Delta uses tech to empower people, care for customers

DELTA Air Lines continues to use technology to better connect with employees and customers amid the pandemic. Molly Battin, vice president (VP) for global brand marketing at Delta, talked about this initiative of their company at the ongoing virtual CES 2021.

“We are listening closely to customers and looking at ways we can pull new technology and innovation into everything we are doing to create a more seamless experience,” she said.

The American airliner is now working with CVS Health on a first-of-its-kind comprehensive Covid-19 employee testing program.

It has also a longtime partnership with IBM, through which new technology like quantum computing is now being explored to allow even better customer experiences throughout travel.

Battin shared Delta’s successes in using technology to empower its employees by reducing their transactional interactions with customers so they can deliver more meaningful and human interface instead. “When we think about technology at Delta, it’s about putting the human touch first,” she said. “We are looking at all the ways we can use technology to empower our people to have more personal connections.”

Battin also reiterated the airline’s approach to rise from the pandemic stronger than before by pulling the future forward as much as possible.

She cited, for instance, their way of accelerating the retirement of older, less fuel-efficient fleets and fast-tracking work to bring the future of in-flight entertainment to life.

As the new year ushered in, Delta remains focused on delivering on other customer-centric investments, like faster Wi-fi, personalized in-flight entertainment and other innovations it launched at CES last year.

Just last week, the airline firm finalized its partnership with high-speed Wi-fi provider Viasat and took steps to debut a Delta-developed Wi-fi access portal that will change how customers interact online from the air.

Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Delta serves around 200 million people annually, taking customers across an industry-leading global network of up to 300 destinations in over 50 countries.

LEADING telco Globe is all set to make its VOLTE service accessible to postpaid customers in more towns and municipalities in the country.

Its aggressive network expansion and modernization efforts have resulted in making Voice over LTE or VOLTE service available soon to postpaid customers in 1,538 towns and cities all over the country.

Moreover, the company says its VOLTE coverage is now activated and optimized in 575 towns and cities in at least 25 provinces in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. VOLTE is ready for use in 153 towns and cities in Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite, Cebu, Davao del Sur and Davao del Norte. Based on its latest track, Globe has also made VOLTE ready in 422 areas in Aklan, Antique, Bataan, Batangas, Bukidnon, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, Laguna, Misamis Oriental, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Nueva Vizcaya, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Siquijor, Tarlac and Zambales.

“While the new normal has been challenging, we saw this as an opportunity to create better solutions and technologies for our customers in need of support during this difficult time. We want to make their mobile experience better and an enhanced VOLTE service is one of them,” said Issa Guevarracabreira, Globe chief commercial officer.

VOLTE is the standard high-speed wireless communication for mobile phones using 4G LTE instead of the traditional voice networks being used by 2G and 3G. VOLTE has many advantages over the old voice services of 2G and 3G networks. It has three times more voice capacity than 3G and up to six times more compared to 2G, allowing the network to accommodate more customers placing calls at the same time, enabling faster call set-up, providing clearer voice quality, and lower instances of dropped calls. VOLTE also allows users to simultaneously connect to the Internet while on a call, providing an uninterrupted mobile browsing experience especially with online gaming and video streaming.

An added complement to VOLTE is Voice over Wifi (Vowifi) or Wifi Calling, which helps address indoor mobile coverage problems such as voice calls affected by the distance between the mobile phone and the nearest network tower, building walls that block wireless signals, and poor signal inside a home or building. Depending on the capacity and signal strength of their Wifi service and a Vowifi-capable mobile phone, Vowifi can resolve these concerns because customers can use their existing Wifi connection to make phone calls.

VOLTE and Vowifi calls work like and charge as regular calls but customers who are registered to a Globe unli call promo can also have unli VOLTE and Vowifi calls within the Globe network. Both services also work on any Wifi network.

STA. LUCIA and Abanse Negrense crushed their respective opponents to jump-start their campaign in the 2021 Gatoradephilippine Superliga (PSL) Superliga Beach Volleyball Challenge Cup at the Subic Bay Freeport sand court.

Sta. Lucia B’s Bang Pineda and Jonah Sabete showed no sign of rust in their 21-10, 21-9 rout of Kennedy Solar Energy-petrogazz’s Ariane Alarcon and Christina Canares in the opening match of the tournament that has Cherrylume, Ube Express and Subic Bay Peninsular Hotel as sponsors and Cocolife, Cocogen Insurance, Data Project and Genius Sports as technical partners.

A few hours later, the tandem of DM Demontano and Jackie Estoquia of Sta. Lucia B that made its presence felt with a 21-18, 21-13 victory over Jonah San Pedro and Javen Sabas of Toby’s Sports.

Also victorious were Abanse Negrense’s Alexa Polidario and Erjan Magdato, who crushed F2 Logistics’ Jennymar Senares and Kyla Gallego, 21-15, 21-12, to wrap up the morning session of the competition that was made possible through the support of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases Central Luzon.

Their Abanse Negros B counterparts, Jennifer Cosas and Gelimae Villanueva, beat United Auctioneers Inc.’s Ella Viray and Theresa Ramas, 21-13, 21-12, in Pool B.

More than winning their first assignment, Pineda and Sabete said they were happy to see action for the first time in 11 months.

“At this point, more than winning the game, we are very happy to play again in a tournament,” said Pineda, a noted floor defender during her stint with the Lady Realtors in volleyball. “Missing the game for so long made me more inspired and I’m sure all players are motivated to win in this very competitive tournament.”

“Finally, after almost a year, we were able to play again,” Sabete said. “We’re really excited and inspired as we continue to compete in the PSL.”