Caribbean Business Reports

Flow Jamaica has implemented additional measures to safeguard its staff and customers amid increasing coronavirus cases in the island.  

Flow also engaged in a one-day work-from-home trial across all its non-customer facing team and office locations on Monday, March 16. The exercise tested the company’s processes, performance and ability to support the highest level of service for customers if “work-from-home” and social distancing measures continue for an extended period. 

However, Flow continues to deliver what is considered essential services to the public. Therefore, its retail stores, Contact Centre and technical departments will remain operational with adjustments made for the evolving situation as needed. The telecoms firm has also implemented social distancing measures to protect its employees.

Country Manager, Stephen Price, said “We are taking a number of proactive steps to protect the well-being of our employees and their families, our customers, our networks and our business,” 

The new procedures follow Flow’s COVID-19 preparedness and response after one of its technicians was quarantined while four others were in self-isolation. To date, none has displayed symptoms of the flu or COVID-19, but all are still under the company’s policy of a mandatory 14-day isolation period. 

“With the ongoing COVID-19 situation, we all have a collective responsibility to help the public and the authorities to reduce the spread of the virus. This has renewed our drive to continue delivering services in a manner that is sensitive to the needs of our community. It has pushed us to creatively adjust our operations to ensure continuity in any event,” Price continued.

Already, Flow has implemented several measures for the protection of its teams and its customers. These include:

Retail

• Restriction on the number of persons in the store at any given time;
• All locations outfitted with sanitising stations
• Flow team members, including Flow’s Mobile and Recharge teams, will be outfitted with the appropriate Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and will continue to offer services as per usual until further notice.
• Customers and other visitors who display symptoms of illness will be courteously directed to other methods for accessing bill payment channels and customer services.
• Flow customers can continue to top-up, check balances and pay their bills online using the My Flow mobile app, the company’s website at www.discoverflow.com, by calling its contact centre at 100 via a Flow phone (mobile and fixed) or 1-800-804-2994 as well as through online banking methods.

A further precautionary measure includes the temporary suspension of customer service operations at its Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) booth. The kiosk remains open and will be frequently sanitised. Additional measures will also be implemented at locations in and around popular tourist destinations.

Technical

• Effective immediately, Flow’s technical team will conduct an initial assessment during appointment scheduling. 
• All technical team members will be outfitted with PPE and will conduct further safety assessments before residential visits.
• Alternate arrangements including remote troubleshooting will be conducted to serve customers who may be displaced by the protective measures.

Through its C&W Business brand, the company is now working to support other organisations which may require that their teams work from home and has also ramped up its network monitoring to prepare for the expected additional broadband demand.