The sudden onset of COVID-19 in early 2020 drastically altered workplace dynamics, forcing nonessential organizations to establish work-from-home environments almost overnight. This shift in how we worked dramatically impacted businesses, leading to many temporary and permanent closures. Four years later the pandemic’s full impact is still being calculated, but preliminary numbers show:

• In May 2020, one-third of small businesses were closed.
• In 2020, 41.3% of businesses reported being temporarily closed due to COVID-19.
• In Q2 2020, nearly 1.2 million jobs were lost due to business closures.

For many organizations, technology played a critical role in remaining operational during the pandemic. FluentStream’s cloud-based phone services, such as calling, conferencing, remote system administration, and call analytics, enabled our customers to quickly transition from on-premises to remote work environments, and communicate seamlessly with coworkers and customers while working from home. Unfortunately, some organizations that had the ability to operate remotely struggled to transition their businesses and employees in a timely manner, which caused disruptions in productivity and customer service.

Strategic Partnership Keeps Businesses Connected

This was not the case for BroadAspect’s voice customers. Just as COVID-19 began impacting business and social structures, BroadAspect, a provider of managed IT, cloud, and network services, formalized a strategic partnership with FluentStream. The agreement included transferring BroadAspect’s business voice customers to FluentStream’s cloud communications platform.

The timing of this partnership was serendipitous, as BroadAspect provided phone service to businesses only at their office locations, which would have hindered customers’ ability to quickly establish remote work environments. Through this strategic partnership, BroadAspect customers were swiftly transitioned to FluentStream’s cloud communication platform, enabling them to remain operational during a time when many organizations were struggling to navigate how to operate remotely.

Four years later, FluentStream continues to deliver high satisfaction, demonstrating the partnership’s long-term success. 

“Our partnership with FluentStream has proven very effective in providing modern business communication services that offer reliability and flexibility in ways that meet the needs of organizations post-pandemic,” said Chris Chamberlain, CEO, BroadAspect. “Having a great relationship with FluentStream enables us to focus on expanding our Washington DC fiber optic network and managed IT services while knowing that our customers will receive outstanding support for voice services from FluentStream.”

Remote Work is Here to Stay

During the pandemic, FluentStream helped thousands of businesses remain operational with its business phone services. Today, more than 90% of its customers rely on its self-service web portal and mobile app to enable work-from-anywhere features. As organizations determine the best work environment for their employees and customers, remote work has carved out a permanent space in corporate culture.

The rise in remote work is expected to continue, with a significant increase in adoption:

• 22% of American workers will be remote by next year.
• 41% of U.S. workers work remotely at least part-time.
• 58% of white-collar workers prefer to work remotely at least three days a week.
• 42% would take a 10% pay cut to have the flexibility to work remotely.

FluentStream’s business phone services provide organizations with the flexibility to determine their work environment based on their unique needs. Offering more than 100 cloud-based services and 24/7/365 customer support, FluentStream continues to serve its customers’ evolving needs. To learn more about BroadAspect’s partnership with FluentStream, visit here. To learn more about FluentStream’s features that enable teams to work from anywhere, visit here.