Tenet Insurance Case Study

About Tenet Insurance

Part of the Singapore story since 1957, Tenet Insurance provides a broad spectrum of general insurance products and services ranging from personal insurance for individuals and families, to business insurance for companies. Its parent company, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc, is one of Japan’s leading insurance service providers with offices and subsidiaries in more than 25 countries and regions outside Japan and provides a comprehensive range of risk and asset management solutions. Sompo Japan was recognized as one of the “Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World” by the World Economic Forum in 2009 and 2010.

The Challenge: To Provide Continual IT Infrastructure & Application Services Uptime

As a reputable service-minded insurance company, it is important for Tenet Insurance to maintain superior customer service not merely via human interaction methods, but also via digital channels that can be brought about by continual IT system and application uptime.

Before sendQuick Entera, Tenet Insurance relied on manual monitoring or email alerts which took time. As a result, the IT team were usually late in finding and resolving issues arising from infrastructure breakdown and application availability. This resulted in delayed availability of IT systems and applications. Short Messaging Service (SMS) was identified as a solution to provide quick and reliable IT alerts to increase response time and thus reduce system and application downtime.

The Solution: sendQuick Entera

Tenet Insurance chose sendQuick Entera after assessing other options due to a few key considerations. Firstly, sendQuick Entera was quick to implement which would not take up unnecessary time and effort that could be spent on more pertinent matters. Secondly, sendQuick Entera was easy to integrate with other systems or applications which was a huge benefit as changing existing systems which would have been troublesome and costly. Thirdly, as a dedicated appliance based SMS gateway, sendQuick Entera was able to provide the reliability and stability Tenet Insurance required.

Finally, as there were no limits to the number of users coupled with useful features including 2-way messaging and general SMS broadcasting, sendQuick Entera presented Tenet Insurance with an overall cost effective and value added solution.

The Result: improved response time to IT events and high uptime for core services

After using sendQuick Entera, immediate success was felt as Tenet Insurance was better able to respond to alerts quickly and significantly reduce downtime. On the whole, overall uptime of the IT infrastructure along with application services have improved significantly.

The investment in sendQuick Entera has enabled Tenet Insurance to reduce downtime on operations dependent on backend IT systems which translates to improving the general customer service provided to their clients.

 

Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort Case Study

About Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort

Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort is the only resort in Singapore with a beachfront location on Sentosa Island overlooking the South China Sea. Situated on Siloso Beach, the resort aims to be the destination of choice for both business and leisure travellers. With 454 beautifully appointed guestrooms that comes with a private balcony and a view of the hills, garden, pool or sea, guests can enjoy the lush, natural surroundings.

The Challenge: to provide 24×7 uptime in critical IT infrastructure

As a 5-star resort that provides world-class service standards, Rasa Sentosa Resort understands it needs to continually uphold the standards to delight the customer. The standards do not just include front-office guest relations, but it also means having an uninterrupted IT infrastructure at the backend. As IT infrastructure is at the core of the hotel services, it is crucial to maintain continuous uptime.

Even though Rasa Sentosa Resort has an existing network monitoring system to watch for IT events, that alone is not enough. The network monitoring system triggers an email to the respective IT engineer in the event of an IT interruption. However the response time from the engineer may not be fast enough, especially if the event happens during non-office hours. Rasa Sentosa Resorts needs a way to inform the engineers at anytime and anywhere. Thus came the idea of using SMS-alerts, as it is both efficient and effective and at a relatively low-cost.

The Solution: sendQuick Entera

After assessing a few solutions, Rasa Sentosa Resort chose sendQuick Entera. Being a true appliance SMS server, sendQuick Entera is easy to set up and virtually maintenance free. sendQuick Entera is integrated into the existing IT infrastructure and supports the email alerts from the network monitoring system. sendQuick Entera converts the email messages and sends them out as SMS to the respective engineers. The selective message filter allows only important messages to be sent as SMS, thus reducing unnecessary SMS disturbances.

Deployed in their internal environment, sendQuick Entera eliminates the need for leased line and other Internet connections, to send out the alerts. With a built-in SMTP gateway, sendQuick Entera also acts as a back-up SMTP for the infrastructure.

The Result: improved response time to IT events and high uptime for core services

After the deployment of sendQuick Entera, there was a marked improvement in response time to IT events. Specifically, since the server room is not manned 24 hours, using sendQuick Entera has allowed engineers to be mobile and yet respond quickly when needed. Overall uptime of the IT infrastructure is increased which translates to better front-end customer service as core services are less disrupted by the downtime in backend IT infrastructure.

