INNSIGHT
Communications Channels:
More is More
The proliferation of channels can be frustrating for insurers;
however, limiting the ways intermediaries and policyholders
can interact with the company increases relationship friction.
By
Matthew
Josefowicz
Insurance is an information business that relies on three broad categories of I T capabilities: communication, storage and management, and analysis. Recent advances in IT have changed the game in all three areas, requiring insurers to change their conceptions of what’s possible in managing their businesses. Perhaps the most visible of these changes has been in communications technology. In the last 20 years, we’ve gone from a world dominated by
paper (including fax) and voice communications that were tied
to physical locations (i.e., the phone on the wall or on the desk)
to one where billions of electronic text messages and images are
sent and received every day and many of these (not to mention
voice communications) originate on mobile devices.
When it comes to communications channels, our research
found that more is more. The proliferation of new channels such
as e-mail, Web and mobile has not eliminated the need to sup-
port traditional channels such as phone or physical mail.
