The idea of insurance companies as old-fashioned enterprises with rows (upon rows) of filing cabinets underneath buzzing fluorescent lights is no longer valid. That’s because today, insurance companies are embracing technology-led solutions — and a core solution is a hosted cloud phone system.
As an insurance agency owner, you know first-hand how important it is to stay on top of the latest technology trends. After all, staying competitive requires adopting new solutions that can help your business run more efficiently and cost-effectively.
One such solution is hosted cloud phone service. Unlike traditional telephone systems, a hosted cloud system offers a range of benefits that can help your business be more productive and successful.
First and foremost, hosted cloud phone service provides an all-in-one solution for insurance agencies. This means that it includes not only basic telephone functions but also advanced features like voicemail-to-text transcription and call recording. This can help streamline your business operations and reduce the time you spend on administrative tasks.
In addition to making it easier for your employees to manage their calls and messages, hosted cloud phone service also offers other key benefits for insurance agencies. For example, it provides you with advanced security and encryption features so that your communications are always protected.
Perhaps best of all, hosted cloud phone service is affordable and easy to set up. By choosing this technology-led solution for your insurance agency, you’ll be able to take advantage of its many benefits without breaking the bank or wasting time and resources.
Here are 7 benefits for insurance agencies to choosing a cloud-based telephone system:
1. Save Money Instantly
One of the most important advantages of hosted cloud is that it saves you money, which can be 40%-80% each year. There are no CapEx costs or ongoing fees for maintenance, support, or upgrades. The only initial expenses (which are minimal) are IP phones, backup power supplies, and a managed router to monitor and support the system remotely.
Not only that but opting for a hosted cloud is a sound investment that can be scaled as needed with predictable monthly pricing. For example, if an insurance company needs to service more customers, it can simply purchase more licenses. And on the other hand, if they need to downsize or contract and have unused capacity, they can just let their licenses expire.
2. Hybrid-Friendly
Given that the insurance domain is getting more technology- and data-driven, it’s now crucial for insurance enterprises to provide responsive, personalized service to both their business and individual customers. However, with a regular phone system, current and prospective clients are commonly forced to wait several minutes “for the next available agent.” Additionally, they frequently get directed back to voicemail.
With a hosted cloud phone system, calls can be forwarded to any mobile or landline. With more and more businesses adopting a hybrid work model, this gives you the flexibility to stay ahead of your competition. This means that callers have more chance of hearing “how may I help you?” than “thank you for your call…” What’s more, staff can use the built-in video conferencing feature to engage in some valuable face-time with customers.
3. Put Customers In-Touch Quickly
Many times, callers don’t have a set person in mind to whom they need to speak. They might just need answers about quotes, coverage details, or claims handling. In the past, this often resulted in the caller being transferred from desk to desk – causing frustration for them and proving disruptive and inefficient for staff members.
By utilizing a hosted cloud phone system, insurance companies can professionally greet callers with a custom-made auto attendant. Not only does this help the caller direct their own call to the correct department or team, but it also saves time for employees who wouldn’t otherwise have to answer calls not meant for them. In other words: everyone benefits from using a hosted cloud phone system.
4. Transcribed Voicemail to Email
Although it would be great if staff could answer every phone call, this isn’t always possible or desirable. There are times when employees need to focus on tasks and not worry about answering calls one after the other.
A hosted cloud phone system automatically converts voicemails into audio files, transcribes them, and routes them to any email address (or addresses). Not only does this create an easy-to-follow audit trail, but it helps staff prioritize callbacks — or if necessary, forward the voicemail to a colleague.
5. Time-of-Day Routing
Hosted cloud’s time-of-day routing feature is beneficial for insurance companies because they can direct calls to certain phones or individuals using a distinctive call pattern during business hours. After hours, the hosted cloud allows them to streamline the ring pattern and route calls (with a customized greeting) to either a virtual call center or a priority voicemail box. Time-of-day routing can also be used for holiday closures as well.
When it comes to choosing a cloud-based telephone system for their insurance agency, many companies are looking for an all-in-one solution that offers flexibility, reliability, and scalability. One feature that is particularly appealing for insurance agencies is time-of-day routing, which allows them to manage calls during business hours using a unique ring pattern.
After hours, time-of-day routing offers several benefits as well. For example, insurance agencies can use this feature to route calls directly to their virtual call center or a priority voicemail box without having to worry about missed calls and lost business opportunities. Additionally, if an agency needs to close for the holidays or other days of the year, they can easily set up time-of-day routing to route calls to a predetermined voicemail box or virtual call center without having to worry about missed opportunities.
Overall, time-of-day routing is an invaluable feature for insurance agencies that want to improve their customer service and streamline their operations while also protecting revenue streams.
