More Insurers Turn to AI for FNOL

Posted on

June 5th, 2017

Many industries make use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for basic customer service tasks. This frees up associates’ time to help customers with details that are more complex. This improves the customer’s experience and boost their loyalty. It is no surprise that AI is making headway in the insurance industry as well.
However, AI is not without its limitations. Issues such as imperfect speech recognition, incomplete historical data, and a general distrust of artificial intelligence programs prevent insurance companies from fully embracing the technology. For now, those companies that do use AI only do so for tasks their mobile apps or web portals can accomplish. For example, several insurers now make use of virtual assistants for their chat portals.

A Need for More Data

The largest hang up by far is a lack of claims data. AI programs cannot make informed decisions without historical information. Once companies have amassed enough data, AI can make decisions to speed up the claims process. For example, AI could handle first notice of loss (FNOL) and file the necessary information much faster than an agent can. This would allow insurance agents to skip to the next step in the claims process. The faster an insurance company resolves a claim, the happier their customers are.

Speech Barrier

The next problem halting a full AI integration is inadequacies in speech recognition. Speech recognition programs do not understand idioms or long, involved sentences. However, most individuals do not speak in a concise manner after an incident. Fortunately, technology is catching up to this; however, until it is fully functional, insurance companies will only trust AI to perform simple tasks.

Legacy Systems

The main goal of incorporating AI is to improve the customer’s experience by speeding up the claims process. The final obstacle to this is legacy systems. Many insurance companies rely on dated programs and technology to complete their claims process. Some tried retrofitting their data to work with newer technologies, but this provides limited functionality. Actec can help insurers overcome these issues by implementing in-house solutions to improve claims management. This includes complete FNOL tracking, escalating claims when necessary, call logging, and many other features. Contact the experts at Actec to learn more.

Detrimental Effects of Employee Absenteeism on the Workplace

Posted on

May 26th, 2017

Andrew

shutterstock_227384539 - Copy The problems associated with employee absenteeism are not limited to the employee and the consequences are far-reaching. Employee absenteeism can affect productivity, finances, and workplace morale. Attendance issues affect a business’s bottom line as well as the rest of the staff. That is why it is vital for employers to develop and enforce an absence reporting policy. Without proper attendance protocols in place, employers can encounter some or all of the issues discussed below.

Poor Performance

When an employee is absent on a regular basis, they may be unable to complete their work by the given deadline. Failure to come into work on a regular basis impedes the employee’s ability to complete projects. However, it also bleeds over into other departments. If the employee is working on a beginning or middle phase of a project, staff members responsible for the final pieces cannot begin work. This causes a domino effect of delays and loss of productivity.

Limited Growth Potential

Employers expect employees to continue to grow in abilities and expertise. If an employee misses work on a regular basis, it is unlikely they will be able to work on their professional development. Instead of growing their skill set, the employee will be playing catch up and trying to stay abreast with their current workload.

Strife Among Staff

Other staff members will grow to resent their chronically absent coworkers. It requires them to pick up the slack and work longer hours. This leads to tension and can cause poor working relations for future projects. The remaining staff can come to resent management as well. Employees without attendance issues will perceive that management is allowing the absent employee to continue missing work without repercussions.
This is why having an absence reporting and management system is essential. Without these procedures and tools in place, management may not even realize an attendance issue exists. Actec can help businesses implement an absence reporting and management system to avoid the above issues. To learn more, contact us.

Mobile FNOL Benefits Policyholders and Providers

Posted on

May 16th, 2017

Andrew

smart devices The benefits of a mobile app for policyholders are obvious. Customers want easier interactions with their insurers and they want to interact from any device. Having a mobile app can improve first notice of loss (FNOL) procedures as well. For example, the customer can upload pictures related to the claim to speed up the process. Mobile apps benefit providers as well by removing inefficiencies and allowing them to take a more active role in resolving the claim.

