Medihelp invests in Remedy-based contact centre from AST Group

Medihelp has invested in a Remedy-based contact centre solution from AST ESM in the first leg of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) implementation.

AST ESM, a business unit of AST Group Limited, is a South African Business Partner for Remedy Corporation, a leading provider of Information Technology Service Management (ITSM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and eProcurement solutions.

The AST ESM implementation centres on Remedy Server and AR-Web, a web-enabled version of Remedy`s Action Request (AR) System. Medihelp has purchased 105 licenses for this powerful workflow management software solution. Also included is Remedy Flashboards, which monitors activities real-time and identifies trends and contact centre problems at a glance. An Aspect PBX completes the solution.

Established in 1905 as the Public Service Medical Aid Association (PSMAA), Medihelp has vast experience in the medical schemes industry. With 140 000 principal members, is also one of the top three schemes in the country. The company privatised in 1993 and commenced with a major drive in 1998 to increase its competitiveness in line with global standards.

Anton Rijnen, who became CEO of Medihelp in the same year, comments: "A recent Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) study clearly showed that Medihelp outperformed its competitors in the marketplace in terms of desired service levels in 18 of 19 areas covered - the notable exception being accessibility via the telephone."

"We realised that we urgently needed to address this if we wanted to meet international standards."

In consultation with business experts, Medihelp decided to embark on a company-wide CRM strategy, which would be key to the company`s longer-term ambition to rank among the world`s finest medical schemes.

"Already, in terms of our reserve levels - at nearly 28 per cent compared to the broader industry`s 21 per cent - Medihelp is one of the most stable and well-administered medical schemes in South Africa."

"In the longer term, medical aid products and prices will gradually begin to mirror each other," he continues. "The key competitive differentiator, then, will be client service. With our investment in CRM, we are ensuring that we will be at the forefront of the industry in this regard as well."

As a starting point, Medihelp required a new telephone system, which would be linked to workflow software that linked its front- and back-end client interaction systems.

With the assistance of an independent call centre consultant, Medihelp created a specification and sent out a Request for Proposal (RFP) to four companies, and awarded the contract to AST ESM in June last year.

The company`s strong integration skills, combined with its proven technology solution offerings, clinched the deal for AST ESM, according to Rijnen.

The first phase of the implementation was completed on 28 October 2000, with the seamless changeover from Medihelp`s old system to the Aspect telephone switch. Remedy was installed a month later.

Mark Wampach, senior manager: client enquiries at Medihelp, notes: "Over the past month, we have already experienced an improvement in service levels of between 45-55 per cent, measured in terms of time taken to answer the phone."

While the system currently acts as a voice-based call centre, it is envisaged that it will become a fully-fledged contact centre utilising Remedy`s Web interaction capabilities by March 1 this year.

AST ESM, with its specialist enterprise application integration skills, ensured that Aspect and Remedy have been integrated into all of Medihelp`s client interaction systems, including its mainframe and data warehousing systems, its claim scanning facilities and GroupWise e-mail notification system.

All of Medihelp`s 88 agents and call centre managers have already received training in Remedy at AST ESM`s sophisticated training centre in Centurion and a further, internal training facility will ensure that additional training needs are met.

While Medihelp`s new contact centre will form the hub of its customer interactions, the company is also training all of its employees in various aspects of customer service and quality management as part of the broader CRM strategy, according to Wampach.

With its robust, scalable, multi-tiered architecture, Remedy`s powerful workflow system will provide a strong foundation for automating and optimising critical customer interaction functions throughout the organisation.

He anticipates major benefits to flow from the Remedy installation: "Remedy will provide us with a bird`s eye view of the status of client queries and provide us with statistics vital to effective overall management of our client interactions.``

Wampach has high praise for the AST ESM team of Remedy experts: "They are a highly dedicated team, and are always there when we need them. They have listened to our needs and have specifically customised Remedy for our requirements," he adds.