The introduction of SmarTek21’s SmartBotHub has improved chat responses, but a significant number of customer queries are completed using the AI-based platform

IMS

IMS integrates SmarTek21’s AI-based chat platform. (Credit: IMS.)

Insurance & Mobility Solutions (IMS), a subsidiary of Trak Global Group (TGG), has partnered with SmarTek21, a provider of artificial intelligence (AI) and data services.

Under the partnership, IMS will integrate SmarTek21’s SmartBotHub Conversational AI platform within its sister company Carrot Insurance, a UK-based direct-to-customer digital insurance company.

Furthermore, the self-service support, which is expected to enhance customer experience at Carrot Insurance, will be available as a module within the insurer’s UBI platform, which was launched earlier this year.

For enhanced customer experience, Carrot Insurance has been deploying alternatives to voice-driven communications since 2019.

About 40% of all chats are now being handled by the SmartBotHub platform

SmarTek21’s SmartBotHub was integrated into Carrot’s existing webchat platform ensure that 100% of all the chats are initially handled by a bot. The company further claims that initial results from the deployment show that the bots are not only handling initial interactions but nearly 40% of customer query chats, from start to finish.

The average chat time is further claimed to have decreased by about 2.5 minutes per chat, offering significant gain in productivity, while boosting customer satisfaction.

TGG chief marketing officer Andrew Brown-Allan said: “We believe that delivering a high quality, end-to-end digital customer experience is a critical success factor for any connected auto insurance proposition.

“The integration of SmarTek21 as a digital delivery partner within the Carrot modular UBI platform is already returning significant benefits for our direct-to-consumer business in the UK.

“It’s a great example of why Carrot is the perfect sandbox for experimentation around new technologies and methods of engagement – uniquely, we can identify what works, refine it, and then make it available to IMS’ existing customers and all other insurers to apply to their own programs, on a tried-and-tested basis.”

The launch of SmartBotHub platform is touted to have come at the perfect timing when several critical frontline workers insured by Carrot Insurance are making coverage changes related to Covid-19. With the new AI-based chat platform, customers can do this quickly and conveniently.

SmarTek21 insurance industry lead Jon Kirk said: “We are seeing the onset of a technological revolution within the insurance sector, primed by conversational AI and other advances such as robotic process automation.

“The inclusion of SmartBotHub as an available module to IMS’s existing UBI customers, and other interested insurers, is the first step we are taking to develop more complex self-service opportunities and proactive communications linked via APIs to existing client software solutions.

“Early adopters within the insurer and broker community will have a significant competitive advantage as they benefit from both a service and efficiency perspective.”