Content Guru
![]() | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (November 2022) |
![]() | This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. (November 2022) |
![]() | |
Company type | Private limited Company |
---|---|
Industry | Telecommunications |
Founded | 2005 |
Founders | Sean Taylor and Martin Taylor |
Headquarters | , |
Area served | The company provides services in approximately 60 countries |
Products | Storm CONTACT |
Services | Cloud communications software, cloud contact centre software |
Revenue | £ 51.1 million (2021)[1] |
Number of employees | 400 (2022)[2] |
Parent | Redwood Technologies Group |
Website | www |
Content Guru is a cloud communications provider based in Bracknell, UK.[3] The company provides services in over 60[4] countries[5] through its cloud Contact Centre as a Service solution, storm. These services are provided directly to customers and with partners such as Vodafone, Cinos, KPN,[6] and Rakuten.[7] In April 2016, Content Guru received a Queen's Award for Innovation.[8] Clients include the National Health Service,[9] Serco,[10] and TravisPerkins.[11]
In response to the work it carried out for the National Health Service (NHS), Content Guru has won several awards, including the Crisis Management Innovation of the Year at the IT Europa Awards (2022),[12] the Best Innovation in Customer Service at the ECCCSA Awards (2021)[13] and the NextGen Technology Award at the Management Today NextGen Awards (2020).[14]
History
Content Guru is made up of a number of wholly-owned subsidiaries of Redwood Technologies Group across North America, Asia-Pacific and Europe.[15] The vast majority of the revenue generated by Redwood Technologies Group comes from the delivery of cloud services through the Group's Storm infrastructure, provided and supported by Content Guru.[16]
Content Guru was founded in 2005 and provides cloud-based customer engagement and customer experience services and cloud contact centre products.[17][18][19] The company has offices in the US, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, the UK, the Netherlands,[20] Germany, Ireland and Italy.
In 2010, storm was used by ComRes on behalf of ITV News to provide live audience polling for the first televised election leaders' debate in the build-up to the UK 2010 General Election.[21]
In 2013, Content Guru co-founded Berkshire Community Foundation (BCF)'s Business Philanthropy Club (BPC), which enables businesses in Berkshire to provide funding for grassroots organisations and projects in their local communities.[22] Content Guru has been a sponsor of the Pride of Bracknell Forest Awards since 2016,[23] along with its parent company Redwood Technologies. Content Guru supports several local and national charities, including the Red Cross, Lions International, Barnardo's, Kika Kinderfonds, Macmillan Cancer Support, Save the Children, the Soldiering on Awards, Thames Hospice, and Youthline.[24]
In March 2017, the company announced that it would be delivering services to the United States.[25] Later that year, Content Guru and Vodafone handled student enquiries for UCAS, the UK's higher education applications service.[26]
In January 2018, a minority stake of Content Guru and its parent company, Redwood Technologies Group, was sold to Scottish Equity Partners in a £25 million cash deal.[27][28][29]
In February 2018, Content Guru announced a partnership with Rakuten Communications to deliver services to Japan.[30]
In 2019, Content Guru became a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for CCaaS (Contact Centre as a Service), Western Europe.[31][32]
In June 2019, Redwood Technologies Group acquired Weston Digital Technologies. This expanded Content Guru's product to offer screen recording and quality monitoring.[33]
In February 2020, the Group was in the Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200.[34] In 2021, the Group moved from 74th position on the International Track 200, to 21st.[35]
In March 2020, Content Guru announced expansion in the US market, with the appointment of a new Business Development Manager in California, and the creation of a US channel partner program.[36]
In early 2020, Content Guru undertook a survey on homeworking in the UK, showing the financial and productivity benefits of homeworking within the contact centre.[37] During the pandemic, Content Guru helped its customers to move their contact centres to homeworking environments, for example, Jurys Inn[38] and Rail Delivery Group.[39]
In early July 2020 Content Guru announced that its product could now integrate with Microsoft Teams.[40]
During the lockdown, Content Guru enabled Herts Urgent Care (HUC) to offer ad-hoc video consultations wherever possible, and to protect staff and patients from COVID-19.[41]
In July 2020, Content Guru was named as a supplier in Crown Commercial Service's Spark Dynamic Purchasing System.[42]
In August 2020 Content Guru won Frost & Sullivan's 2020 European Contact Center as a Service Technology Innovation Leadership Award.[43]
In November 2020, Content Guru was positioned as a Challenger in the 2020 global Gartner Magic Quadrant for Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS).[44]
In April 2021, Content Guru's parent company Redwood Technologies acquired US-based Potomac Integration and Consulting (PIC).[45]
In August 2021, Content Guru was positioned as a Challenger in 2021 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS).[46]
In August 2022, Content Guru was positioned as a Challenger in the 2022 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS).[47]
Controversy
The company came under fire for its role in the Manchester Arena bombing of May 2017 during which Storm failed to operate. This resulted in those affected by the attack not being able to contact police or emergency services.[48][49]
Vodafone had subcontracted its services out to Content Guru for providing the National Mutual Aid Telephony system. However, when they tried to use it they found an "inability to amend the recorded message and technical difficulties with the server. This suggests there was an inadequate level of knowledge or expertise within Vodafone or its sub-contractor Content Guru."[50]
Vodafone and Content Guru continue their partnership, with Vodafone marketing Content Guru's product under the brand Vodafone Storm.[51]
References
- ^ "Redwood Technologies Filing History, Companies House".
