Esurance Provides Customers VoIP - Another Way to Get in Touch

Voice Enabling on Web Site With 'Click to Call' Service Yields Customer Satisfaction

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 13 -- Esurance, a direct-to- consumer personal auto insurance company, announced the launch of its new service powered by eStara, Inc. eStara's Push to Talk is a fully-hosted, Voice over the Internet (VoIP) "click to call" service, the most widely-deployed service of its kind in the world. The click to call feature allows Esurance customers to click a button to speak with an Esurance insurance advisor directly from Esurance's Web site, from PC-to-phone or through phone-to-phone calls.

Tom Capp, Esurance's Director of Telesales, explained, "Many customers have let us know that they think the click to call technology is 'cool.' They really appreciate the fact that it routes them immediately to the right person, versus having to keep dialing to get to the appropriate person through an IVR." Capp continued, "Now, customers can also let us know when it's best for us to talk to them -- right away or a little later. The ability to schedule a future call is really useful for our customers who still have dial- up modems, whether that customer's interested in buying a policy or in taking care of their post-purchase verification."

Based on the first three months of the click to call deployment, Esurance has found:

  -- More Inbound Contact When a Customer Sees His/Her Price
     Deploying the click to call service has increased purchase inquiries by
     30%. "When customers get their quotes, they have a lot of
     understandable questions about their price, our company, etc. It's
     great that potential policyholders now have another way to get in touch
     with us," stated Capp.

  -- Higher Conversions from Click to Call Users
     Capp continued, "Anytime you start talking to someone, you can answer
     the questions they need answered before they buy." Because customers
     tend to convert more over the phone, Esurance gets better conversion
     using eStara.

  -- Stronger Customer Satisfaction
     "It's not just sales that have improved, but we've also improved the
     customer experience we provide to our policyholders," Capp added. By
     adding click to call functionality on a page seen by new policyholders,
     Esurance was able to better handle some rather complex verification
     processes.

Gary Tolman, Esurance President & CEO, stated, "We have an award-winning Web site and some of the highest customer satisfaction ratings in the insurance industry. To sustain such excellence, it's imperative that we continue to innovate online, particularly in terms of offering features that represent real benefits for our customers. eStara's click to call technology represents such an innovation, making it easier for customers to get their questions answered immediately and helping us deliver on providing a hassle-free experience for our customers."

In a recent online survey of over 5,000 eStara Push to Talk users on financial services and banking Web sites, over 25% said that the "click to call" service saved them from abandoning their Web site visit.

"eStara is extremely pleased to partner with Esurance and contribute to the company's track record of online innovation and success," says Brad Timchuk, eStara Senior Vice-President for Sales and Business Development. "Online insurance and financial service decisions are highly personal and often complex. eStara Push to Talk can make the difference between creating a new, satisfied customer or an abandoned Web site visit."

About eStara, Inc.

eStara, Inc., is headquartered in Reston, VA. with European headquarters in Paris. eStara Push to Talk is the most widely deployed "click to call" service in the world with over 350 global enterprise customers and over 1,000,000 users in 113 countries. eStara Push to Talk gives users the ability to make PC-to- Phone and Phone-to-Phone calls from the Web. The service requires no additional hardware or software. Survey results of Push to Talk users suggest at least 25 percent of Web site visitors were "saved" from abandoning their online transaction by clicking on the Push to Talk button. Please visit http://www.estara.com/ for more information.

About Esurance

Esurance, a subsidiary of White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. , provides personal auto insurance direct to consumers online and through select online agents. Esurance is dedicated to constantly improving the way people shop for, buy, and manage their auto insurance. By combining the best of technology with industry know-how, Esurance is able to offer hassle-free coverage with 24/7 customer service and claims handling at competitive prices.

Through Esurance's Web site, www.esurance.com, customers can get instant quotes, view comparison quotes, buy an Esurance policy, and print their proof of insurance card -- all in minutes. Esurance also offers policyholders the ability to make policy changes and file claims instantly online, demonstrating its commitment to improving the entire insurance process from quote to claim.