again captivated garden enthusiasts and casual visitors alike. This prestigious event, a highlight in the horticultural calendar, showcased an array of stunning floral displays, innovative garden designs, and a variety of gardening workshops, cementing its reputation as one of the foremost flower shows in the United Kingdom.

Among the standout exhibits was the "Eco Garden," which won the coveted Best in Show award. Designed by renowned landscape architect Jessica Green, this garden seamlessly blended aesthetic beauty with practical sustainability. Key features included a living green wall, a solar-powered water feature, and a vibrant array of native plants that support local biodiversity.

Educational opportunities abounded at the show, with a rich program of talks and demonstrations from leading horticulturists. Topics ranged from composting and pest control to the latest trends in garden design. The children’s zone offered engaging activities for young budding gardeners, including planting workshops and nature crafts, ensuring the show was a family-friendly event.

In keeping with tradition, the show was attended by members of the Royal Family, underscoring the event's prestigious heritage. Their presence added a touch of royal splendour, delighting the crowds and highlighting the show's significance in promoting gardening excellence. Other VIP guests included Mary Berry, Angelica Bell and Nation’s favourite Alan Titchmarsh.

ComXo have been the principle sponsor of the The Royal Windsor Flower Show for over 15 years and have been instrumental in its transition into one of the nations favourite flower shows.  From a commitment to our local community sponsorship of the show enables a considerable education program in local primary schools which this year saw over 1000 children’s entries in the competition classes.

This years show was not just a feast for the eyes but also a celebration of innovation and sustainability in horticulture. It left attendees inspired and equipped with new ideas to enhance their own gardens, ensuring that the legacy of this cherished event continues to flourish.

Written by
Harris

Is your reception too busy to say hello?

  • Uncategorized
Is your reception too busy to say hello?

In a bustling law firm, the reception area is the first point of contact for clients, visitors, and staff. Receptionists are the face of the firm, responsible for creating a positive first impression. However, when they're swamped with multiple tasks, it can be overwhelming for both them and the firm.

With Firms changing structures to incorporate hybrid working and other strategies, 64% of managers said that employees are given additional responsibilities in their roles. What knock on effect does this create? Stress and burnout causes sickness creating understaffed or inexperienced reception leading to disruption for clients.

Increased Stress and Burnout

Receptionists often have to answer phones, manage appointments, handle admin tasks, and greet clients all at once. This constant juggling act can lead to stress and burnout. Trying to excel in each role can be mentally and physically draining, affecting their overall well-being.

Multitasking makes it tough for receptionists to focus on each task effectively, which can lead to mistakes and oversights. With their attention split, they might struggle to give each responsibility the necessary attention, resulting in errors and reduced productivity.

Decreased Service Quality

When receptionists are pulled in various directions, they might not be able to give clients the attention they deserve, leading to dissatisfaction. Clients who feel neglected may question the firm's commitment to their needs and might look elsewhere, impacting the firm's reputation and client retention.

An excessive workload can make it hard for receptionists to respond promptly to client inquiries, affecting the firm's professional image. Clients expect timely communication, and delays can be seen as unprofessional, leading to frustration and potentially damaging the firm's reputation. "And for future law firms and their lawyers, the onus for satisfying the client’s requests will continue to lie with them, and that how services are delivered rather than service itself, will become the focus." With clients having rising expectations and lessening loyalty as referenced in Legal500,  a dip in the quality of service from reception could trigger a departure to a competitor and a big financial impact to the firm.

Negative Impact on Staff Morale

Being overloaded with diverse tasks can make receptionists feel undervalued and overwhelmed, decreasing morale and job satisfaction. When staff feel overwhelmed, their motivation and enthusiasm for work decline, leading to decreased productivity and higher turnover rates.

Constant multitasking can make it challenging for receptionists to develop specialised skills or advance their careers within the firm. Without the chance to focus on specific areas, they may feel stagnant and frustrated, lacking motivation to excel in their current roles.

Potential for Errors and Disorganisation

Managing multiple roles can result in conflicting priorities, causing disorganisation and confusion. Receptionists might struggle to decide which tasks to prioritise, leading to unclear workflows and potential bottlenecks in the firm's operations.

