Basking Ridge, N.J., - Allstate Insurance Co., Northbrook, Ill., has deployed Internet protocol (IP) telephony solutions from Avaya Inc. (NYSE:AV) in new locations in the United States and Canada.Allstate is using Avaya's IP-based contact center applications, powered by the Avaya Customer Interaction Suite, to manage customer calls and route them intelligently based on customer-entered criteria. Allstate links its contact centers and manages them as a single, virtual organization--routing customers to the employee best able to handle a claim or inquiry based on language or area of expertise, regardless of where the call originates. As part of the implementation, Allstate has deployed more than 10,000 IP endpoints across its organization.
The new network builds on Allstate's existing Avaya communications infrastructure, continuing to support both traditional and IP telephony concurrently. Both traditional and IP telephony endpoints are able to communicate and can be managed as part of a single network.
"How satisfied our customers are depends on how responsive we are when they have major life events such as Hurricane Katrina," says Catherine Brune, senior vice president and CIO for Allstate. "We need to be able to ramp up our customer care operations quickly and efficiently when a hurricane, tornado or other disaster creates a spike in claims activity. Avaya's IP telephony solutions are a natural fit and already help us pull in additional resources and improve responsiveness to our policyholders when they need us the most--as well as to operate our business more efficiently on a day-to-day basis."
Allstate is also using Avaya IP solutions to enhance the business continuity of its own operations during catastrophic events. Using any telephone, PC or laptop computer, employees are able to log into the network from home or another work location and make and receive calls just as if they were in the office. This includes equipping workers with the Avaya IP Softphone--a software-based phone on one's PC or laptop--which enables Allstate to tap the talents of mobile employees and telecommuters in locations other than 'brick and mortar' contact center facilities.
Source: Avaya Inc.
