Assurant Solutions Wins Stevie® Award for Innovation in Customer Service

ATLANTA, Feb. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Assurant Solutions, a global specialty insurer, was recently selected as a winner in the 2011 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service. The company's patented Real Time Analytics Matching Platform, an analytics-based contact center routing technology known as RAMP, received the award in the Innovation in Customer Service category.

"It's quite an honor to win a Stevie® Award, and particularly exciting to receive recognition for innovation in customer service," said Cameron Hurst, Assurant Solutions vice president of Targeted Solutions. "We believe that a great customer experience is fundamental to business success. It's heartening to know that RAMP is recognized as a significant innovation in improving customer service within the contact center environment."

RAMP combines data about the individual customer with each contact center agent's specific skills, expertise and past performance to optimize the routing of calls.  Assurant Solutions, which invented the original technology, partnered with IBM to bring the application to market.  IBM Global Business Services consultants designed a "matching-engine" that leverages a combination of customer insight, agent profiles and real-time analytics to provide unprecedented "individual-level" decision making and assignment of calls. 

"With the cost of customer acquisition at an all-time high, finding innovative ways to enhance the customer experience is a priority for every business," said Michael Schroeck, vice president, Business Analytics and Optimization Services, IBM Global Business Services. "This award not only recognizes the value of RAMP in bringing highly personalized service to the call center, but also Assurant Solutions as a model for success in using analytics to improve business performance through building customer loyalty." 

The Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service are recognized as the world's premier business awards for sales, contact center and customer service professionals. More than 800 entries from organizations of all sizes and virtually every industry were submitted to this year's Stevie® Awards competition. Assurant Solutions received two finalist nominations this year; one for Mark Davis in the "Customer Service Leader of the Year" category and the other for RAMP. 

About Assurant Solutions

Assurant Solutions businesses develop, underwrite, market and administer specialty insurance, extended service contracts and other risk management solutions through collaborative relationships with leading financial institutions, retailers, automobile dealers, funeral homes, manufacturers, wireless carriers and other entities. With operations in 25 locations, including executive offices in Atlanta, Ga., Assurant Solutions serves clients and their customers in 12 countries throughout North America, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and Asia.  www.assurantsolutions.com

Assurant Solutions is part of Assurant, a premier provider of specialized insurance products and related services in North America and select worldwide markets. Assurant, a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500, is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AIZ. Assurant has over $26 billion in assets and $8 billion in annual revenue. www.assurant.com

About The Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com.

Sponsors of the 5th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include American Support, the Business TalkRadio Network, Competence Call Center, Infogroup, the Sales Management Association, and ValueSelling Associates.

SOURCE Assurant Solutions