3 exciting ways AI is revolutionizing insurance

Talkdesk Insurance Smart Service enables insurers to redefine agent and policyholder experiences.

If insurers enable and empower their agents with best-in-class tools and capabilities, they will develop happier and loyal policyholders. However, as insurers often work through legacy systems and manual silos, contact centers can become overwhelmed with call volume spikes. Without artificial intelligence and automation, insurers will continue to have a difficult time enabling their agents to work efficiently and productively.

Talkdesk Insurance Smart Service is a contact center solution, for policyholders and agents, that uses digital engagement, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to make self-service convenient and efficient for policyholders while enhancing agent knowledge and responsiveness in live interactions.

Here’s three exciting ways this solution will impact contact centers:

1. Leverage AI to empower your agents.

With rising policyholder expectations, contact centers are now expected to handle each inquiry with haste. Policyholders demand a seamless experience like they have in other industries, such as in retail. In fact, 71% of customers across Financial Services and Insurance say they are more loyal to companies that invest in strengthening their CX, while 63% say that a single poor experience will negatively impact their brand loyalty.

The key to solving rising customer demands is to leverage digital channels and new technology to quickly support policyholders. With artificial intelligence capabilities, policyholders can use self-service options to address their concerns and only escalate to agents for more complex inquiries. According to Gartner research, 81% of customers across all industries attempt to take care of matters themselves before reaching out to a live representative.

Artificial intelligence tools powered by AWS, such as bots like Talkdesk Virtual Agent™, make self-service convenient and productive. Policyholders no longer need to wait on hold for extended periods of time to speak with an agent, or get bounced from agent to agent in search of somebody who can help. Now, they can have their requests solved 24/7 without a live agent.

Additionally, if the request is too complex for a bot, Talkdesk Virtual Agent will direct the policyholder to a human agent prepared to quickly address the inquiry.

2. Leverage AI to retain your agents

Even in normal circumstances, agents are under the gun all day handling call after call. In today’s post-COVID but-still-COVID world, they are dealing with even higher call volumes. Additionally, call volumes are consistently spiking due to California wildfires, Hurricane Ida,  and many other weather-induced catastrophes.

During these critical, time-sensitive, and stressful situations for policyholders, agents find themselves overwhelmed with no choice but to leave their job. As a consequence, not only are insurers dealt one blow from reduced staff and the headache of acquiring and training new talent, they are also dealt another blow because policyholders become increasingly upset with the downstream effects of insurers losing their agents.

Hiring, training, and developing agents can range from ½ to 2X that initial employee’s annual salary. Using AI-powered tools will allow insurers to better support their policyholders, reducing the burden on agents which directly increases agent  job satisfaction. One great AI-powered tool, Agent Assist™, guides agents in real time with recommendations and automates follow-up tasks by taking notes and transcribing during live calls.

Artificial intelligence is only as good as the data it sifts through; therefore, it is critical insurers always enable their agents to access data across many places such as major CRM platforms, like Salesforce and Microsoft, to get a full view of their policyholder. Platforms that are connected, especially through out-of-the-box integrations, will enable agents to access key policyholder data instantly.