Some 80 companies submitted entries for this year's Swisscom Business Award. The awards are in recognition of Swiss companies and institutions that have implemented groundbreaking ICT solutions. Manor AG, Universitätsspital Basel (Basel University Hospital), Schwyzer Kantonalbank, MSC Cruises, Loeb AG and Fondazione Ticino Cuore (Ticino Heart Foundation) all made it to the final. A specialist judging panel evaluated the solutions submitted by the finalists according to the criteria of business benefit, degree of innovation, technology and sustainability.
MSC Cruises, which has a fleet of twelve cruise ships and cargo and container ships, emerged the winner. To improve and intensify its direct contact with clients, the company merged its call centres in eleven global locations into a single cloud-managed solution. As the explanation for the panel's decision to confer the Swisscom Business Award on MSC Cruises, Thomas Wirth commented, «MSC has created an entirely new sales arm for new regional markets that complements its existing channels. We were impressed by the added value generated by MSC's cross-border managed contact centre solution.» 300 agents across Europe are already advising customers via the new platform. It enables them to cater to their needs over a longer time span, starting from the research stage through the booking process to the time prior to, during and after a cruise.
Swisscom presented its People's Choice Award for the first time this year, for which online voting started in August. The audience at the awards ceremony also gave their nominations. The winner was Fondazione Ticino Cuore (Ticino Heart Foundation). Fondazione Ticino Cuore trains private individuals in how to administer cardiac massage and use a defibrillator. This aims to enable them to provide assistance to individuals who have suffered a sudden cardiac arrest until the arrival of the emergency services. The network has just under 3,500 members. In order to manage the helpers and alert them in good time, Ticino Cuore has created a web solution with its own app. If an emergency call is received, the helper closest to the incident is sent an alert via the app.
The Swisscom Business Award was presented as part of the Swisscom Dialog Arena at the Hallenstadion Zurich. Just under 600 visitors took advantage of the opportunity to spend one day experiencing live the best case examples and current ICT trends, to engage in discussions, and to refresh and expand their personal network. One of the highlights of the evening was the keynote speech given by Prof. Marcus Schögel. In his speech entitled «Believe the hype – How to deal with trends and innovations,» he explained the contribution made by innovative management approaches to making companies stand out from the competition.
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