Some time ago, unrelated to coronavirus, we introduced a policy at Amdocs that allows our 25,000 employees to work from home one day a week. Now, due to the coronavirus outbreak, we’re encouraging most of our people to work from home, full time for as long as it is needed. This is a totally different scenario, and we realized we had to help those employees who were not used to this to adapt to this new way of working. In record time, a dedicated team built our Virtually Together website, providing a wide range of solutions for working from home, well-being and for parents at home with their kids. And we’ve decided to share large sections of this website with the wider community. Our industry connects people, so critical at a time like this, and we hope this site will help.

We’ll keep adding content to the site and Amdocs employees and people outside of the company can also contribute their ideas and personal experiences. The website includes: Remote Work Solutions: Solutions that define the best work and communication methodologies for working from home, helping people maintain a productive work routine even in current times of a global health crisis. They include solutions to support development teams working from home and solutions for virtual teamwork, including remote management, advanced multi-participant video conferencing and real-time content sharing, as well as a variety of digital and collaborative learning platforms.

We also offer our managers training dedicated to addressing the challenges of managing employees at times of crisis and uncertainty. Well-being Solutions: A variety of stress-reducing tools and content to deal with the unknown, including a series of videos and virtual lessons, as well as daily exercises that incorporate positive thinking, health tips, mindfulness, nutrition and ideas for raising the mood. As part of this, together with the Israeli startup Reaction Club, Amdocs is launching an app through which company employees receive daily tasks, such as physical exercises and guided meditation, providing a mental break from the worries of the day - alongside various nutritional and health tasks. Employees earn points, receive prizes and share their experiences with colleagues from around the world through chat, pictures and videos. In addition, Amdocs offers employees and their families the ability to get expert psychological services. Solutions for Parents: A digital kit including activities for and with children, including remote programming classes, a variety of home experiments and artwork ideas, special meditation exercises, cooking, baking and other activities.

These are not easy times: the need to stay home for long days, the change in routine, the need to cancel plans, maybe even miss important events, take their toll. Staying away from family and friends can cause a feeling of loneliness. The solutions we have incorporated into Virtually Together can help our employees stay part of the corporate community while maintaining a work routine and a healthy body and mind. Until the crisis passes, let’s all do our utmost to stay healthy, both physically and mentally.