Top players in the insurance industry area adopting full-service VoIP, cloud-hosted business telephony and CRM platforms.
John Woollam, CEO of Euphoria Telecom, shares five ways this is changing the insurance industry.
Higher volume, quicker turnaround
Large insurance companies take thousands of client calls a day. This makes managing waiting times – and verification times – a top priority, particularly in emergency situations, such as immediately after a vehicle accident.
Less urgent queries – such as monthly premium enquiries, payment arrangements and call-back services – can also be automated. This, Woollam says, helps to speed up service delivery and frees up agents to resolve more complicated queries.
Seamless digital experiences are a reality
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and cloud computing technologies can be combined to deliver unified communication options.
“These solutions include phone, email, online video conferencing technology and even chat via social media platforms in a single screen,” Woollam says. “The business value lies in these solutions allowing call centre agents to interact on whatever platform suits the customer.”
This is particularly useful in reaching Millennials and Gen Zers, who prefer to have a seamless, wholly digital experience over one that has only some digital aspects.
Insurers can monitor outcomes, not statistics
“If it can’t be measured, it can’t be managed, right? The trick lies in wisely choosing what to measure. It is no use having great call duration stats if the customer’s query isn’t resolved by the end of the call, for instance,” Woollam says.
The real numbers of queries being resolved, policies updated or sales made are more likely to give management teams guidance on where there is room for improvement. Insurers are turning to call centre solutions that provide these insights by keeping track of agent and client behaviour and outcomes.
This includes post-call surveys, first-call resolution metrics, sales per agent reports and cross-channel tracking of customer interactions to help insurers cultivate a more customer-centric experience. It also highlights skills gaps which guide training for agents, Woollam notes.
Compliance is likewise critical in an insurance environment. Call recordings need to be legally compliant and admissible in court if they are to be useful to insurers. Call records should be encrypted and stamped at the time of creation as well as encrypted at rest (that is, wherever they are stored) to be compliant.
Work-from-wherever is the norm
The latest telephony solutions combine an agent’s workspace and mobile apps to let agents work remotely, using mobile devices, desktop-based softphones or IP handsets. This means that insurers don’t need all their call agents onsite in a big building to be able to manage them.
“You can still monitor your staff’s time and attendance and add real-time data about each agent’s performance,” Woollam assures. “These solutions also help refine scheduling and manage overtime costs.”
Even small companies can use big-feature telephony and CRM solutions
Custom, fit-for-purpose business phone and CRM solutions are no longer unique to large insurance companies. Brokerages and various other independent financial service providers (FSPs), large and small, can afford the latest systems.
“Coherent, world-class communication, reporting and CRM with quality assurance built into its DNA has become a given, provided the company implements the right cloud-hosted PABX system,” Woollam concludes.