Greetings to everyone!
In just a glimpse, we have entered 2021. 2020 has been nothing but an abundance of changes which has forced us to adapt. From changes in mobility, to communication and interactions, 2020 has been one of a kind in shaking the core of many businesses. COVID-19 brought fundamental changes to every individual in doing their jobs, conducting learning activities, communicating, and seeking information. With the newly permanent trend of working at home, shifting preferences and increased digital consumption and entertainment, technology has drastically adapted to these new trends and habits and the Qiscus team has been urged to follow suit.
Our respective departments were not spared from the stay-at-home trend as well. Since March 2020, we have been running the business online remotely from home. Nevertheless, as with previous years, the Qiscus team continuously aspires to do our best to fulfill expectations from many industries to provide excellent technological innovation. We do not compromise our mission to grow and develop so that we are able to bring the most relevant innovations to our consumers — even amidst the pandemic which ends up bringing fundamental changes to many business lines. Becoming a world-class technology company has shaped our vision-based work ethic and encouraged us to find the best solutions for solving our clients’ needs and problems.
Hybrid Work: Work From Home (WFH) Strategy ala Qiscus!
A month after Indonesia officially announced the first COVID-19 case in Indonesia, the government mandated that employment and school activities should be carried out from home. Obeying that regulation, Qiscus implemented a WFH policy that enabled teams to conduct all parts of the business online, without needing to hold face-to-face meetings. This shift certainly required extreme adaptation by all of our employees. Months after we implemented the WFH regulations, several employees raised complaints of cabin fever, which was expected after having to work in isolation for a prolonged period of time. Qiscus then adjusted the regulations by implementing a hybrid work policy to counter the problem. This program facilitated each team member to WFH or work from the office (WfO), applying. health protocol according to the government’s instructions where necessary.
To continue engaging our employees, we also conducted various online bonding activities regularly. “Employee Pulse” was one such program which enabled us to assess the Qiscus team’s physical and psychological conditions regularly every week. These bonding programs have been implemented well in Qiscus for the last eight months to keep our spirits and energy sustained. On top of that, we implemented many other in-house initiatives to keep the teams’ spirit going and to help them remain engaged.
Helping Businesses in 2020
As the pandemic progressed dynamically, Qiscus did not forget our mission of helping our clients and their businesses survive the economic hardship by providing solutions for digital transformation. By the end of 2020, Qiscus has helped hundreds of clients from 23 industries in 19 countries, with 13 various use cases. We also continued to expand our solutions in the retail sector, noting that industry players in this sector were most impacted than others.
Apart from our corporate solutions, Qiscus also contributed to compile real-time data of live COVID-19 cases through the Indonesia Bergerak project in the early stages of the pandemic. We collaborated with other startups including Volantis, Qlue, Kata.ai, Paket.id, Alodokter, Opsigo, Privy, and other parties, including the MDI Ventures, Indonesian Red Cross, Ministry of State-Ownership Enterprises, and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB). Indonesia Bergerak enabled the community to monitor, discuss, and report COVID-19 related issues in Indonesia.
Eventually, the pandemic situation has brought out the positive side for us through the opportunity to be involved in various activities which required us to be more creative and innovative. For example, in early 2020, one of our partners, Vutura, invited me to represent Qiscus in becoming one of the keynote speakers in its launch event. My team members and I were also invited throughout the year to participate in numerous webinars, including collaborations with WhatsApp, LINE, Microsoft, PQM, SMI, and even local tertiary institutions and organizations. A few of our most memorable moments include being part of the Facebook Accelerator program where we gained multiple exposure and experiences. We were also honoured to be part of the Plug and Play APAC Summit, where we were also recognized as one of the top 10 companies in the world to help the insurtech industry. In short, we also executed, organized or were part of over 40 activities in 2020.
My team and I were also exhilarated by the chance to meet new enterprises that had obtained Qiscus tech solutions including PT Blue Bird Tbk., PT AJ Manulife Indonesia, Paragon Technology Innovation, PT Unilever Indonesia Tbk., and more.
2020 was also a special year for us as we executed collaboration with PT Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel) Tbk. The cooperation between parties has resulted in the successful launch of the real-time Dunia Games forum, an application which won “The Most Favorite Gaming Media of the Year 2020” award.
Thank You!
#EnablingConversations in any application has become our mission and baseline to provide a memorable business communication experience to our clients.
We have been able to realize this mission through our in-house product, namely the Qiscus Multichannel Chat, which has successfully brought positive impact to its users by transforming digital communication into an unforgettable and intuitive experience. By combining Qiscus Multichannel Chat and WhatsApp Business API, we have been able to contribute to the digital transformation of many business and corporate players across several industries especially during these unusual times, with the significant changes brought to customer behavior. These two innovative softwares have become prominent spearheads to solve many business challenges particularly in the field of customer experience.
I believe our bundled solution—Qiscus Multichannel Chat and WhatsApp Business API— will continue to solve many more business challenges. We have seen the impact, change and improvements in many use-cases such as during the pre- and post-sales stages, customer service, lead generation and many more.
Our Qiscus Chat SDK and Qiscus Meet SDK have also successfully helped clients in creating chat, audio call, and video call-based features in various applications and websites and have helped more business players gain efficiency.
Welcoming 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic situation has lasted over a year and has brought immense pressure to everyone, including the Qiscus team and myself. Nonetheless, there were many valuable lessons learnt amidst the circumstances. COVID-19 is a strong reminder for us to create flexible and adjustable strategies to stay connected with our clients in every situation.
Lastly, I want to express my gratitude towards our stakeholders who have helped us in realizing Qiscus’ vision and mission in 2020. Thank you to every Qiscus team member who has always been ready to serve, help, and solve the diverse problems which our clients have faced. I am also extremely grateful to our partners who have trusted us to work together in many projects and initiatives, including the online events which have generated excellent output. Last but not least, I am thankful to all of our clients who have entrusted us to provide communication solutions to accelerate their businesses.
After the long and challenging journey in 2020, we are prepared to embrace new challenges in 2021. We have formulated strategies and innovation to make Qiscus’ tech solutions become more reliable and relevant to clients. We hope that our efforts will allow more industry players from all over the world to experience our core principle of#EnablingConversations.
Thank you!
Yours truly,
Delta Purna Widyangga,
Qiscus CEO
