In a service industry like Insurance, customers are won or lost based on the Insurer’s ability to respond to their customers needs in a timely manner.

Monitor Liability recognizes the need for an efficient and reliable communications system. To maintain a competitive edge, it turned to two industry leaders to help employees respond to messages quickly, whether they are in the office or traveling.

BACKGROUND
Monitor Liability Managers, Inc. (www.monitorliability.com) is an underwriting management company specializing in professional liability insurance. It is a subsidiary of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: BER), a publicly traded holding company founded in 1967.

Monitor Liability issues policies through several W.R. Berkley subsidiaries including Admiral Insurance Company, rated A+ (Superior) on A.M. Best, and Carolina Casualty Insurance Company, rated A (Excellent) by A.M. Best. The firm’s stated mission includes efforts to offer the best combination of service, price, and products for its customers via long-term, solid relationships. Monitor Liability manages locations in Rolling Meadows, Ill., and Denver, Colo.

THE CHALLENGE
“Businesses need quotes quickly because often they need coverage quickly,” Tom Zuchara, network manager at Monitor Liability, said. “The faster our underwriters respond to requests, the more likely we will go forward to provide the needed coverage.”

More than 100 employees at Monitor Liability receive numerous voice messages, emails and faxes regarding quotes and policies every day. However, Zuchara explained, “Business at Monitor Liability is heavy on telephone. In our industry, 10 minutes without easy access to a phone or voicemails can be disastrous.”

Unfortunately, traditional methods of handling urgent messages were time-consuming and often took employees away from telephone availability. Like other business professionals, Monitor Liability employees viewed emails at the desktop while watching for blinking voice message indicator lights or listening for incoming fax transmissions. Since calling the voicemail system to obtain voice messages or picking up faxes at the machine took them away from the phone, urgent messages would often build up.

The challenge to stay on top of messages was even tougher when employees were out of the office—a common occurrence. “Every day, we have somebody traveling,” Zuchara said. To obtain messages, mobile workers would spend substantial time just checking various mailboxes. First, they would call into the office to gain access to voice mailboxes. Then, they would have to reach an office assistant to check for urgent faxes to be read over the phone. Emails would wait until the traveler could successfully access a modem connection via laptop—something every business traveler knows can be an adventure in itself.

In all, remote employees faced an involved, time-consuming process to gather needed messages.

THE SOLUTION
Timesaving improvements were made when Monitor Liability teamed with Sphere Communications, an enhanced IP-based communications solutions provider and manufacturer of Sphericall, the premier software-based multi-modal communications platform.

When version updates affected voicemail integration, Monitor Liability investigated solutions to fit its unique needs. To be cost effective, the insurance company needed a solution that would support its existing telephone infrastructure and IBM Lotus Domino® system. In all, it wanted to ensure employees would be enabled to manage messages effectively, both in the office and on the road.

Sphere’s recommendation included CallXpress® Unified Messaging. Zuchara reported, “With CallXpress, we’re able to provide better customer service by responding to requests more quickly no matter where we are.”

CallXpress provides access to voice, fax and email in one location, whether from the telephone, mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), computer or Internet. Additionally, CallXpress integrates well with virtually any PBX and is the first solution to provide unified communications support for IBM Lotus Domino R6.

“CallXpress for IBM Lotus Domino Unified Communications Services enables us to extend our messaging infrastructure to its maximum potential,” Zuchara explained. Monitor Liability upgraded to the complete end user unified communications solution for IBM Lotus in the Spring of 2003.

Among other capabilities available with the integration, Zuchara said users enjoy the ability to listen to, respond and forward voicemails on their computers as well as to manage messages via the Web with Domino iNotes Web Access Client.

In the Office
“With CallXpress,” Zuchara detailed, “users sitting at their desks receive voicemails directly into their email Inboxes. They can listen to voicemails right away and respond more quickly and efficiently than if they had to watch for indicator lights to call up the voicemail system.”

While the company did receive voicemails to the email Inbox with the previous Spherical voicemail, Zuchara shared that CallXpress adds helpful advanced features. For instance, users may sort all messages using familiar techniques in the Lotus Notes system. Also, they may employ LiveReply as an instant method to contact message senders via phone.

On the Road
Message integration also proves helpful for business travelers who receive access to all message types via a laptop or any Internet-connected computer via iNotes.

“For Monitor Liability, the best feature of using the integrated CallXpress and Lotus system is the ability to listen, forward and respond to voice messages through any Internet-enabled desktop,” Zuchara said. “Employees are no longer required to take laptops to dial into the system. They can manage messages easily through CallXpress and iNotes.”

Along with browser-based access, CallXpress for IBM Lotus Domino Unified Communications Services offers other helpful features. From the Notes and iNotes clients, users can choose to listen to messages either from the telephone or PC sound system. Also, another component allows users to group messages by type for efficient management from Notes, iNotes or the telephone.

When Monitor Liability employees are not near a computer they can also use CallXpress to listen to messages via phone. Emails and fax header information are obtained via text-to-speech technology that reads the messages in an easy-to-understand manner. This functionality is a “big plus,” according to Zuchara. “It’s more efficient overall and leads to substantial time savings for travelers,” he said.

THE RESULTS
Zuchara said CallXpress for IBM Lotus Domino Unified Communications Services is a nice fit for Monitor Liability. “It is a whole communication system we can use through Lotus Notes,” he said. “Instead of taking time to manage multiple systems, we can focus on one, reliable and integrated solution.”

Having used CallXpress for Lotus Notes and now CallXpress for IBM Lotus Domino Unified Communications Services, Zuchara reported he found the upgraded version to process messages more efficiently. “Fewer configurations are required and there are less potential points-of-failure,” he said. Also, he said the upgrade proved to be a simple process that returns “extremely reliable” results. “The upgraded version of CallXpress returns high availability and requires low maintenance,” Zuchara reported.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Applied Voice & Speech Technologies, Inc. (“AVST”) is a leader in the unified communications (“UC”) marketplace uniquely combining the strengths of its world-class messaging platform, CallXpress®, with its speech-enabled call management module, Seneca™, to create a powerful, next-generation unified communications solution. The Company’s products are designed to scale and support organizations of all sizes. For more information please contact us at: www.avst.com or +1.949.699.2300.

ABOUT SPHERE COMMUNICATIONS
Sphere Communications is the leader in enterprise communications system technology, providing customers with voice, video and data communications solutions for their networks. Sphere was the first company ever to install network-based IP PBX systems and today has many customer sites supporting thousands of users.

Sphericall deploys as a stand-alone system, a PBX expansion that integrates with existing systems, or as a branch office solution. Sphere sells and supports Sphericall through qualified resellers and distributors, and is on GSA schedules. Founded in 1994 and privately held, Sphere is headquartered in Lake Bluff, IL, a Chicago suburb. For more information, visit www.spherecom.com.