Increased workload and divided attention can elevate the chances of errors in managing client information and scheduling. Receptionists are crucial in maintaining accurate records and smooth operations, but being overwhelmed with tasks increases the risk of mistakes, which can have serious consequences.

Outsourcing as a Solution

Outsourcing certain reception responsibilities to specialised service providers can help alleviate the burden of multiple tasks. Delegating specific duties like call handling, booking reservations, and managing escalations to external professionals allows in-house receptionists to focus on personalised client service and in-person interactions. This approach not only reduces their workload but also ensures that each task receives dedicated attention from experts. Additionally, outsourcing can offer cost-effective solutions and flexibility in managing fluctuating workloads, enhancing overall efficiency and client satisfaction.

Written by
Harris

Why 9-5 is a thing of the past: the real cost of after-hours voicemail.

  • Outsourcing
  • The Office
Why 9-5 is a thing of the past: the real cost of after-hours voicemail.

The traditional nine-to-five is becoming an “antiquated relic from the past”, according to Forbes. Statutory changes will mean that, from April 2024, workers will have more power to request flexible working allowances from their employer, while the majority of firms that participated in the UK’s four-day week trial have since made the policy permanent. The pandemic has also contributed to a growing expectation for service providers be reachable outside of normal office hours.

Many senior lawyers will likely already know that the working day rarely ends at 5pm sharp, and the line between office hours and downtime is often blurred by the use of Microsoft Teams, email, company WhatsApp groups and other communication channels. But for many firms, important calls (including new business enquiries) continue to come in outside office hours – and our research has recently found that many Top 250 firms still rely on voicemail to handle them.

With generational attitudes to voicemail messages changing, and the legal landscape more competitive than ever, are answerphones, receptionists or in-house switchboards enough to ensure your customers receive an outstanding experience? Here’s why we think that 2024 should be the year that law firms rethink their switchboard solution to keep up with evolving customer needs.

When did you last leave a voicemail?

There’s a common belief that people under the age of 35 strongly dislike using voicemail, and will avoid doing so wherever possible. But it might not only be millennials who have turned their back on voicemail – our in-house research suggests that as many as 60% of people don’t leave a message if the person they’re calling doesn’t pick up the phone.


This can be a problem for law firms. Up to 6% of new business enquiries are made after-hours, and if they end with a voicemail prompt, chances are the caller will pick up the phone to a competitor instead.


This means losing out on an opportunity before you’ve even had the chance to follow it up – which is not ideal for your marketing ROI.

Voicemail doesn’t provide much data

Have you ever found yourself thinking, “This firm doesn’t get that many out-of-hours calls?”.

This is traditional thinking amongst many firms that aren’t using an external switchboard supplier to gather call data. It may sound obvious, but if calls coming in outside of regular business hours aren’t being picked up, they’re probably not being recorded either – meaning that the data is skewed towards the belief that most callers stick to the 9-5.

In a post-pandemic world, customers are more likely than ever to expect longer business hours, or even round-the-clock communication. Outsourced switchboards that pick up calls 24/7 — and capture analytics data – will be able to give you a clearer picture of who’s really calling you when you’re not able to get to the phone (as well as making sure your out-of-hours new business calls don’t go to a competitor instead).

What's the alternative?

There are increasing opportunities within organisations to employ alternative communications options, but not every call can – or should – be a webchat.

“Over the past 12 months, the availability of powerful generative AI tools, especially large language models (LLMs) that can parse and respond to unstructured text or speech, has opened new possibilities for technology in customer care”, according to McKinsey.

Before you commit to an AI solution for customer care, the same article states that “Gen Z customers are 30 to 40 percent more likely to call than millennials, and use the phone as often as baby boomers.”

This paints a more complex picture of the future. With more communications channels available than ever, many of us prefer to use quicker, less personal channels, like email, text, AI assistants or self-serve portals.

But this only holds true when we have to do something small – like pay a bill, chase up a non-urgent enquiry, or request a copy of a document. As seamless as self-service can be, most people still pick up the phone for urgent, complex, difficult or personal issues – and for the legal industry, these kinds of call are the ones that matter most.

Customer experience relies on difficult, sensitive or unusual calls being handled expertly and empathetically, and clients will almost always prefer to phone up and speak to a real person. They won’t try to deal with a difficult situation via email or webchat, and they certainly won’t feel grateful if their call is met with a dial-tone or a perfunctory voicemail message.