The investment in sendQuick Entera has resulted in a quick ROI with immediate improvement in work efficiency.

 

FotoHub.com Case Study

About FotoHub.com

FotoHub.com Pte Ltd, a digital imaging and photo-printing service provider in Singapore, has over 10 retail stores and an online printing portal. The first such provider to be awarded ISO 9001 in 2003, FotoHub is committed to providing high-quality photo prints and other lifestyle photo products such as calendars, coffee table albums and large prints. For more information, please visit www.fotohub.com

The Challenge: To provide a distinct level of customer service in a highly competitive retail Landscape while keeping business costs Low

Being in a retail landscape where competition is fierce and customers can be fickle, FotoHub understands it needs to continually delight the customer and win their loyalty. Even something as minute as reminding them to pick up their photos once they are ready for collection, is a carefully thought-out process when it comes to providing excellent customer service. FotoHub knows that customers enjoy the non-intrusive way of receiving SMS reminders and not be bothered by phone calls or missed calls during working hours.

Using SMS reminders has the added advantage of freeing up staff resources. Instead of spending time making a phone call, staff time is better utilised to provide customer service in the retail shops. As customers come to collect their prints earlier, cash-flow is improved. FotoHub also sees the value of using SMS to their customers who have signed up as members. The question: which solution to choose?

The Solution: sendQuick Entera

FotoHub chose sendQuick Entera as their preferred solution for a number of reasons. Being a true appliance SMS server, sendQuick Entera is easy to set up in minutes and virtually maintenance-free. FotoHub does not want to run the risk of heavy troubleshooting and maintenance, which often happens when installing vendor-softwares. If they were to buy SMS services from independent operators, they would have less control and would need to expend heavy resources on manual processes. The deciding factor was the affordability and ease of using sendQuick Entera.

Deployed in their internal environment, sendQuick Entera gives FotoHub the ability to automate the process of sending SMS and security with regards to their customers’ data. Information about customers’ order status and mobile number is directly synced from their webserver to sendQuick server.

The Result: improved customer-service at Low total cost of ownership

After the deployment of sendQuick Entera, staff who in the past had to spend time calling customers could now perform better customer service in the shop front. Customers are happy to receive reminders via the non-intrusive SMS service. Overall efficiency is enhanced as staff members need not spend time to repeatedly call customers if they are unreachable. The investment in sendQuick Entera has resulted in a quick ROI with immediate improvement in customer-service and higher work efficiency.

Alexandra Health (Khoo Teck Puat Hospital) Case Study

About Alexandra Health (AH)

Established on 1 April 2008, Alexandra Health is a new healthcare cluster that currently comprises the 550-bed general and acute care Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) and Jurong Medical Centre (JMC). KTPH is a public restructured hospital in the north of Singapore, serving the healthcare needs of more than 570,000 people living and working in the region. The team from Alexandra Health managed Alexandra Hospital prior to 1 August 2010 and brings to KTPH and JMC the same patient-centric focus and high standards in all aspects of patient care.

The Challenge: to find an affordable and efficient solution to manage the Large volume of patient appointments 

Alexandra Hospital was a public hospital seeing large numbers of patients daily. It was imperative to manage the appointment system efficiently and accurately. On average, the hospital saw 300 patients a day at the Specialist Outpatient Clinics. Previously, one of the modes of sending out appointment reminders was through phone calls to patients made from the call centre. As the number of patients increased, this not only led to lower productivity but also higher operation costs. To ensure greater efficiency for the benefit of patients as well as to reduce the call-rates  in the call-centre, Alexandra Hospital began to explore the option of a using SMS, as a low-cost solution, for appointment reminders.

The Solution: sendQuick Entera 

After evaluating a list of vendors and proposed solutions, Alexandra Hospital chose sendQuick Entera, which could complement the existing internal systems and SAP software to achieve better and quicker results. In the new workflow, the SAP software generates the appointment reminder record with the relevant data such as the patient’s name, mobile number and appointment date/time. The sendQuick server then receives the record, merges thet date/time. The sendQuick server then receives the record, merges the data and sends the SMS to the patient. Upon receipt of the SMS, the patient can reply (via SMS) to confirm, reject or change the appointment.

The solution provided for a fully automated system and browser with a specific message template and is virtually maintenance-free. Staff can easily make use of sendQuick to streamline their work processes and enhance productivity.

