Talk

Caring for customer service agents amidst the pandemic

“Working during the pandemic is so risky.  But it’s worse if we just stay at home and there’s no food to eat.  My house is so far from my work.  There’s no jeep so I have to walk.  Thankfully, during the ECQ (enhanced community quarantine), the company offered to house us so we can still work and have a salary.  And the company provided us allowances and hazard pay and free meals.  I am content but worried,” narrated Fatima Perido, an employee of a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) unit in Cebu City who works as a Globe customer service representative. Fatima, like many call center agents, continues to brave the threat of the virus in order to survive and feed her family.  But despite her difficult circumstances, other call center agents have it worse.  The challenges that COVID-19 brought has prompted some of Globe’s BPO partners to close or limit their operations, drastically cutting down to less than 40% the manpower supporting Globe’s customer operations for both its hotline and

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Former HSBC Head of Mortgages Backs Philippines’ First Mortgage Broker, Nook

Former HSBC Head of Mortgages, Steve Martinelli, has backed fintech, Nook, the Philippines’ first mortgage broking firm. He joins other top banking executives along with Australian entrepreneur, Chris Elder, as the group capitalizes on the growing yet underserved markets of South East Asia. As an emerging market, the Philippines has one of the highest GDP growth rates in the region and strong residential real estate loans growth which makes it the ideal location for the firm to expand from. The fintech has already tapped some of the biggest banks in the country for its lending panel as it moves fast to capture market share and change the way the country applies for home loans.  According to a survey done by New Perspective Media Group in 2019, property assets remain the top investment choice for most Filipinos who are still considering property as an investment in the country, specifically in locations such as Metro Manila, and outer areas such as Cavite and Laguna. Commenting on th

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Synology Announces C2 Expansion into North America

Synology Inc. today announced the launch of a new data center in Seattle for its cloud backup service Synology C2. The data center is the second location to offer C2 services with the first operating from Frankfurt. The expansion extends the reach of Synology C2 service to markets in America and Asia, offering new subscribers the choice of where to host their data. "Augmenting on-premises data security with cloud-based backup is a growing trend among personal and business users alike. The new data center in Seattle allows us to provide a more efficient and localized experience to customers in the Americas and Asia," said Hewitt Lee, Director of Synology Product Management Group. Synology C2 is designed to provide owners of Synology products a secure way to back up their data in the cloud. C2 users now have the option to host their data in Frankfurt or Seattle, with each site independently compliant with local regulations and laws. "Over the past two years, Synology C2 usage has grow

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STATEMENT OF ABS-CBN PRESIDENT AND CEO CARLO KATIGBAK

We are deeply hurt that the Committee on Legislative Franchises has denied the franchise application of ABS-CBN. We believe that we have been rendering service that is meaningful and valuable to the Filipino public. Nevertheless, we would like to thank the Committee for allowing us a chance to air our side on all the issues raised against us. ABS-CBN would like to thank all the congressmen who stood by their bills to renew our franchise, or who spoke out on our behalf during the hearings. We are forever grateful.   We also thank everyone who expressed their support and offered their prayers for us.  We could not have gotten to this point without you. We remain committed to public service, and we hope to find other ways to achieve our mission.  Together with our employees and our audiences all over the world, we share in your sadness over this setback.  We look forward to the day when we can again reunite under our broadcast.  Mga Kapamilya, thank you for keeping the faith with us.

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Globe Business and Zscaler team up to strengthen PH cybersecurity

In this day and age, cybersecurity has become a necessity more than a competitive advantage. The introduction of remote work, constant use of collaboration tools, digitization of personal records, mainstreaming of digital payments, and the daily exchange of company and customer data over the internet are only some of the factors that should make cybersecurity a priority for organizations across the Philippines. In line with this, Globe Business joined the Zscaler Summit Partner Program to help companies drive their digital transformation, as business activities take a dramatic shift online. The Zscaler cloud platform is the largest cloud security platform in the world, processing more than 100 billion transactions and detecting about 100 million threats per day from users across 185 countries. Zscaler serves nearly 4,000 customers across all major industries, including over 400 of the Forbes Global 2000 companies. “With the volatility of business environments, the complexity of appl

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How COVID-19 shows that technology is critical to getting SMEs back on track

