Accenture Adds SmartVideo Technology to its Life and Annuity Software

By Peter Bernstein
Senior Editor

We keep hearing that B2B and B2C video interactions are going mainstream as critical tools for improving customer experiences.  The problem is this has been a mantra for years.  Next year always seems like the year the market will finally take off. 

Hopefully, without seeming overly optimistic, this coming year holds out hope.  The glimmer that hints this year could be the year is evident in the insurance industry, where the sector’s reputation for being technologically behind has been the source of countless articles and executive calls to action in the past year.  The reason for having a brighter view is the announcement that Accenture (News - Alert) has enhanced its Accenture Life Insurance Platform (ALIP) by adding the SundaySky personalized SmartVideo (News - Alert) capabilities to the platform.

Put succinctly, Accenture says it is adding video to: “Help life insurance and annuity carriers deliver dramatically improved customer experiences through digital channels. The new solution allows carriers to take advantage of engaging, personalized and data-driven videos at scale to help support and retain customers throughout the customer lifecycle. It does so by enabling insurance carriers to use customer and policy information stored in their systems to quickly and cost-effectively create data-driven videos.”

What are the applications and why is video enhancement a nice addition from improving the customer experience?  Delivered in real time, videos can provide customers with tasks such as:

• Account set up information
• Billing statements
• Events confirmations

“As technology and industry changes continue at a blistering pace, carriers find themselves in the midst of a digital transformation that requires a focus on innovation. Integrating SmartVideo technology into ALIP will change the way carriers communicate with their customers and help foster engagement and increase brand loyalty,” said Shay Alon, global managing director, Accenture Software for Life and Annuity. “Our new SmartVideo complements Accenture’s life insurance and annuity offerings by enabling carriers to create unique digital experiences while reducing contact center and operational costs.”

Accenture has formed an exclusive alliance with SundaySky to offer the capability as a software-as-a-service (SaaS (News - Alert)) solution.  It is sold as a standalone solution or pre-integrated with ALIP. As such the offer is aimed at life insurance and annuity carriers of all sizes for product development, new business, underwriting, and policy administration.

Video as a mainstream part of insurance industry interactions for enhancing the customer experience is no long a case of wait until next year.