Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP): What Is It and How Can You Implement It in Your Insurance Organization?

Learn More About the Features of VoIP and How an Industry-Specific System Can Be Beneficial to Your Agency, GA, IMO/FMO, or Call Center

Every organization wants their CRM or agency management system (AMS) to have the key features needed to make their teams more effective and efficient. That said, is built-in or integrated VoIP functionality on your company’s list of must-have capabilities? If not, it should be.

In this blog, we’ll cover what exactly VoIP is, how you can use it in your insurance organization, and why it’s important to consider an insurance-specific solution, like an industry-specific management platform.

What Is VoIP?

You might be wondering what makes Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) different from any other phone provider or system. The FCC defines VoIP as: “a technology that allows you to make voice calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line.”

VoIP was developed in 1995 and was created as a way to save money on long-distance and international telephone fees. But VoIP really came to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic when companies and their employees around the world went from working almost entirely in offices to working remotely. VoIP usage increased by over 200% during the first few months of the pandemic.

VoIP services are typically cheaper, more flexible, more secure, and can come with additional features like text messaging and video conferencing, as opposed to a traditional telephone line.

How to Use VoIP in Your Health, Benefits, and Senior Insurance Organization

VoIP systems across the board often come with features that can save your agency, GA, IMO/FMO, or call center significant time and energy. Here are some features that are often included in these systems and how they can benefit you.

Click-to-Call Dialer

A click-to-call dialer can be an extremely powerful tool to have in your VoIP system. Click-to-call dialers automatically detect phone numbers on a page, so all you have to do is click the number, and a call is started. This is an essential tool when it comes to prospecting and working through lead lists in your sales management system.

Automated Phone Recordings

The insurance industry is ever-evolving, and new rules and regulations are announced often — thus, keeping up with compliance can be a challenge. Finding a VoIP provider with automated phone recording capabilities is crucial. Instead of manually recording calls, which sometimes requires third-party software or services, see if the solutions you’re researching have the ability to automatically capture and store calls. You can also add custom phone recordings that play at the beginning of a call to ensure you’re staying compliant with things like CMS regulations.

Video Conferencing

As mentioned before, one advantage of using a VoIP system is that it often comes with extra features you won’t find with a traditional landline. One feature that many providers include is built-in video conferencing. Your team can meet with clients face-to-face, eliminating the need for a separate provider. Then, if your VoIP is integrated with or built into your CRM or AMS, your video calls can most likely be recorded and stored automatically to maintain compliance.

Ring Groups

Ring groups can be incredibly important to insurance organizations with call centers, a large number of internal or downline agents, or even just more than one agent. Ring groups allow you to create a group of numbers or phones that all ring when a single number or extension is dialed. For example, when someone calls your business’s main phone number, setting up a ring group can be beneficial in ensuring that that call is picked up and your clients and prospects are assisted immediately.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

Your VoIP system should help your team work smarter, not harder. With an interactive voice response (IVR) feature, directing clients manually to where they need to go is a thing of the past. With IVR, you’re able to set up an automated menu when someone calls your business that guides them to who they need to talk to. This will automatically route them where they need to go, saving your team from manually routing.

Call Queues

Prospecting is a big part of every agent or producer’s responsibilities. Without a call queue feature, agents could be left making a static list of who they need to reach out to and manually dialing each number. Call queues streamline this process significantly. Simply add contacts to a call queue, and then press go. The dialer in your VoIP system will then start calling each client or prospect in your queue, making the process much more efficient. 

It’s also nice if your VoIP has voicemail drop functionality that can quickly drop your pre-recorded message whenever the call goes to voicemail. This allows you to move on to the next call in the queue without pause.

The Benefits of Integrated VoIP

Now that we’ve reviewed the features that often come included with a VoIP system, why is it worthwhile to consider a system that can either integrate with or is built into your CRM or AMS?

Improves the Client Experience

Client retention is something every insurance organization is keen on improving. After all, retaining clients is cheaper, easier, and less time-consuming than acquiring a new client.

Having a phone system that is connected to your CRM or AMS can help achieve your organization’s client retention goals. When your agents or customer service reps are on the phone with a client, they don’t need to spend time searching for their notes and information — it’s all right at their fingertips. This allows your team to spend more time actually speaking with the client, thus improving the client experience and customer satisfaction.

Increases Organizational Productivity & Efficiency

We’re all looking for ways to make our jobs more efficient. By integrating VoIP with your CRM or AMS, you can remove a lot of manual parts from your processes. With features like click-to-call, automated phone recordings, ring groups, IVR, call queues, and more, your team can save precious time and spend more time on what they do best — selling to prospects and servicing clients.

Streamline Your Business’s Tech Stack

How many pieces of software does your organization use? According to Catalyit’s 2023 State of Tech in Independent Insurance Agencies Report, agencies with less than $500,000 in revenue had an average of six pieces of tech in their stack, while agencies with over $5 million in revenue had an average of 11.7 pieces of tech in their stack. By using an AMS or CRM with built-in VoIP features, you can streamline your stack and ultimately cut down on the amount of money your organization is spending on software.

Plus, this can also eliminate data silos in your organization. Data silos happen when information is only accessible to one group within your company, or is only available in a system that doesn’t integrate with other systems. With integrated VoIP, call data isn’t stored in a separate system — it’s right there in your AMS or CRM.

The Importance of an Insurance-Specific VoIP System

Now, what you might not realize is that there are insurance-specific VoIP solutions out there that are built specifically for the health insurance industry. Why is this important?

As we explained before, having an integrated or built-in VoIP system can create efficiencies in your organization. But having an insurance-specific system can be even more beneficial. Since the health insurance industry is constantly changing, that means an insurance-specific solution will also evolve and change with the industry. Your team doesn’t have to make a generic solution fit your needs — an insurance-specific solution is already built with your needs in mind.

Become More Efficient With Built-In VoIP Functionality in AMS+

AgencyBloc’s AMS+ solution includes built-in VoIP functionality made specifically for the health, benefits, and senior insurance space. With this, you get powerful VoIP features coupled with compliance-specific features for the health insurance industry. This makes it easier than ever before to comply with regulations like the CMS Final Rule 2023. AMS+ allows you to record and store all inbound and outbound calls, add pre-recorded messages to the beginning of calls, and create a digital paper trail that can be referred back to.

Key features include:

• Click-to-call dialer (for leads, prospects, and clients)
• Video conferencing
• Ring groups
• Voicemail drops
• Interactive voice response (IVR)
• Call queues
• Call forwarding
• Automated phone recordings

Posted by Sarah Rosonke on Wednesday, February 7, 2024 in Insurance VoIP & Click-to-Call

1. client retention
2. compliance management
3. insurance automation
4. productivity
5. prospecting
6. selling