The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly demonstrated the critical role that technology plays both as an operations player and for business continuity purposes. SAP Philippines Managing Director Edler Panlilio said the global health crisis changed how businesses operate as employees, customers, and organizations adjust to a new way of working such as working from home, transacting via online or virtual channels, as well as being able to manage business operations remotely. “These quarantine guidelines demonstrated how technology continues to play an important role in supporting business continuity. Organizations now rely more on digital tools and platforms to move labor-oriented practices into more automated and technology-oriented processes," said Panlilio. Technological advancements, on the other hand, will, most likely, continue to grow in significance even after the government eventually lifts quarantine guidelines, Panlilio noted. He also encourages local Small and Medium-sized Enter

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ABS-CBN MAINTAINS BROADCAST ON ABS-CBN TVPLUS NOT COVERED BY NTC’S CDO

ABS-CBN president and CEO Carlo Katigbak appealed to Congress for due process as the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) stated it will issue a cease and desist order (CDO) on the broadcast of ABS-CBN programs on channel 43 frequency at the House panel hearing on ABS-CBN’s franchise resumed today, June 29.   Explaining the continued broadcast on ABS-CBN TVplus, Katigbak said the company entered into a blocktime agreement with AMCARA Broadcasting Network Inc., maintaining that such practice is “a standard commercial agreement” and that other broadcasters have gone into similar arrangements. He also pointed out that the CDO issued by the NTC to ABS-CBN did not indicate channel 43. When asked if the network would comply should the NTC issue a CDO, he appealed that due process be accorded to it the same way that Congress gave to other companies with expired franchise and pending renewal in congress. “’Yung hinihingi po lang namin is to make sure that we are given due process,

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Typhoons, Volcanic Eruptions and Pandemics: Natural Disasters Push Philippine Security Concerns to Highest in World - 2020 Unisy

New research from Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) reveals that in 2020 the Philippine public’s concern about security has increased, with concern about personal security and natural disasters increasing the most, according to the new 2020 Unisys Security Index. The Unisys Security Index measures concerns of consumers on issues related to national, personal, financial and internet security and is the longest-running snapshot of consumer security concerns conducted globally. The overall measure of security concerns of the Philippine public is 238 out of 300, remaining the highest of the 15 countries polled in the survey and up from 234 in 2019. Top Concerns in 2020: Natural Disasters, Identity Theft and Personal Security In 2020, the top concern for Filipinos is a natural disaster such as floods, typhoons, volcanic eruptions or epidemics with 93% of Filipinos seriously concerned about this issue, up from 89% in 2019. Concern about personal safety in the next six months recorded the gre

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SKYCABLE AND SKY FIBER CONTINUE TO OPERATE

SKY Cable Corporation today said that its SKYcable and SKY Fiber services continue to operate and serve its subscribers nationwide, as they are not covered by the cease and desist order issued by the National Telecommunications Commission. “We wish to reiterate our assurance to our cable and broadband subscribers that they will continue to enjoy our services,” James Dumlao, SKY head of Programming said. The company issued the clarification as confusion arose among subscribers as news of the National Telecommunications Commission’s issuance of a cease and desist order stopping the operations of its direct broadcast satellite service, SKYdirect, spread. In a statement, SKY appealed to the NTC “to extend the same privilege given in the past to other companies whose franchises have expired but are currently pending in Congress to continue its operations until a resolution is passed.” SKY also assured its subscribers that it will seek available legal remedies so that it could bring back

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Globe myBusiness teams up with international LMS providers to boost digital learning efforts in local schools

The global pandemic has encouraged many industries to adjust and find ways to thrive in the new normal. In the education sector, institutions are expected to explore new ways of learning while maintaining social distancing guidelines. Earlier this month, the national government announced that face-to-face classes will be postponed until a COVID-19 vaccine is developed. The Department of Education said that the while preparing schools for “a different setup” is a challenge, the Department is readying the resumption of school operations based on their Basic Education — Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP) which would affect almost the entire education infrastructure in the country — from the DepEd Central Office down to the school level. Meanwhile, the Commission on Higher Education shared that they are working with the Department of Health to draft guidelines on health protocols when classes resume. “With the threat of COVID-19, schools and universities are seeing additional pressure to

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