Mobile Improves FNOL for Everyone

An example of how a mobile app benefits both the customer and the insurance company is when a flood occurs. If a homeowner comes home to discover their bathroom flooded, their initial reaction will likely be to call a plumber. The customer will then wait until a bill arrives before contacting their insurance company. In this scenario, the insurance company has no control over the repair expenses.
With a mobile app, the insurance company can recommend the best plumbers at affordable rates rather than paying the individual or company the customer located. This allows the insurance company to control costs and quality of repairs. The app can include recommendations for contractors and service providers as well as referral information from other customers.
This also reduces the number of steps a customer has to take to solve their problem. They no longer have to research and compare reviews and costs. By taking care of this process for customers, insurance companies can position themselves as the superior choice over their competitors. To learn more about regaining control over claims through improved first notice of loss, contact the experts at Actec.

Advanced Absence Reporting & Analytics Protect Margins and Ensure Compliance

Posted on

May 5th, 2017

Andrew

absence management video image border One of the most prevalent issues that employers face is employee absenteeism. Recent DOL statistics estimate that three percent of an employer’s workforce can be absent on any given day. Furthermore, surveys have shown that employee paid absences cost employers over 20 percent of their total payroll. While most of the absences are legitimate, up to one-third of them are not related to illness.
Inaccurate absence tracking leads to significant losses in not only margin but also productivity and even workplace morale. To help reduce instances of employees taking fraudulent sick days, employers can implement electronic absence reporting. The benefits are multi-fold, including:

Employees who know their employers are tracking how often they call out tend to rethink taking a gratuitous day off.
By collecting absentee data, employers can gather averages for how many days employees take leave. Employees who know this information can compare their time off to the status quo. Some employees may not realize they are taking more leave than is normal without this data.
The data can help employers target problem areas. If one department has a much higher absentee rate than the others there could be a leadership issue. The data can help employers address the issues and prevent similar problems from happening in the future. Ensuring employees are happy goes a long way to reducing absenteeism.
Clear and accessible rules and methods for reporting sick time should help employees to understand and make use of the system as its intended.

Employers who implement electronic absence reporting systems should be mindful when using the data. The end goal should be to support and improve employees’ workplace experiences. If employees view the data collection as a means to mete out punishment, it could have the opposite intended effect.
Employers should make it clear that any electronic reporting system is meant to enrich employees’ health and wellness while at work. To learn more about optimizing your absence reporting procedures, contact us.

First Notice of Loss: Looking to 2018 and Beyond

Posted on

May 2nd, 2017

Andrew

shutterstock_251707783 sm As insurance and technology evolve, the FNOL workflow process continues to adapt in significant ways. Failure to capitalize on these shifts can leave organizations at a competitive disadvantage, and even affect customer satisfaction and employee morale. Trends to keep an eye on in the next year include:

All in One Place Platforms: Streamlining first notice platforms into a single, unified operation will cut costs and increase efficiency while reducing the likelihood of reporting and communication errors.
Consumer Engagement: Consumer engagement will become a key metric for insurance as it has in many other consumer industries. FNOL call centers will increasingly engage customers and ensure satisfaction in addition to filing claims.
Processes that Scale: As companies try to lower costs and increase effectiveness they search for processes that can scale. Software that can scale the FNOL process will be a competitive advantage.
Quality Data for Processing: As wearable technology and the Internet of Things improves data collection, companies will possess more reliable and multi-vectored data for FNOL processing to reduce the time it takes to complete documentation and verification.
Sophisticated Data Modeling: Improved analytics and data modeling will help companies refine the FNOL process.

Better data, analysis, and modeling will help companies determine how to improve FNOL process management. All in one place platforms and software that can scale will help refine the management flow of claims by increase up to date information and decrease input errors. Ensuring your first notice of loss solutions stay current is mission-critical when dealing with claim intake and management, enabling your organization to reduce loss and increase client retention.
Contact the experts at Actec to learn how our proprietary solution can help you increase customer engagement with scalable solutions and improved data management.

