Europ Assistance South Africa today announced the official launch of its fully digitalized service provider network across all its business lines, made possible via its access to global technological innovations of the Europ Assistance Group. The enhanced solution is set to drastically improve the speed and efficiency of assistance services provided to all South Africans, including medical emergency, ‘take-me-home’, roadside and home assistance.

This is according to Christelle Colman, Chief Executive Officer of Europ Assistance South Africa, who says this digitalization project is set to increase the company’s response rate to emergency roadside cases by more than 20%, which is very important considering the safety concerns on South African roads. “In addition, we expect the customer’s telephonic interaction with our call centers to be reduced from an average of four minutes to less than 60 seconds, as we will have access to all important geolocation services.”

In times of crisis, every second counts and we are working tirelessly to ensure we reduce all response time targets to our customers, to ensure an improved service experience, she adds. “The process of digitalization is giving us the necessary tools to realise our goals.”

Colman continues that while this digitalization mythology it is implementing does exist globally in the EA Group, the solution has been locally developed, placing the South African operation at the forefront of digital innovation.

Given the high rate of crime and accidents in the country, the digitalization of life saving assistance services will play a major role in quicker response times and overall improved customer service, she adds. “This digitization strategy will also greatly enhance our control over our service provider network and external costs, ultimately benefiting the client through vastly improved service delivery and cost efficiencies.”

Three ways to success

She explains that the company is digitalizing its interaction with its network of service providers in three ways.

“Firstly, we will now be utilising a digital dispatch approach, which means we will be dispatching our providers via a web mobile platform. This will assist to save time when dispatching service providers in emergency situations, as we will be able to tap into geolocation services and send the closest provider to the customer in need. This could mean the difference between life and death in crisis situations.”

Secondly, we will now be able to monitor our network of providers in real-time during all stages – from the dispatch to arrival, arrival to drop off and case completion – with geolocation technology, she adds. “This will help us to track each individual case, to ensure each case is handled in the most efficient and effective way and that cases are completely solved.”

Lastly, we will be incorporating web payment and billing functionality, which will ensure faster and secure payment from Europ Assistance to service providers, says Colman. “This is hugely beneficial to the towing industry, as we have taken a clear stand on supporting the independent providers, to whom cash flow is a very important consideration. Using our new billing functionality, will ensure fast and efficient payment of accounts.

Web billing also enables the service provider to log on to the service provider web portal and capture their invoice from Europ Assistance South Africa for payment, she adds. “Most importantly, the service provider will also be able to track the progress of payment,” says Colman.

The bottom line

This digitalization of our service provider network will greatly benefit our clients, which are companies that offer value added services to their customers, such as insurers, medical aids, banks and the motor industry, she says. “The digitalization of this network means that our clients will be confident that they can improve their customer’s experience when it comes to assistance services, especially roadside and accident incidents. The end-user will benefit from quicker turnaround times, the ability to get real-time updates of the service provider’s arrival and an overall improved service by vetted service providers.”

Through the digitalization of our network, Europ Assistance will also be supporting small business service providers by giving them the technology to improve their operational efficiencies, she says.

“We are incredibly excited about our enhanced digital solutions and are confident we will be able to greatly improve assistance services in the country and assist to save the lives of many more people,” concludes Colman.