However, outsourcing your switchboard to a trusted supplier ensures that your firm is available around the clock. Suppliers such as ComXo provide highly-trained, empathetic and multilingual staff, dedicated to confidently handling client calls with a personal, human touch.

The 9-5 doesn't reflect your clients' lives

Does your client – or a potential new client – have an employment law dispute to discuss? If so, they may not be able to call during normal office hours, when they may be in earshot of their colleagues or their manager. It’s more likely you’ll get a call just after 6pm, or perhaps before 9am, where small windows of time become increasingly important for clients to have a resolution to their call.

Likewise, callers with family-related enquiries may be more likely to contact you on their lunch break, when they have more privacy than the evening hours. For many firms, 12-2pm can be a blind spot in terms of telephone cover – your own staff will likely be taking lunch breaks during these hours, and your cover may not be at full capacity.

As an extra consideration for the marketing teams, being able to make the most of the new business opportunities that come from your marketing spend is crucial for your ROI – so it’s vital to understand why the cover provided by an in-house switchboard might not be meeting evolving customer needs.

One-call resolution is the ideal outcome for customer service

While the service industry has often relied on being reachable beyond traditional office hours, the pandemic has led to a growing sense of expectation that all kinds of companies should be more accessible. This may mean that customers have less patience with businesses that appear to be difficult to reach.

In a world where your gym is open 24/7, packages are delivered to your home late into the evening and most large businesses have customer service coverage outside of traditional hours, client communication expectations have clearly shifted.

For law firms – and especially larger law firms – there is a standard of professionalism to maintain. If customers are paying for premium legal support, they’ll also expect outstanding client communication. Ensuring you have the resources to meet those expectations could give you a competitive advantage, as our research shows that first-call resolution significantly enhances client experience and helps build deeper, longer-lasting relationships with your clients.

Looking for a flexible switchboard solution? Here’s how ComXo can help...

ComXo are industry-leaders in transformational switchboard and business support services, committed to redefining the switchboard for law firms. With a combination of technology and great people, we help you deliver exceptional experiences more flexibly, and maintain peak productivity as you adapt to the challenges of hybrid working.

Our 24-hour switchboard service lets you filter cold calls, triage calls according to urgency, direct enquiries to the right people or department, and meet growing customer expectations in a hybrid world.

Why not talk to our team about how we can support your firm.

Written by
Harris

National Telephonist Day 2024

  • Company Culture
  • The Office
National Telephonist Day 2024

After the fun and celebrations of National Telephonists’ Day this month, Huma, Operations Manager, shares why it’s such an important date in our ComXo calendar:

Working behind the scenes to keep the business world running, is no easy feat. It’s a job which requires resilience, empathy, patience and an abundance of personality!

It would be easy to assume that the role of a switchboard operator, is to answer calls and simply connect them through. Yet this assumption isn’t entirely accurate. ComXo’s switchboard answer over 700,000 calls each year; each of these calls is handled proficiently, professionally and seamlessly.

Our operators form the most vital part of the business; they are quite simply the gatekeepers tasked with ensuring that every single call delivers a valued outcome to the caller, the client and ComXo. So, it makes sense to celebrate these individuals, for whom the most important thing is to deliver such a service.

This celebration comes in the form of National Telephonists’ Day. A day to recognise and reward telephonists, for the importance of their role. For my team and I, it allows the opportunity to show our appreciation and spoil our staff – namely through an endless supply of food and drinks!

Held annually in March, National Telephonists’ Day, coincides with the anniversary of the very first telephone call made by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. With the first event being launched in 2014, it has since been celebrated by businesses across a wide range of sectors each year.

From breakfasts to hot drinks, raffle prizes and a charity car wash, massages and a pancake van, sweet station, games room and relaxation station, ComXo celebrations during NTD 2024 set the bar high. This was, in the words of one operator “the most superbly organised event in my 9 years working here”.

As a 24/7 business, the priority has always been to ensure our staff feel just as valued at 2am as they do at 2pm. This year as always, the office was the venue for an evening and night of food and games for those working on our out of hours teams. The low-key, less visible telephonists who diligently work in the background whilst we are tucked up asleep, can often be taken for granted. Their initiative and quick-thinking reaction on crisis escalations and high value calls, have to date, resulted in some of our greatest success stories. It’s for those very reasons, we raise our glasses and say thank you.

