A new portal based on Microsoft SharePoint Server 2003 has helped customer service agents at insurance services firm AXA Assistance Germany find answers to customer queries faster, and in doing so, cut phone-queue waiting times.

The solution was deployed in just two months with the help of Microsoft partner Singhammer eDMS Consulting. AXA Assistance Germany has 180 customer service representatives in its call center in Munich who answer calls on a wide array of topics 24 hours a day. It provides information on insurance for the retail and travel sectors as well as health, legal and motor assistance information.  The wide variety of information the service provides often involves searching across several databases including many from third-party companies.

Working with Singhammer, the SharePoint Portal Server-based solution was able to aggregate information from multiple sources and databases into a single easy to navigate portal.

“The big advantage of SharePoint Portal Server 2003 is that it makes key customer-care information available to every employee in the world through a simple Web browser. There is no need to install additional software from third parties, as is often required with competing document management systems,” said Ali Baccouche, SharePoint project manager for AXA Assistance Germany.

Baccouche said the most time consuming part was having users outline their needs and how the search functions should operate. A Microsoft Access database was used to capture existing policies and maintain and adapt core data. Agents can now search for the data they need without opening and running different programs for different databases. Very little customization was needed. The familiar interface was so easy to use that the first 30 agents who tested the portal needed just 90 minutes of training.

“To date, we have had nothing but positive feedback, said Baccouche.