Due to the current pandemics, a lot of medical organization decided to promptly set-up hotlines to provide support to the public in connection with issuing illness certificates. Rostelecom has been deploying call-centers on short notice on the basis of the Virtual Telephone Exchange service (VPBX) with allocation of a nationwide phone number, enabling millions of people to make free phone calls at the allocated number and ask questions of interest to them. Also, under the quarantine, demand for home delivery of goods and food products has been experiencing dramatic growth rates. For instance, in Kaliningrad region Rostelecom has helped two large companies to arrange promptly an over-the-phone ordering, order handling and distribution process using call-center facilities. Having in place a high-tech cloud-based solution, the companies are now able to handle much higher order volumes. In order to offer support to small and medium businesses against the backdrop of fighting the COVID-19 infections, Rostelecom has launched a Home Office service based on the Virtual PBX solution. The new offering will enable entrepreneurs to maintain efficient channels of communications with employees, customers and partners, while staying at home. Virtual PBX service makes it unnecessary for its customer to buy and maintain any networking equipment, because such equipment is deployed in the provider server, while subscribers are connected via the cloud. Additionally, Rostelecom offers its customers an opportunity to implement any scale of telephone service ranging from small start-ups to large nationwide companies, featuring a broad selection of extra options, like call monitoring, call recording, etc. Customers, owning Virtual PBXs are able to independently manage their telephone networks using the private cabinet capabilities and make settings of their networks to meet their business needs.

https://moscow.rt.ru/b2b/telephony/vats

• Russian Federation

The project can be easily replicated, as it is based on a standard solution designed by the Company, with settings and customization as required to meet specific needs of business customers, and can be used both for in-office communications and for receiving incoming calls made by service users, with required call forwarding to specific employees of the company who are not located in the office, while preserving high quality and reliability of the service. It is also possible to provision remote workplaces for contact center operators. The allocated phone number is never busy, owing to availability of multiple channels and flexible routing; also, usable settings are available through a private cabinet, while employees performance can always be monitored using call statistics and call recordings.

Yes, the project is sustainable, as it is in line with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals: - Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture; - Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages; - Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all; - Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation; - Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries; - Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

ICTs are used to help citizens, B2B companies (big, small and medium-sized businesses) in Russia and private and state-owned companies to adapt to the new conditions that arose during the pandemic