Chat System and Contact Center

InsurFront's Contact Center encompasses a suite of advanced communication tools designed to streamline interactions both within your organization and with your customers. This article will guide you through each component of the system, ensuring you fully leverage InsurFront's capabilities to enhance communication efficiency.

Overview of Communication Tools

InsurFront integrates several robust communication features that mirror the functionalities of popular platforms like Slack, Google Meet, Zoom, Google Voice, and Dialpad. These tools are designed to facilitate seamless interactions through a single platform.

Internal Chat and Calls

• Chat System: Similar to Slack, InsurFront supports one-on-one conversations, group chats, and channels. Channels can be set to public for company-wide access or private, requiring manual addition of members.

• Audio and Video Calls: Users can initiate internal calls, both audio and video, directly within InsurFront. This feature is akin to using Google Voice and supports comprehensive in-call functionalities like call forwarding and recording.

Video Meetings and Virtual Rooms

• Scheduling and Hosting Meetings: Schedule video meetings that are comparable to Google Meet and Zoom, with capabilities such as screen sharing and recording. Meetings can be secured with required admission control by the meeting’s host.

• Virtual Meeting Rooms: Set up virtual rooms for scheduled meetings or spontaneous gatherings, accessible to team members via direct links.

VoIP and SMS

• Voice over IP (VoIP): Make calls to regular phone numbers using InsurFront’s VoIP system, which functions similarly to services like Dialpad.

• SMS Conversations: Send and receive SMS messages with external contacts, integrating seamlessly with your communication strategies.

Customer Service Chat

• Integration with Social Media: Connect with customers directly via platforms like Facebook and others that offer APIs. This integration allows for real-time customer service and support through popular social media channels.

• Setup Process: Admins can configure these integrations by navigating to Settings > Service and support > Customer service chat and following the setup instructions.

Permissions and Access Control

• Feature Access: Access to communication features depends on the insurance company’s plan. Ensure your plan supports these features to utilize the system fully.

• Permission Settings: Administrators can manage permissions for each feature through Settings > System settings > Permission management, tailoring access according to user roles and needs.

Data Storage and Compliance

• Security Protocols: All communications within InsurFront, including chat messages and call logs, adhere to strict compliance and security protocols to protect sensitive information.

• Platform Compliance: When integrating with external platforms, the storage and handling of conversations are subject to the compliance policies of both InsurFront and the external platforms.

Managing Contacts

InsurFront's Contact Center offers robust tools for efficiently managing contacts, facilitating seamless communication and collaboration within your organization. To access and manage contacts, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Contact Center: Start by accessing the Contact Center within InsurFront. This central hub is where you can manage all aspects of your contacts and communication activities.

2. Access Contacts: Once in the Contact Center, locate and click on the "Contacts" tab. This will open up the Contacts section, where you can view, add, edit, and organize your contacts as needed.

Adding New Contacts

• Create New Contact: To add a new contact, click on the "Add Contact" or "New Contact" button within the Contacts section. This will open a form where you can enter the contact's details such as name, email address, phone number, and any additional information relevant to your communication needs.

• Save and Organize: After entering the contact details, save the contact to add them to your contacts list. You can also categorize contacts into groups or segments for easier organization and management.

Editing and Updating Contacts

• Edit Contact Details: To modify existing contact information, select the contact from your contacts list and click on the "Edit" or "Update" option. This will allow you to make changes to the contact's details and save the updated information.

• Keep Information Up-to-Date: Regularly review and update contact information to ensure accuracy and efficiency in communication. InsurFront's Contact Center makes it easy to maintain up-to-date contact records.

Organizing Contacts

• Grouping Contacts: Utilize contact groups or segments to categorize contacts based on criteria such as department, role, or relationship type. This helps streamline communication and target specific groups when necessary.

• Search and Filter: InsurFront provides search and filter functionalities within the Contacts section, enabling you to quickly find specific contacts based on keywords, categories, or other criteria.

By effectively managing contacts through InsurFront's Contact Center, you can streamline communication workflows, enhance collaboration, and deliver exceptional service to your customers and stakeholders.

Including External Participants in Video Conversations

InsurFront's video meeting capabilities extend beyond internal communications, allowing the inclusion of external participants, such as contacts, existing customers, and other guests who do not have InsurFront accounts. This feature enhances the versatility of your meetings, making it ideal for broader business discussions, client consultations, and collaborative sessions with external stakeholders.

Setting Up Video Meetings with External Participants

Video meetings involving external participants are handled differently than regular user-to-user calls within InsurFront to accommodate guests without requiring them to have an InsurFront account:

• Meeting Room Setup: Unlike direct calls between InsurFront users, which generate a live ringtone through the app, meetings with external participants are set up as virtual meeting rooms. This format ensures that all attendees, regardless of their user status, can join the meeting seamlessly.

• Invitations: All participants, including those external to InsurFront, receive invitations via email, ensuring they have all the necessary details and links to join the meeting. InsurFront users additionally receive notifications within their app interface, aligning with the platform's integrated communication system.

How to Schedule a Video Meeting with External Participants

To organize a video meeting with both internal and external participants, follow these steps:

1. Access the Contact Center: Navigate to the Contact Center within InsurFront and click on the Camera-icon located in the upper left corner of the page to initiate a new video meeting.

2. Add Participants:

   • Internal Users and Contacts: Search for and add existing contacts or customers by navigating to the 'External contacts' or 'Customers' tabs within the meeting setup.

   • External Guests: For participants who are neither existing contacts nor customers, enter their email address directly. Click the 'Add [email address] as an external participant' button to include them in the meeting invitations.

3. Schedule or start call by clicking on the applicable button.

Benefits of Including External Participants

Incorporating external participants into video meetings through InsurFront brings several benefits:

• Flexibility: Engage with a wider audience without the need for InsurFront accounts, making your meetings more inclusive and adaptable to varied participant bases.

• Convenience: Streamline the process of setting up comprehensive meetings that involve both internal team members and external parties, all from within a single platform.

• Professional Engagement: Maintain a professional approach by using a platform that supports formal invitations and ensures that all participants have easy access to join the meetings.

This functionality is particularly useful for insurance companies and agencies that frequently interact with external clients, consultants, or partners, providing a reliable and efficient way to conduct comprehensive discussions and presentations without geographical or technical limitations.

Managing Channel Administrators

Effective management of communication channels is essential for maintaining order and facilitating efficient information flow within any organization. InsurFront provides a structured way to manage channel administrators, ensuring that each channel within the Contact Center is overseen by designated users. Here’s how to manage administrators for a channel in InsurFront:

Appointment of Channel Administrators

• Automatic Admin Rights: When a channel is created in InsurFront, the creator is automatically granted administrator rights. This ensures that there is always at least one admin to manage the channel settings and memberships from the outset.

• Accessing Channel Settings: To manage the administrators of a channel, an existing admin must first navigate to the channel within the Contact Center. Click on the channel name in the header to open the channel settings.

• Managing Members and Admins:

  • Viewing Members: Once in the channel settings, click on 'Members' to view all current participants of the channel.

  • Appointing New Admins: To grant administrative privileges to any member, locate the member in the list and check the checkbox next to their name. This action appoints them as an administrator, granting them the ability to manage the channel alongside existing admins.

  • Adding New Members: From the same 'Members' section, new members can be added to the channel. This allows for the dynamic expansion of the channel to include more participants as needed, who can then also be considered for admin roles.