The Auto Channel
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
Official Website of the New Car Buyer

Amica Insurance Selects FaceTime Communications to Provide Instant Messaging-Based Customer Service in Enterprise

Amica Insurance Selects FaceTime Communications to Provide Instant Messaging-Based Customer Service in Enterprise

FaceTime Chosen by Amica for Real-Time Call Center Communications and Customer
                                 Interaction

    FOSTER CITY, Calif., July 9 Amica Mutual Insurance
Company, the nation's oldest mutual insurer of automobiles, has chosen
FaceTime Communications, the premier provider of instant messaging for
businesses, to provide real-time communications and Web inbound IM-routing
capabilities for its 100 seat corporate office Service Center. The result will
be a suite of applications that improve on-line customer satisfaction through
innovative instant messaging technology, making Amica the customer service
leader in the insurance industry.
    "We conducted a lengthy evaluation of many vendors in the customer service
technology sector," said Margaret Munroe, Amica's Assistant Vice President of
Corporate Communications. "FaceTime's interface to the AOL and MSN networks,
their vision of IM within the call center, as well as their flexibility to
integrate chat, E-mail, IM, and other features, such as Web-based call-back,
were the key reasons that FaceTime's instant messaging technology appealed to
us. In addition, FaceTime's success with customers like Bank One and Compaq
solidified our confidence in FaceTime's ability to offer our customers another
important means of contact."
    Amica will utilize FaceTime's Instant Message Director to help obtain new
business in its auto insurance product line, and for some claim reporting. In
order to achieve this, Amica will use the FaceTime public IM gateway service
under the BizBuddy name, AskAmica, which will give their customers the
flexibility to contact Amica's call center using their familiar AOL instant
messenger.  The company will combine this with FaceTime's Web-based callback
feature, which allows Amica's agents and customers to escalate an instant
messaging session to voice.  Server scalability, IM technology, and the
flexibility of having the option to bring the solution in-house to Amica at a
later date were all important components for choosing the FaceTime Instant
Message Director.
    "The decision by Amica Insurance to select FaceTime is an important
validation of our vision of the importance of Instant Messaging networks to
extend time-sensitive communication throughout the enterprise," said Glen
Vondrick, President and CEO of FaceTime. "Amica's vision that Web-based chat
must also extend connectivity with the public Instant Messaging networks to
reach beyond the call center further demonstrates that IM is an integral part
of time-sensitive, critical customer communications across many different
industries."
    Instant messaging is the fastest growing communications channel in
history. According to IDC, by 2004, over 400M clients will be using instant
messaging to generate 2 trillion instant messages between consumers and
businesses. Global 2000 contact center CRM budgets are predicted to be over
$12 billion. Forrester Research states that by 2002, consumers will get
answers to customer service queries by using instant messaging tools from the
likes of AOL and Microsoft to link to agents and companies' knowledge bases.
This channel will rapidly displace browser-based customer service chat
systems. In addition, Forrester estimates that the average cost of a phone
call to a contact center costs a business approximately $33 per call, whereas
an instant messaging session costs about $7.33 per session. Instant messaging
creates tremendous opportunities for Global 2000 businesses, and FaceTime is
positioned to help their partners and customers capitalize on this
opportunity.

    About Amica
    Amica Mutual Insurance Company is the nation's oldest mutual insurer of
automobiles, and was founded in 1907. The company, with corporate headquarters
in Lincoln, Rhode Island, is a national writer of automobile, homeowners,
marine, and personal excess liability insurance. Life coverage is available
through Amica Life Insurance Company, a wholly owned subsidiary. Amica employs
more than 3,400 people in 42 offices across the country.

    About FaceTime Communications
    FaceTime Communications is the leading supplier of instant messaging (IM)
applications for enterprise businesses.  The Company's robust communications
server establishes real-time connections between appropriate live resources
and customers for time-sensitive business problem resolution.  Comprised of
world-class technology, FaceTime's Instant Message Director leverages
interoperability with consumer IM networks such as AOL, Microsoft, and Yahoo!
to increase efficiencies in contact center and distributed agent environments.
Customer care directors of Global 2000 companies such as Compaq, BankOne,
Western Union, and Homestore.com rely on FaceTime's technology to help manage
communication traffic on customer Internets, intranets, and extranets.  The
result is a communications channel that improves customer service and reduces
the costs that are traditionally associated with large, multi-level contact
centers.  Headquartered in Foster City, CA, FaceTime can be reached at
http://www.facetime.com or via IM screen name FaceTimeLive.