Insurance Companies Benefits SIP Trunking

SIP trunking is a great way for insurance companies to keep their call centers running smoothly even after natural catastrophes. 2017 was a record year for natural catastrophes, with Maria, Harvey, and Irma bringing disasters to America’s shores.

Insurance Journal reports that natural disasters cost insurers $144 billion in 2017. You can bet that insurers’ phones were ringing as claims poured in. It is wise to be prepared for any emergency that may arise this year and future.

Here are some ways that insurers can prepare for the flood of customer inquiries that will follow a major natural catastrophe.

After a disaster strikes, we are fielding call spikes

Insurance companies can see a significant increase in customer inquiries after a disaster. Customers may find it difficult to reach the customer service number and ask questions or file claims. Dropped calls can happen when traffic spikes are severe. This can lead to frustrating customer experiences. In addition, callers could become upset from being already stressed by the incident, which could hurt the insurance company’s reputation.

Up until recently, there was no way to prevent this from happening. You had to buy and install extra permanent phone lines long before the disaster. If an insurance company received 20 calls per day at 10 a.m., it would require at least 20 phone lines to handle each call. How can an insurance company forecast when a natural catastrophe will strike? Or how many customers will it bring with it? This could be a difficult question to answer. Especially since over-resourcing, the telephone system might pay for more services than the company needs.

SIP Trunking Solutions Increase Capacity

Insurers can now take advantage of SIP trunking solutions to address this problem. They provide the ability to serve customers after a natural catastrophe immediately. SIP trunks are a better alternative to traditional telephony trunks. They allow for enhanced communication with legacy and IP networks. An insurance company can centralize all its SIP trunks to better resource peak capacity across all its offices, thereby providing an office that has experienced an increase in calls with the power it requires to help its customers.

SIP trunking solutions allow insurers to respond more quickly to call spikes after natural disasters without the need for additional phone lines. In addition, SIP trunking will enable insurers with offices in different locations to take advantage of time zone differences. This allows the insurance company to efficiently and economically accommodate peak calls for its offices in multiple time zones should a disaster strike.

Although no one can predict when the next disaster will strike, we can expect more severe weather events to hit our shores soon.

Resilient Communications for Support After Disasters

Insurers are in the business of providing support if a disaster occurs. Therefore, they require resilient communications to be able to serve their customers. Modern cloud-based communications solutions, which offer advanced features such as SIP trunking, also provide 24/7 support to resolve any issue that might arise. As a result, insurance companies can rest assured that they will be able to manage the high call volumes. That are often caused by extreme weather events such as hurricanes and other severe weather.

It is possible that an earthquake could hit the insurance company’s office. A robust cloud-based communications platform can ensure business continuity in an emergency. Employees can stay connected with customers and colleagues through a mobile app or computer with broadband internet, no matter where they are. In addition, insurance companies can easily change their greetings on their phone system to direct customers to the appropriate department to process their claims. This makes it clear that the company remains open and available to help, rain or shine.