Improving Performance with Call Center Outsourcing

Posted on

April 25th, 2017

Andrew

shutterstock_138016598 - Copy Staffing and managing an internal call center is a challenge for many insurance companies. This becomes especially difficult if the company boasts 24/7 availability. Many companies could benefit from outsourcing their call centers. Below are some of the top ways outsourcing call centers can improve an insurance company’s performance.

Focus on Core Areas of Expertise

Many insurance company executives want to invest their employees’ time in what they do best: resolving claims, gaining and retaining customers, and developing new ideas to improve their current services. However, finding and training staff on call center protocol takes a lot of time. Executives also have to deal with any employee turnover, so staffing an internal call center demands much of their attention. Handing off call center services to a qualified company removes this distraction and allows insurance companies to focus on refining their services.

More Support and Less Stress

Outsourced call centers provide additional support for insurance companies. If a customer tries to call their insurer and discovers they will have to deal with a long wait time, they are likely to abandon the call. If this happens too often, they may begin shopping around for another provider. Policyholders also become agitated after long wait times, which can create unnecessary tension between the customer and the insurance agent.
Outsourcing call centers allows insurance companies to focus on their areas of expertise as well as reduce stress for both insurance agents and policyholders. To learn more about how outsourcing call centers can improve company performance and efficiency, contact the experts at Actec.

How to Talk to Employees About Attendance & Excessive Absenteeism

Posted on

April 18th, 2017

Andrew

shutterstock_174875483 It can be difficult for employers to address employee absenteeism for a variety of reasons. Some absences employers can identify as fraudulent. For example, an employee who always calls out sick the day before or after a holiday is likely abusing their sick leave. Another possible misuse of leave could be an employee who always has a family emergency crop up right before a major deadline. While some of these absences may be legitimate, employers who notice attendance patterns need to address it.

How to Discuss the Problem

Employers need to address absenteeism when they first notice it. However, there are good and bad methods of leading an attendance conversation with an employee. Below are several tips for employers to ensure the conversation is productive.

Remain aware that the meeting is investigative in nature and not disciplinary. Adjust your tone to one of concern rather than threatening. The employee is a member of your team and the emphasis should be on resolving a problem rather than issuing a reprimand.
Ensure the meeting is private. Public areas such as the employee’s cubical are inappropriate and are not conducive to a productive outcome.
Have your facts ready before the meeting. Know the dates of all absences, reasons given for the absences, etc. Not being prepared can have the opposite intended result of the meeting. The employee may not take your concern seriously if you have not done the appropriate legwork.
Ask the employee for more details about the absences. There may be a genuine problem contributing to the ongoing attendance problem such as a sick family member or lack of adequate childcare. If the problem is ongoing, try to offer solutions such as a flexible schedule or shifting workdays to allow the employee to take care of their personal life as well as their professional life.
Explain to the employee that their absences are affecting operations. Many employees do not believe their role is significant enough to hinder productivity if they miss a day every now and then. Providing concrete data that shows how their unplanned time off affects sales can highlight the cost of their absences.

Next Steps
After meeting with the employee, continue to monitor their attendance. Employers need to address any continued absences or improvements. If you observe a noticeable improvement in the employee’s attendance, be sure to let them know you appreciate their efforts.
Some absences are unavoidable. However, employers need to address attendance issues before they become habitual. Taking the right approach to managing absences can yield much better results than going on the offensive. To learn more about absence management, contact the experts at Actec.

Fixing Your First Notice of Loss Process

Posted on

April 11th, 2017

Andrew

smart devices Proactive claims handling is necessary for insurance providers to thrive. A company using a dated paper-based system cannot deliver the level of service customers now expect of their providers. The greatest opportunity insurance carriers have to ensure customer satisfaction is when the customer provides their first notice of loss (FNOL).

FNOL Checklist

Insurance companies should ask the following questions to evaluate their FNOL process:

Do customers have a variety of options for initiating a claim?
Can customers use their smartphone or tablet to initiate a claim?
Can customers upload information via photos?
Do claims representatives have easy access to the data they need to begin the claim?
Do customers receive real-time feedback about their claim?

