Leading Irish Insurance broker using compliant, cloud communications software to integrate customer communications, address GDPR compliance needs and reduce costs 

Solgari, the global provider of compliant, integrated omni-channel cloud communications services today announced the delivery of an insurance focused communications solution to Hastings Insurance Brokers, a leading Irish brokerage company.

By integrating all Hastings’ customer communication channels – voice and SMS – in the cloud, Solgari also automatically meets the company’s GDPR compliance needs by recording and archiving all channels in an encrypted military grade hosting environment. Additionally, the cloud-based monthly Software-as-a Service solution provides Hastings significant reporting and training capability while delivering savings of around 20% versus the legacy approach of using different, disjointed telephony, SMS, recording and carrier services across each office.

Hastings Insurance Brokers is a leading provider of multiple insurance products in Ireland with 6 offices selling into private, SMB and multi-national sectors.  Established in 1980, the company has a track record in adopting innovative technology to deliver products more efficiently to customers. This approach and the advent of onerous regulations such as GDPR led the company to embrace cloud communication software to address a number of important requirements.

The introduction of General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) on May 25th, 2018 represents a firm action by the EU to significantly strengthen and unify data protection for all individuals within the EU. Once GDPR comes into effect, data controllers like Hastings must be able to immediately ensure that personal data is processed lawfully, transparently and for a specific purpose. Where a company or organisation is found to have disregarded GDPR compliant procedures, they may be subject to fines of up to €20 million or 4% of their global annual turnover, whichever is the greater figure.

Solgari provides our customers all the digital communication channels – including voice, WebRTC video, chat, IM & SMS – while automatically addressing GDPR, PCI DSS & MiFID II compliance requirements through a per user per month SaaS model. The key applications of this solution to Hastings include the following:

• Integrate customer communications – voice & outbound SMS for policy updates & confirmations – onto a single cloud platform.
• Record & archive these communications channels as required for compliance and training purposes, in line with GDPR.
• Allow instant search and retrieval of communications, providing unlimited reporting & analysis capability including word and phrase searching within recorded audio.
• Provide PCI DSS compliant bank card payment capability for customers paying for policies over the phone.
Integration with Core IT, including database management solution, creating significant productivity gains such as popping the details of incoming caller.
• Cost savings of around 20% compared to the legacy alternative of attempting to meet these requirements with multiple, dis-jointed vendors.

Enda Mulchrone, General Manager at Hastings remarked “We provide our customers a number of communication channels and with the advent of GDPR it was important to think carefully how we could manage the recording of this important customer data in a compliant manner. Solgari’s solution allows us to provide all the digital channels – including video and chat when we require it – while automatically addressing GDPR compliance requirement for data controllers. This is a very powerful solution for the insurance industry.”

“We have a heavy focus on the Financial Services & FinTech sector, where we see forward looking, market leading companies such as Hastings seeking compliant, omni-channel cloud communication solutions” added John Colgan, CEO at Solgari. “Hastings is a really great example of a leading financial services company with multiple communication & compliance requirements across all offices that are all delivered as an integrated solution by Solgari. We are delighted to be working with Enda and his team and look forward to helping them continue to grow quickly and deliver fantastic customer service.”