The Result: efficient patient appointment reminders at Lower total cost of ownership

In February 2009, Alexandra Hospital became the first hospital in Singapore to deploy a fully automated 2-way SMS appointment reminder system. After the roll-out, there was a marked improvement in patient attendances and a more efficient process for scheduling of appointments. Patients were pleased to receive timely reminders via SMS, which is less intrusive. Overall, the call-rates in the call-centre were reduced and this has translated into a lower total operating cost.

With the opening of KTPH in March 2010, the same system was deployed. Being a larger hospital, the positive impact and benefits of using this system was more marked, with greater cost savings and better efficiency.

Far East Organization Case Study

About Far East Organization

Far East Organization is the largest private property developer in Singapore. Its operations span the full spectrum of the real estate market, from residential to hospitality, commercial, retail and industrial sectors. It is also the largest private residential landlord and one of the largest owner-operators of hotels in Singapore.

The Challenge: to provide a reliable & highly scalable system that allows visibility for contractor services as well as enhancement of broadcasting efficiency for customer alerts & marketing activities

Far East Organization’s main challenges were two-fold. Firstly, being a leading property developer, it is important for Far East to respond promptly to service calls from tenants and guests in their properties. Secondly, Far East Organization sought a SMS solution that could be integrated to its existing Customer Relationship Management System for its various broadcasting and marketing activities.

With the numerous residential and commercial developments, Far East Organization requires a system that is able to handle the bulk volume of mobile broadcast messages. The existing software-based SMS system was not efficient and was not scalable. It was also not able to track if the contractors or customers had received the SMS.

The Solution : sendQuick Entera

Far East Organization chose sendQuick Entera as a centralized integrated server for the Organization to connect with its Property Management System as well as its Customer Relationship Management System. sendQuick Entera with its 2-way messaging system allows service contractors like plumbers and electricians to respond when they receive an alert from the Property Management System.

sendQuick Entera could also facilitate Far East Organization’s broadcasting and marketing activities with its ease of integration with the existing system. The heavy volume required by Far East Organization would also not pose a problem due to the scalability of sendQuick Entera.

The Result: Increased efficiency of internal & external communications

The 2-way messaging system resulted in more effective and efficient service call communication. It allowed Far East Organization to track the service lead time as the contractors are now able to send an SMS back upon receiving the service call and upon completion of the job.

sendQuick Entera has also enabled Far East Organization’s clients to send return SMS to RSVP for invitations to activities or events.

International Specialist Eye Centre Case Study

About ISEC Malaysia

International Specialist Eye Centre (ISEC) Malaysia is a leading eye centre in Kuala Lumpur, which provides world-class facility in eye-care that is affordable to the local and regional community.

The doctors at ISEC hold impressive credentials and they are among the leading eyes surgeons in Malaysia. For more information, please visit www.isec.my

The Challenge: to find an affordable and efficient solution to enhance communications for patient-services

Besides having a world-class medical facility, ISEC Malaysia recognises the importance and need to provide excellent patient services. One persistent problem they face is the over-booking of appointments and no-shows as patients may forget about their appointments. ISEC began to look for a solution that could provide a low-cost, fast, and accurate way to remind patients of their appointments as well as collect patient data from time to time.

With the prevalent use of mobile phones and the convenience of mobile SMS, ISEC was convinced that using sms services will help to meet their objectives. But which solution to choose?

The solution: sendQuick Entera

ISEC evaluated a list of options such as installing vendor-softwares, sending sms via data transfer to telco operator  and sendQuick sms appliance. Installing vendor-software runs the risk of conflicts to existing system and may require extensive manpower for troubleshooting and maintenance. Sending data to telcos presents a security breach which may compromise patient information.

sendQuick Entera, a true appliance sms server became their preferred choice. Deployed in their internal environment, sendQuick Entera preserved data security. The solution is a fully automated system – using an ODBC database connection to their Patient Information System, data such as patient name, mobile number and appointment date/time is retrieved to send sms reminders to patients 4-days before their appointments. The data never leaves their office and information confidentiality is maintained.

The Result: efficient communications to patients at lower total cost of ownership

After the deployment of sendQuick Entera, there is a marked improvement in patient attendance and a more efficient scheduling of appointments with the reduction of no-shows, Patients are happy to receive timely reminders via the non-intrusive sms service. Overall efficiency is enhanced as staff members need not spend time to repeatedly call patients if they are unreachable.

The investment in sendQuick Entera has resulted in a quick ROI with immediate improvement in patient-services and higher work efficiency.