Unity adds human operators to website

By MICHAEL FOREMAN

Internet-based financial services brokerage Unity has claimed a regional first by connecting its website visitors to a call-centre operator while they remain online.

Unity's site uses Lucent Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) technology to redirect voice data to the company's PABX as an ordinary call.

"It takes customer friendliness to a new level," said Unity managing director Brian Howard-Clarke.

Mr Howard-Clarke said the feature would work alongside Unity's existing "fast call-back" website feature, which guarantees that an operator will call back within 30 minutes when the relevant button is clicked.

"The issue with that for most people is that if you are still online, the phone's going to be engaged when the operator calls."

Mr Howard-Clarke said the feature was deceptively simple, as it had taken six months to develop in association with Lucent New Zealand distributor Agile.

The service employs a Java applet to send an http message to Unity's web server, which checks the integrity of an incoming call.

A computerised telephony server then initialises an Internet Telephony Gateway (ITG) session to create a tunnel through Unity's firewall to the PABX.

Call-centre staff receive an on-screen notification that an incoming call is being made.

Users need Microsoft's free NetMeeting software, as well as a PC with sound card, speakers and a microphone to use the feature.

"This is what we see as the future," said Mr Howard-Clarke.

"The next stage will be escorted browsing later this year. This will bring the relevant page [that a user is viewing] up in front of the operator, and effectively makes it as handy as having someone by your side."

Mr Howard-Clarke said customers in the financial sector needed the reassurance provided by a call-centre operator.

"People hate dealing with financial affairs - it's like going to the dentist - so we want to make it as unhurried and stress-free as possible."

Unity, which launched in 1998 as a division of the Manchester Unity Friendly Society, markets a range of financial services from loans to superannuation schemes from around 30 providers.

Re-formed as a separate company at the beginning of this month, Unity recently branched out into online share trading.

Mr Howard-Clarke said customers, numbering in the thousands, had not conformed to demographic expectations.

"We thought we would be selling to the over 40s," he said.

"What we found was a wide cross-spectrum including younger people who are very net-savvy."

Internet brokers such as Unity were lowering the cost per transaction for financial services, according to Mr Howard-Clarke.

This was applying pressure on financial institutions to develop lower-priced products designed for direct sale.

"We believe that as a customer you should get a cost advantage. Some providers are responding, typically by offering lower establishment fees or set up charges, but many still have a degree of channel conflict. Face-to-face operators still account for around 75 per cent of the business."

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