As Latin America turns to teleworking, tech firms see profits and challenges

With the spread of coronavirus in Latin America, companies such as mining giants Vale and Codelco are turning to teleworking to ensure continuity of operations, which means that tech firms providing remote work equipment, services and solutions are in demand. 

Brazil’s Vale said it has told 1,800 employees to work from home, and Chile's Codelco implemented teleworking in all administrative units of its divisions. Turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa put around 200 employees in Brazil under the home office regime, including contractors, and the Siemens group has adopted similar guidelines for offices in Argentina, Chile and Peru.

“It’s not that we're expecting that or rooting for it, but these crises end up accelerating our market,” says Pierre Rodriguez, head of Latin America and the Caribbean at teleworking solutions provider Poly/Plantronics, which operates in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Argentina. 

“The employee can't travel, schools are going to close, the employee will have to stay at home. Companies come to us: ‘I need to quickly enable the home office for my employees’. That's where we come in.”

Home Office Management (HOM), a company specializing in remote management software and programs for working from home, reported 50% growth in contracts signed year-to-date.

The problem is that this sudden move to have everyone work remotely can put a strain on networks, as well as on IT and security teams, which suddenly need to support a large number of employees working on devices outside the company. 

As BNamericas previously reported, Latin America telcos are reinforcing their networks to handle a surge in internet demand and grant extra capacity and data usage to clients. 

Meanwhile, Cisco is expanding the offering of its Webex system, extending free licenses and offering extra use at no additional cost for three of its main security solutions. 

Telefônica Brasil is leasing laptops, tablets and desktops with insurance and maintenance services through its Vivo Tech unit so that employees can have mobility for remote work.

But the coronavirus crisis represents the greatest challenge for the call center industry, which traditionally gathers hundreds and sometimes thousands of agents in the same space.

In Brazil, the segment is having to balance health and security concerns with maintaining critical services and support for millions of citizens.

The Sercom group, a Brazilian call center company that employs about 8,000 people, announced that employees over 60 years old will take early vacations.

If necessary, the company said it will implement IVRs and digital agents to answer phone calls and – for calls that are not made by intelligence systems – small groups will be set up in isolated and sanitized areas.

Unified communications provider Nice Solutions announced it is offering its native cloud solution, CXone @ home, free for 45 days to help firms transitioning from contact centers to the home office model in a few days.