Shelter Insurance Companies Chooses HigherGround Call Recording and Monitoring Solution to Enhance Customer Service

LOS ANGELES, CA – April 29, 2003 – HigherGround Inc.® and Shelter Insurance today announced that Shelter Insurance® has purchased and implemented HigherGrounds new leading edge call recording and monitoring solution. A global provider of recording and telecom management solutions for the contact center industry, HigherGround develops imperative business intelligence applications for compliance monitoring, risk management and performance improvement. Shelter Insurance, an industry leading provider of insurance and financial products and services with headquarters in Columbia, Mo., operates in 13 states.

LOS ANGELES, CA (PRWEB) April 29, 2003 – HigherGround Inc.® and Shelter Insurance today announced that Shelter Insurance® has purchased and implemented HigherGrounds new leading edge call recording and monitoring solution. A global provider of recording and telecom management solutions for the contact center industry, HigherGround develops imperative business intelligence applications for compliance monitoring, risk management and performance improvement. Shelter Insurance, an industry leading provider of insurance and financial products and services with headquarters in Columbia, Mo., operates in 13 states.

Shelter has deployed the HigherGround Praetorian, HigherGround Mentor, Screen Capture and advanced Enterprise Telecommunications Business Intelligence (ETBI) in its centralized customer care service center. The incoming call center is open seven days a week with customer service representatives handling on average 1,500 calls per day ranging from policy inquiries, claims filing and general administrative matters.

Shelters 36 active ports handle both incoming calls and service to customers. The center is entering its busy spring storm season" when filings of claims rise significantly, with an average number of calls per day that can easily top 2,100 after a severe hail or windstorm. The HigherGround solution installed in the summer of 2002 will be an effective tool as call traffic is anticipated to increase and the need for improved quality assurance becomes even more crucial. For Shelter Insurance, the HigherGround solution offers a number of distinct advantages including time and cost savings.

Until we installed the HigherGround solution we had a very limited, manual system for call quality evaluation. With HigherGround we have developed our own evaluation form and we can now locate and evaluate calls in a fraction of the time we used to spend," said Jan Farr, Customer Services Supervisor for Shelter Insurance Companies. We found HigherGround to be the best value for us because it included all the features we wanted in one package. Since the system is so user-friendly, we didn't have to travel to get training, another cost-saving factor. The installation and training was done on-site in less than a week. The technicians were—and still are—extremely helpful, patient and prompt any time I have a question."

Shelter Insurance is a prime example of a company that is utilizing all the key functionality of our products," stated Terry Ryan, CEO and President of HigherGround Inc. The quality monitoring is of tremendous value in providing feedback to its customer service representatives and in helping them to better handle various call situations and provide improved service. We look forward to a growing relationship as they continue to expand the capabilities of their system."

Future plans call for Shelter to implement HigherGrounds advanced reporting and analysis tools embedded in its Report Commander tool incorporating its unique Enterprise Telecommunications Business Intelligence (ETBI) application that applies business intelligence functionality to call centers.

The HigherGround Praetorian is a liability recording solution that uses centralized management tools to control access to data and recordings—even across multiple sites—from a single console. With around-the-clock call recording, instant desktop call retrieval and state-of-the-art call storage, Praetorian transforms liability recording into a time and money saving tool. HigherGround Mentor provides the tools necessary to monitor, evaluate and improve agent performance allowing businesses to capitalize on every opportunity that comes with every call. The Screen Capture tool records workstation screen actions and replays them in synch with voice recordings. Together the HigherGround systems combine to create a total solution that captures, manages and leverages every call.

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About HigherGround, Inc.
HigherGround ensures that its clients capitalize on every contact, every day. The companys customer-interaction recording solutions and multi-dimensional analysis and reporting tools empower clients with the knowledge and insight needed to monitor and verify phone and data transactions and radio transmissions, improve agent performance, optimize telecommunications resources and provide a comprehensive view of the contact centers performance. HigherGrounds proven solutions provide imperative business intelligence for sound decision making and bottom-line control for compliance monitoring, risk management and performance improvement.

HigherGrounds integrated call recording and usage accounting software products are used by highly recognizable names such as American Red Cross, AOL Time Warner, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, Continental Airlines, EXXON, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, California State University, Miller Brewing Company, Parkland Hospital, United States Air Force, Unocal and various municipalities and public safety communications centers throughout North America.

For more information contact:
Nancy Gates
HigherGround Inc.
Direct: 954-545-4059
Corporate: 818-591-3133 x 295
mjgates@highergroundinc.com

Note to editors: HigherGround® and the HigherGround logo are registered trademarks of HigherGround Inc. Report Commander HigherGround Praetorian, HigherGround Mentor, HigherGround Architect and Im Alive are trademarks of HigherGround Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.