Avaya offers its customers, including Raya, a 90-day free use of technologies that allow employees to work remotely Several telecommunication companies have taken preventive measures to counter the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), mainly stop using fingerprint-scanning for employees and making remote working an option to avoid the spread of the virus. Raya Contact Center, which specialises in outsourcing such customer services, has announced that all employees in the company's call centres can work remotely. "It is necessary that communication centre services continue while also ensuring employee safety as they provide services to major regional and international institutions," said Yasser Sharaf, Director of Information Technology at Raya. “Avaya has provided successful proactive steps to ensure the continuity of our business and provide innovative solutions without any additional costs, which helped the company get the best benefit by converting a large part of the team to the remote work model,” he added. Avaya, multinational technology company, is keen on supporting its customers to maintain their workflow in line with preventive measures against the spread of the Coronavirus, and has announced that starting Monday, it offers its customers a 90-day free use of technologies that allow employees to work remotely. Nedal Abo Latif, President of Avaya in Europe, Asia and Africa, said, "In light of the global challenges faced by the business due to preventive measures limiting the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the company has expanded the range of advanced technologies and, so far, has provided remote working techniques to about 150,000 employees of customer service." Similarly, Uber, American multinational ride-hailing company, said it has taken a number of preventive measures to counter the Coronavirus. It has decided to close its technical support centres in Egypt. “Based on the guidance of the public health authorities, we aim to help reduce the spread of the Coronavirus in the cities we serve. Because we always work to maintain the safety and health of drivers, as well as support service providers who assist them daily, we have decided to temporarily close support centres in Egypt to avoid rallies. We are aware that this may create challenges for drivers and therefore we are working to expand support options on our application.” Uber added that the company has dedicated a global team, which works according to the guidance provided by experts in the field of public health, to respond in a way that suits the conditions of each of the markets where it operates around the world. “We will remain in close contact with local public health organizations and we will continue to follow their guidelines to help reduce the spread of the Coronavirus,” it added. Moreover, Egypt Post began to take preventive measures to counter the Coronavirus, as instructions were given to the authority's employees to wear face masks. The authority also took a number of preventive precautions to prevent the spread of the new Coronavirus, and these measures include taking care of cleaning the branches and offices with sterilisers periodically. The authority urged its employees to take care of personal hygiene and cleanse hands with sterilisers, while granting leave to workers who have cold symptoms. On the other hand, a number of telecommunications companies have taken preventive measures, as Orange Egypt announced that it follows the occupational safety and health standards issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization, and Orange International for the prevention of the emerging corona virus. The company added that it has recently started taking a series of effective preventive and precautionary steps to reduce and prevent the spread of the disease by installing hand sanitiser dispensers at the company's headquarters and in all its buildings so that employees can use it continuously to reduce the risk of infection. The company also sterilises all surfaces, bathrooms, and elevators in all the company's headquarters periodically, in addition to providing adequate ventilation during official working hours, according to the statement. Orange International has also instructed its employees to stop business trips abroad and limit domestic flights until the end of March as a precautionary measure. The company asked all its employees to follow the necessary preventive instructions in their daily lives through the internal newsletter that was sent to them and includes all health safety steps to prevent and reduce injury and disease spread. The company will also organise awareness and educational lectures for the company's employees in cooperation with an international company for disease prevention. Mobile operator giant Vodafone also took measures against COVID-19, including stopping travel to places with confirmed cases of the virus. The company has decided not to participate in any conferences or meetings in places with declared infections. It also launched awareness campaigns among employees about how to prevent the virus while encouraging employees to work from home if they have any cold symptoms. The company also asked its employees to wear masks in outlets, airports and, tourist areas (due to the presence of passengers of multiple nationalities). Telecom Egypt also took a number of preventive measures to deal with the Coronavirus, and according to the preventive measures, the company stopped the use of electronic fingerprint devices and replaced them with the manual signature of attendance and departure. The company also directed its employees to avoid, as much as possible, staying in close proximity to anyone showing symptoms of respiratory diseases such as coughing or sneezing. It also advised them to cover their mouths and noses with tissues when sneezing, then wash hands properly. It has also directed the concerned staff to maintain clean toilets and offer medical care for anyone who has symptoms that look like the Coronavirus.
