Content Guru, a leading provider of cloud communications and contact center solutions based in the UK that counts that country’s National Health Service (NHS) as a client, has formed a new partnership with Bechtle AG, Germany’s largest IT system integrator.

The new partnership will see Bechtle offering the Content Guru flagship product known as storm to the German firm’s large customer base in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). The arrangement benefits both companies by enabling Content Guru to continue its push for global expansion, while also providing Bechtle with a powerful customer service solution that it can deploy for its own clients to use.

Content Guru’s storm is a cloud-based contact center as a service (CCaaS) solution with capabilities for intelligent automation and complex integration with third-party and legacy systems. Known for its vast scalability, storm helped the NHS, the UK’s healthcare system, handle a staggering 1,400% increase in the number of incoming calls to the 111 Urgent Care hotline during the onset of COVID-19. The support from storm, the Content Guru team said, helped the NHS accommodate calls from an anxious public in need of more information about the then-newly spreading virus.

Based in Bracknell, England, Content Guru is part of the Redwood Technologies group of companies in the UK specializing in secure communications systems. Its clients include some of the world’s biggest financial institutions, along with government agencies, public sector bodies, and organizations in the travel and retail sectors.

Martin Taylor, deputy CEO and co-founder of Content Guru, expressed enthusiasm about the company’s new arrangement with German IT colossus Bechtle, which reported revenue in 2019 of €5.7 billion ($6.4 billion). “We are really excited about our new partnership with Bechtle, one of the largest IT specialists in in Europe,” Taylor said. “Together, we will address complex communications requirements at large companies with our market-leading CCaaS technology and inspire customers to create competitive differentiation for themselves through superior customer engagement.”

Ralf Beck, the division manager for software product management infrastructure at Bechtle, said the synergy between the two companies is mutually advantageous. “Through the new partnership, we are able to offer customers and prospects a powerful contact center solution that will enable them to modernize and largely automate customer service,” Beck said. “This adds an exciting vendor to our portfolio, and with Content Guru, we can serve the rapidly growing CCaaS market.”