If an insurance provider cannot answer yes to all of these questions, it is time to overhaul the FNOL process. Failure to provide a certain standard of service can result in customer retention issues.

Putting Customers First

Implementing customer-centric FNOL solutions can reduce complaints as well as help protect a business’ reputation. By focusing on the customer’s experience, businesses provide the following benefits to their policyholders:

Ability to choose the method of FNOL (i.e. through a call center, website, or mobile app)
Enable digital interaction such as text alerts about missing data or uploading photo documentation
Streamlined FNOL submissions to improve the speed of the claim as well as reduce errors

To learn more about customized FNOL solutions that improve customer satisfaction, contact the experts at Actec.

Using Data and Analytics to Improve FNOL

Posted on

March 28th, 2017

Andrew

shutterstock_251707783 sm Utilizing data and analytics can transform how insurance companies operate. However, there’s a misconception that insurers can upgrade their systems and automatically reap useful customer insights. Inputting data is not enough. Insurers need to delve into multiple elements to make the most of improved data collection. These components include:

Digitalization
Risk management
Technology
People/Subject matter experts

For first notice of loss (FNOL) purposes, digitalization plays the biggest role. Insurers who realize this and adapt can keep pace with the rapidly transforming insurance industry. For example, insurers who implement effective data collection and analytics analysis can use a plethora of behavior-based information provided by their customers.
Most customers are willing to share this information because it secures improved and personalized policies and services. This data aggregation process is digitalization. Gathering customers’ data to provide products tailored to their needs saves the customer time and provides value over other companies that do not perform this service.
Having this data automatically available saves time for FNOL as well. Prefilled data can pull driver, vehicle, and policy information for verification purposes. Digitalization also improves information accuracy as it removes the element of human error. This can help reduce FNOL from an average of 15-25 minutes to seconds.
FNOL provides insurers with their greatest opportunity to deliver a positive claim experience for the customer. Frustrated customers are less likely to renew their policies or recommend their insurer. Implementing effective data collection and analytics can remove these irritations as well as help insurers provide superior services. To learn more about implementing effective FNOL processes, contact the experts at Actec.

4 Common Causes for Absence that Hurt Your Company Reputation

Posted on

March 20th, 2017

Andrew

shutterstock_227384539 - Copy Some causes for absence can’t be avoided. People will get sick, a relative may pass away, or an employee may become disabled. Other reasons for absence have nothing to do with sickness or injury. These are job related conditions, and if they aren’t cured they can hurt your bottom line and your company’s reputation.
Job Related Conditions for Frequent Absences
Job-related conditions include more than just an accident at work or George coming in with a head cold and spreading it through the sales department. The work environment and level of employee engagement can also determine how often your employees call in sick. These conditions include:

Stress and burnout
Bullying/harassment
Low Morale
Job hunting due to bullying, stress or low morale

These conditions are preventable and if they go unchecked your company can gain the reputation of being a bad place to work.
A Bad Place to Work
When a company is considered a bad place to work more employees will leave the organization in search of better conditions. The high turnover rate will be difficult to offset because the company will also have a difficult time recruiting quality candidates to fill open positions.
With a high turnover rate and positions that are difficult to fill, the quality of the company’s products or services will be affected. When a company’s products or services are affected, the company will suffer from customer dissatisfaction and a poor company image.
A company’s revenue, reputation and market share will be negatively impacted due to a poor working environment and high absentee rate.
Employee Engagement
Increasing employee engagement, encouraging workers to use their vacation time to prevent burnout and instituting a zero tolerance for harassment will improve company morale and attendance rate. Earning a reputation for being a company that cares will also help your organization recruit the top candidates in your industry and improve company efficiency.
And when you do need to track employee absences, contact the experts at Actec. We offer an absence management solution that will work for your unique business needs.