Leading UK Insurance Partnership Provider Bolsters Customer Service with Innovative Speech Recognition Service from SpeechWorks

Leading insurance partnership provider UKI Partnerships, formerly Green Flag Group, has announced the successful development of a speech recognition service designed to provide personal insurance customers with automated insurance policy quotations instantly via the phone.

The insurance partnership provider selected SpeechWorks International, Inc. Inc. (Nasdaq: SPWX), the global leader in speech technologies and services, for the speech services application design and user interface. The speech service also uses SpeechWorks® speech recognition technology allowing callers to simply speak their requests and instantly receive a policy quotation.

The speech recognition service is one of the first to be introduced successfully for the UK insurance industry, and has positively impacted customer service quality. It was recently shortlisted by judges in this years Institute of Financial Services Innovation Awards held in London on November 28.

Commercial Development Executive at UKI Partnerships, John Eaton, who led the project, said: This speech recognition service enhances the caller experience for customers while improving efficiencies within the contact centre. This initiative demonstrates our commitment to exploring product and service developments that utilise cutting edge technology like speech recognition to benefit business partners and their customers."

When the customer calls a dedicated telephone line to obtain a quotation for travel insurance, the speech recognition service guides the caller through a series of questions such as the type of holiday, destination and the number of people travelling. At the end of the process, the speech service provides the caller with a premium quotation based on his or her individual requirements. If the caller accepts the quote, the speech service transfers the customer to an advisor who has the customers information on screen to complete the transaction and close the sale. At any stage in the process, the customer can transfer to an advisor to continue the quotation.

Ali Shirnia, General Manager for the EMEA region at SpeechWorks said: Speech recognition technology creates a superior caller experience, allowing customers to access information quickly and easily. With speech, insurance companies can automate many of the routine tasks typically performed by human advisors such as provide insurance quotes, access policies, initiate enrolment and determine deductibles for insurance plans. In addition, speech saves companies money, allowing for further investments in customer care. Research indicates that on average, SpeechWorks customers realise savings of more than $1 million annually from their SpeechWorks deployments."

An Engaging Caller Experience
Speech recognition technology creates a human-like dialog with callers to provide immediate information to callers spoken requests. The resulting caller experience is more personal than a touch-tone interaction and flows like a conversation with a human advisor.

John Eaton added: We have seen greater efficiencies generated in terms of contact centre response and call-handling times. Research on customer acceptance shows that callers find the system is simple to use and comparable to interaction with an advisor. Many said they felt more positive about the clients brand as a result of using the system." The research underlines UKI Partnerships commitment to customer service excellence and innovation.

The company, part of the Royal Bank of Scotland, has seen an improvement in the service levels in the companys travel insurance contact centre operation as all calls routed to the system are now answered almost immediately. Quicker call answering has also benefited customers who, as a result, spend less time on the telephone.

UKI Partnerships aims to use speech recognition technology for other call-routing applications and investigate possible insurance-related applications to produce benefits for customers and increase the value and efficiency of the service provided. The system is currently in trials, for example, with motor insurance customers.