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Insurance industry

Equitable Life Assurance Society Implements Periphonics IVR Systems to Enhance Customer Service and Reduce Operational Costs

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

The Equitable Life Assurance Society, a New York City-based organization, has successfully integrated Periphonics Corporation's Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems to provide enhanced service to its 1.8 million clients across the country. The implementation, completed in April 1998, replaces existing automated agent and policyholder services, reducing costs associated with operating the company's service centers. The IVR system allows agents and policyholders to access general policy information, inquire about dividend and account values, request loans, transfer investment fund values, and change investment allocation using a touch-tone telephone.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Equitable Life Assurance Society has installed Periphonics' IVR systems to automate routine transactions and inquiries, reducing operational costs and enhancing customer service.
  • The IVR system processes approximately 15,000 calls monthly, with expected growth to 75,000 calls as the system is introduced to the company's entire client base over the next 12 months.
  • The system allows policyholders to perform routine transactions, such as requesting loans, transferring investment fund values, and changing investment allocation.
  • Special system features include fax-back for account statements and Caller Message Recording (CMR) for policyholder address changes.
  • The system interfaces with a Lucent switch and an IBM mainframe host, with locations in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Des Moines, Iowa.
  • The Periphonics systems have been successfully integrated into The Equitable's service centers, allowing the company to expand and enhance its services easily in the future.
  • Karen Pineda, technical consultant for The Equitable, notes that the system will reduce expenses associated with running the service centers and allow service representatives to focus on callers with special needs.

Statistics:

  • Approximately 15,000 calls are processed monthly by the automated service as of April 1998.
  • Expected call volumes will rise to 75,000 as the system is introduced to the company's entire client base over the next 12 months.
  • The IVR system aims to handle more than 60% of The Equitable's overall call volume.
  • The Periphonics systems are supported by two 48-line VPS systems, with an additional 4-port VPS used for application development and testing.

Sources:

  • "Equitable Life Assurance Society Boosts Customer Service with Periphonics Systems." Business Wire, April 30, 1998.
  • Periphonics Corporation. "About Periphonics." Periphonics Corporation website.

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