We’re all now feeling the effects of ‘Covid debt’: physical, mental – and, increasingly, financial.

There can be no doubt the pandemic has altered the emotional make-up of society. Collectively, we are now much more aware of the suffering of others – and how could we not be after seeing lives turned upside down and businesses upended with no sense of rhyme or reason or equity.

As many of us start to return to offices and other workplaces, the hybrid approach has emerged as the most popular solution for both employees and employers.

Telecoms organisations face a highly challenging business environment as digitisation continues to fuel the relentless disruption of established business models and practices, to enable increasing competition from new, more agile, entrants and forces constant regulatory changes as the market grapples with the societal shift to living and conducting business online.

The second year of the pandemic has seen more people in the UK slide further into debt and organisations need to recalibrate their response through empathetic collections.

You don’t have to be involved in collections to be aware that the last 18 months have affected the financial circumstances of a huge number of people.

Treating customers with empathy has been an increasingly important area of focus within the customer experience industry.

While technology offers many opportunities to deliver a more proactive and efficient customer experience, it’s the human interactions between brands and their customers that often make the difference.

While technology offers many opportunities in the quest to deliver a more proactive and efficient customer experience, it’s the human interactions between brands and their customers that often make the difference, writes Oli Freestone, Institute Lead at Capita.

To mark today’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD), Andy Start spoke to Damian Riley, to discuss the importance of disability inclusivity.