To all our operators, I speak on behalf of everyone when I say, you are exceptional. Your effortless handling of our switchboard calls has allowed us to be at the forefront of what we do. We are setting the standards high and paving the way for the next generation. We thank you and celebrate you, today and every day.

Huma Ghazanfar, Operations Manager
Written by
Harris

Ask Andrew – Why are we all so curious about ChatGPT?

  • Agile Working
  • Client Experience
  • Productivity
  • Solution
  • The Office
  • Virtual Meetings
Ask Andrew – Why are we all so curious about ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is new. It’s AI, but in a seemingly more accessible format than the ‘artificial intelligence’ of old – think of those strange prototype robots at corporate events that weren’t really helpful at pouring drinks but were certainly talking points.

Since November when it was launched, ChatGPT has already piqued interest in every sector and whilst it has been in our consciousness for just a few months, I suspect more has been written about its potential to transform or adversely destroy our norms, than any other topic since the invention of printing in the 14th century.

The big question is how it will affect our industry. Do we need to worry about it and what should we be doing to maximise the advantages that it may present?

Chat GPT is different.  No question about that.  I tried it out as soon as it was available back in November, and I had a similar epiphany to when I experimented with the internet back in 1995: “This is a game changer”.  But disruptive tech comes with its challenges. Here’s my thoughts on the risks, and potential rewards of using ChatGPT.

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is an LLM (Large Language Model, which is the term for generative tech that powers chatbots).  It’s simplicity is that it accesses data and then rationalises what appears to be insight from a culmination of data sets.  Data is interesting and on occasions enlightening but it lacks complexity and multi-dimension.  In contrast, the human brain is one of the most complex and extraordinary structures in our known universe. It uses electricity and chemicals (amongst other elements) to create conscious thought. According to google, our brain has more neuron connections than there are stars in our galaxy – sixty million or thereabouts. That surely cannot be replicated. 

And this is where the use of ChatGPT must be strategically planned and implemented.

The brain uses multiple data sources in decision making. Our left brains are logical and rational, right brains creative and emotional.  Human output and decision making is never determined just from data, no matter how rich the source. From my perspective ChatGPT is just surmised data. It is impressive in its speedy and prolific output, but don’t for a second believe it is ‘right’ - it is only reiterating data, and this is not necessarily factual.  ChatGPT is one dimensional. It is an automaton unable to triangulate data with emotion or that very human trait – feeling.  And for that reason, I cannot see it being trusted, and I’m not alone.

What does this mean for our industry?

If all is to be believed, the use of AI is growing exponentially, with benefits to productivity, efficiency, and client experience. So confident are some that this is the next tech revolution, predictions are being made that AI will raise annual global GDP by 7% (Goldman Sachs Research).

Whilst I agree that productivity and some automated processes could no doubt be enhanced in some areas, I challenge the concept that customer experience can be bettered when not using human experience, empathy and feeling.

In fact, if we take the legal industry at present, according to Reuters those in the legal profession “do not fully trust generative AI tools — and particularly the public-facing ChatGPT tool — with confidential client data.” (Reuters)

In service industries, where cases are often complex, high value or emotionally charged, can an organisation risk the loyalty and trust of their customers by putting them in the hands of artificial intelligence?

This leaves law firms in a situation where they are doubling down on client experience, and adding value at a human level, rather than risking tech in a bid to be innovative. My prediction for the future is that legal and consultancy will continue to help individuals and businesses navigate their world with the nuances and strategic insight that only experience can bring. What will likely disappear is the grunt work that they currently charge for, as AI will take over tackling document changes, policy writing and research.

At ComXo, we’re moving towards leveraging AI engines to help us analyse data patterns and enable our people to act quicker and more decisively, but we will not be replacing them.  Our industry is human at its core, and I believe its interactions will continue to be so too.

Andrew Try, Founder & Managing Director

Written by
Harris

Ask Andrew: Why does the office still matter?

  • Productivity
  • The Office
Ask Andrew: Why does the office still matter?

The office still matters in hybrid working. It offers workers identity and belonging.