6. Cloud-Based Contact Centers
The phone system that businesses used to rely on was based on analog telephone technology which made use of physical copper wires connected to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) in order to make or receive phone calls.
Imagine having to make a phone call every time you wanted to buy something online. Customer support agents were limited to answering calls on-site, and the call center itself was located within company premises. Rather than working with a complicated, expensive system like this, many businesses are now turning to cloud-based telephone services for their communications needs.
- A cloud-based contact center system is hosted off-site, away from your building. With this type of solution, the equipment and heavy lifting are done by a third-party company that you pay to maintain it. All you need for your business are some telephones and reliable internet service, then voila! Your contact center can open for business.
- A cloud contact center can do wonders for your customer engagement campaign – but how? And is it really the best solution for you? Let’s find out, shall we?
- First, a cloud contact center can help you streamline customer communications. Because it is hosted on the internet, your customer communication data and information are centralized in one location, making it much easier for you and your agents to access this information when communicating with customers.
- Second, a cloud contact center gives you more flexibility in terms of customer service. Because it is cloud-based, you can access your contact center from anywhere – at work, while on vacation, or even while traveling for business. This means that you can serve your customers more effectively and efficiently, even if you’re not physically in the office.
- Finally, a cloud contact center offers a variety of tools that are useful for both your agents and customers. These tools include support for a variety of different channels, automated call distribution, call recording, quality monitoring, and more.
7. Business Continuity
After a major disaster, it is not uncommon for clients to need to contact their insurance agent. A hosted cloud phone system uses an off-site infrastructure and backup power supplies in order to maintain telephone service even if the local phone company is down. With this technology, agents can connect with clients from their smartphones and start the recovery process as soon as possible.
One of the biggest benefits of a cloud phone system for insurance agents is business continuity. After a major disaster, it can be difficult to get in touch with clients due to power outages or network disruptions. A hosted cloud phone system uses an off-site infrastructure and backup power supplies to maintain telephone service even if a natural disaster has knocked out the local phone company. This means that agents can still connect with their clients from their smartphones and begin the recovery process quickly, helping to mitigate the effects of the disaster.
Other benefits of cloud-based telephone service include ease of use and affordability. The platform is intuitive and streamlined, making it easy for agents to get started right away. Plus, a hosted cloud phone system is significantly more affordable than traditional landline phone service, which can be prohibitively expensive for smaller businesses.
Overall, a cloud-based telephone service offers an all-in-one solution for insurance agents. Whether clients are dealing with a natural disaster or simply need to get in touch after hours, this technology gives agents the flexibility and reliability they need to keep operations running smoothly.
The Bottom Line
In case the insurance industry needed a reminder, a recent Bain & Company survey of more than 174,000 insurance consumers in 18 countries questioning whether digital transformation is necessary yielded a resounding “yes.”
Digital platforms are not new, but their use for conducting business certainly has increased in the past few years. Our policyholders are no exception to this; they, too, expect their insurance providers to have a strong presence online. According to the findings between 2014 and 2018, the percentage of customers who frequently conduct business digitally rose by 60%. If that doesn’t reflect how essential online communication has become, nothing does—especially during a global pandemic where people have been forced indoors and turned to screens more often than ever before.
At the heart of this shift are the broadening reach and growing capabilities of cloud-based telephony services. In an increasingly digital world where customers want to be able to conduct business on their own terms, cloud-based telephone service offers all-in-one flexibility that insurance agencies can leverage to keep pace with changing customer demands. With cloud-based telephone services, agencies can set up a fully digital communications structure that is accessible from anywhere at any time.
The cloud also makes it easy for insurance agencies to scale their call centers and support teams to meet increasing demand. As the Bain & Company survey pointed out, customer satisfaction when contacting companies by phone has taken a nose-dive in recent years, dropping from a high of 61% in 2014 to just 49% today. By integrating cloud-based telephone service into the core of their operations, insurance agencies can improve customer experience without significantly increasing costs or adding more staff.
At the same time, by enabling agents to connect with clients through a myriad of digital channels – text message, chatbot, phone call, video conferencing – cloud-based telephone service enables insurance agencies to deliver personalized communications in a way that meets their customers where they are.
So if you’re an insurance agency looking to keep pace with changing customer demands and offer streamlined, comprehensive support, consider investing in a cloud-based telephony service. With the ability to connect customers with agents anytime, anywhere, and on any device, it just might be the key to driving greater customer satisfaction and retention in an increasingly digital world.
If you’re an insurance agency looking to keep pace with changing customer demands, a cloud-based telephone service is an ideal solution. With its intuitive interface, affordability, and ability to connect agents with clients on multiple digital channels, this technology can help your agency stay competitive in today’s increasingly digital landscape. So why not explore the possibilities of cloud-based telephony today and see how it can help your business thrive?