South African insurance giant Metropolitan has showcased the successful integration and automation of its client service call centre processes, using Remedy software, at the Peregrine/Remedy Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) user conference in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The conference, held late last year, introduced business evolution case studies from customers across the EMEA region to key Peregrine and Remedy partners, customers and users.
Last year, Metropolitan invested in a R1 million expansion of its national call centre for Life clients, implemented by Comparex Africa`s Customer Oriented Applications (COA) division.
The expansion followed the successful consolidation of Metropolitan`s Ordinary Business and Voluntary Group lines of business - with a combined total of 3.5 million customers - and the implementation of an operational data store (ODS). The latter integrates client and policy information across the business units for the call centre.
Metropolitan call centre senior manager Coenraad Schoeman says the project has been instrumental in providing Metropolitan with a competitive-edge in a mature South African insurance market. "My presentation at the conference looked at the benefits of developing Remedy from an internal business support application to an industry-standard call centre application," he says.
"It also covered the integration of Remedy to external systems, its positioning as a Web application and how the software is used at Metropolitan as an advanced marketing and variable remuneration system." Commenting on the relationship with COA, Schoeman says: "It made sense to continue with the tried-and-tested partnership of Comparex Africa COA and Remedy. Remedy had already been implemented elsewhere in the Metropolitan group and during the pilot phase of the project, while COA was our partner in getting the call centre to where it is today.
"The decision was made even easier when Comparex Africa COA took over the Remedy portfolio earlier this year, so, the company`s expertise and resources were optimal for our call centre expansion requirements." Jenny Kotze, CRM manager at COA, says the conference also outlined the "positive" future for Remedy users following the company`s buy-out by Peregrine Systems earlier this year.
"Peregrine chairman and CEO Steve Gardner stressed the benefits of a strategic partnership between the previously competitive entities, calling it an `evolution` rather than `revolution`. He also highlighted how the companies will complement each other in their respective customer sites," says Kotze.
"Remedy has traditionally been sold as a customisable, flexible solution to fit any business scenario, while Peregrine has traditionally opted for an 80%-fit out-of-the-box experience.
"Both selling points will stay, with the product lines continuing to be developed in parallel but sold across the companies` combined markets." Kotze says she expects the strategy will also apply in SA, where COA - as one of the country`s leading Remedy partners - will look to forge meaningful partnerships with Peregrine resellers in all major regions.
"Our objectives for the next year are to continue growing the Remedy customer base, service existing customers and see how we can benefit mutually from our Peregrine partnerships."
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