Over the last 2 months I have been speaking to COO's, Managing partners, CFO's, Senior Partners and CEO's of some of the largest law firms in the UK and the world. I have hosted a round table with JLL's CEO AsiaPac Anthony Couse and CBRE's UK Head of Workplace, Kate Smith. I have explored their sentiments and this is what I have learned.

Saying the office is dead because you cannot get to it and can work from home is like saying the pub is dead because you can't get to it and can drink at home.

It turns out we don't go to a centralised workplace these days just to work, we go because they are great places to spend a day, comfortable, warm, light, functional, enabling, nurturing, inspiring, creative, friendly, fun, funny. They are places to gather and celebrate, places to bond and learn, places to flirt and meet partners, places to complain and bicker.

In short they are central to the human condition and living a fulfilled and interesting life. Work is just the reason they exist, but not the reason we need them.

Imagining a world where my workforce is still home based in the darkest days of February is not so inspiring, no matter the running costs we might be able to save.

No, I am of the opinion that this huge and successful experiment has shown us all that work is an agile and flexible reality but that job satisfaction comes from direct, rich and fulsome human interaction.

Andrew Try, Founder & Managing Director

Written by
Harris

Top Tips to protect your business during a cyber attack

  • Uncategorized
Top Tips to protect your business during a cyber attack

Following our experience and learnings gained in supporting a major Global law firm who were severely impacted by a cyber attack, here are 10 top tips how you can prevent an attack paralysing your business.

Protect your brand at all costs. Perception is reality

It is unacceptable for a customer focused firm to be unavailable for any length of time. Being able to demonstrate that regardless of the situation, you are open for business and capable of maintaining high service levels builds trust, customer loyalty and professional respect.

Enable your teams to focus on the crisis

When a crisis hits, you will require total focus, concentrated effort and coordinated teamwork to survive. Create space and mitigate risk by ring-fencing the front line experience. Triaging internal services, information updates and escalation requests engenders an atmosphere of uninterrupted calm and control, and puts you back on the front foot.

Provide a serviced virtual meeting place for stakeholders

Continuous communication is the single most important factor during a crisis. An easy-to-use voice conference room that can be accessed at any time is key. A managed audio conferencing service can facilitate requests to ensure agility and fluidity as the situation develops.

Keep your staff informed. Duty of care is essential

Defined, well-rehearsed communication channels minimise confusion and insecurity amongst stakeholders and staff. It is vital to have access to up-to-date stakeholder and staff contact lists for consistent communications (e.g. text, email, voice, hotline). These comms can be invoked through a managed service in the cloud.

Ensure access to your knowledge asset

Having an external switchboard provider that understands your processes could enable you to maintain access to key information and business services even during a crisis, ensuring ongoing efficiency and information flow.

Keep your IT help desk functioning 24/7

Minimising confusion as a crisis unfolds is vital. Getting and keeping key IT capability up and working is a pivotal step to achieve this. ensuring clear lines open to your IT help desk gives your workforce assurance that the situation is under control. Using a triage capability to answer calls and service requests; fact find, prioritise and escalate - enabling your own IT staff to focus on the higher level problems.

Provide your staff with the right tools for remote working

By providing alternative, company sanctioned and network independent communication tools, staff can stay productive rather than having to second guess the company's risk, security or compliance regime, A BYOD (bring-your-own-device) technology that's simple to use and allows easy billing will encourage staff to continue communicating.

Think global

For global corporates a cyber-attack could mean that all world-wide communication becomes disrupted. Do you have global resilience plan in place for communication? It is tested around your key risks and invoked on regular basis?

Create strong supply chain relationships

When a crisis hits, relationships with key operational suppliers become even more important. Maintaining strong connections with the right people in these organisations will help ensure your problem is prioritised. Share your BCP plans with your supply chain and include them in your scenario planning.

Protect new business opportunities

Industry statistics show that up to 55% of switchboard calls to professionals service firms are existing or new business calls. A crisis hits customer confidence and keeping lines open to answer questions, escalate requests or give advice will ensure your customers do not seek out new suppliers.

We are trusted by top Global firms to provide outsourced support, including crisis lines and helplines which can be initiated during a cyber attack. To learn more about our work, contact our consultants today.

Written by
Harris