- ^ "Content Guru Commits to Developing New Talent to Support Global Expansion". ContactCentreWorld. November 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
- ^ "Stephen K Amos presents Bracknell-based cloud provider with top IT award". 27 November 2015.
- ^ "Content Guru". NFIA. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
- ^ SEP: A leading cloud contact centre and customer engagement solutions provider
- ^ "KPN & Content Guru go Dutch with storm".
- ^ "News : Rakuten Communications & Content Guru Announce Strategic Partnership". ContactCenterWorld.com. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
- ^ "Queen's Awards for Enterprise 2016 - Press book" (PDF).
- ^ "NHS 111 takes home top award at UK Cloud Awards 2017".
- ^ "Serco-Content Guru Alliance to Offer Contact Center Platform in Public Sector". 9 May 2017.
- ^ "Travis Perkins Creates Virtual Contact Centre In The Cloud". 20 August 2015.
- ^ "IT Europa Channel Awards Winners 2022".
- ^ "Home".
- ^ "Home". www.mtnextgenawards.com. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ "REDWOOD TECHNOLOGIES GROUP Ltd - Filing history (Free information from Companies House)".
- ^ "REDWOOD TECHNOLOGIES GROUP LTD - Filing history (free information from Companies House), Group of Companies Accounts, p.3". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ^ "Content Guru Reviews, Ratings, and Features - Gartner 2021".
- ^ "Content Guru". 4 February 2019.
- ^ "Home". contentguru.com.
- ^ "Content Guru".
- ^ "Comres And ITV News Deliver First Results Of Leader Debates".
- ^ "Berkshire Community Foundation Launches Business Philanthropy Club - Blandy & Blandy Solicitors". www.blandy.co.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ "Redwood Supports Annual Pride of Bracknell Forest Award | Comms Business". commsbusiness.co.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ "Community and Voluntary". Content Guru. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
- ^ "Content Guru to storm America on Three Fronts".
- ^ "Vodafone UK and UCAS rise to the challenge on A-level results day". Vodafone UK News Centre. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ "SEP invests in Redwood Technologies Group".
- ^ "Berkshire-based Redwood Technologies Group gets £25m". 16 January 2018.
- ^ "Scottish Equity Partners has completed a £25m investment in Redwood Technologies Group".
- ^ "Rakuten Communications & Content Guru Announce Strategic Partnership".
- ^ "Content Guru in Magic Quadrant for Contact Centre as a Service - Contact-Centres.com". Contact-Centres.com. 1 November 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ "Who's Leading Gartner's CCaaS Magic Quadrant 2019?". uctoday.com/. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- ^ Heggie-Collins, Sam (6 June 2019). "Redwood Technologies Group Enhances Quality Monitoring Expertise with Weston Digital Technologies Acquisition Directors Club® News Directors Club® News". Directors Club® News. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- ^ TWK. "Fast Track". Fast Track. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
- ^ TWK. "Fast Track". Fast Track. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ "Content Guru expands US team and enhances global partner program -". uktechnews.co.uk. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
- ^ "UKCCF Research: 2020 HomeAgent Survey". Content Guru. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
- ^ "Jurys Inn chooses Content Guru to deploy new contact centre with remote working capabilities amid COVID-19 pandemic -". uktechnews.co.uk. 7 May 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
- ^ "RDG - WFH in Hours". Content Guru. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
- ^ "storm Integration with Microsoft Teams". Content Guru. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
- ^ "Herts Urgent Care". Content Guru. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
- ^ "Content Guru Named as a Supplier on Crown Commercial Service's Spark Dynamic Purchasing System -". uktechnews.co.uk. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
- ^ Frost & Sullivan. "2020 European Contact Center as a Service Technology Innovation Leadership Award" (PDF).
- ^ "Content Guru Positioned as Challenger for Contact Centre as a Service". Contact-Centres.com. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
- ^ Sharpes, Donald K. (7 September 2020), "The Politics of Federal Education Organisation", Education and the US Government, Routledge, pp. 172–182, doi:10.4324/9781003034148-16, ISBN 978-1-003-03414-8, S2CID 225288907, retrieved 9 April 2021
- ^ "Content Guru Named in 2021 Magic Quadrant for CCAAS". Contact-Centres.com. 16 August 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
- ^ "Content Guru In Magic Quadrant For Contact Centre As A Service". Contact-Centres.com. 30 August 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
- ^ "Manchester Arena attack: National Mutual Aid Telephony system failed". Retrieved 29 March 2018.
- ^ "Manchester terror attack: why did the Vodafone telephone line fail?". iNews. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
- ^ "Kerslake_Arena_Review_PROOFED.docx" (PDF). The Kerslake Report: An Independent Review into the Preparedness for, and Emergency Response to, the Manchester Arena Attack on 22nd May 2017: 140. 27 March 2018.
- ^ "Vodafone Global Enterprise Storm". 16th of November 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2018.