BT Exact's innovative online multimedia application wins
Online Services Solution of the Year Award
BT's research, technology and IT operations division, BT
Exact, today announced that it has won the Online Service
Solution of the Year Award at The Banker Technology Awards
2004 for its online customer relationship management (CRM)
tool 'Ask Avril'.
Originally designed by BT Exact's Radical Multimedia Lab
for Newcastle Building Society, Ask Avril is an online multimedia
virtual character, or avatar, that is used on web sites
to represent a human being.
The Banker Technology Awards recognise best of breed, innovation
and success in financial technology, highlighting vendors
who have made a real contribution to advancing shareholder
value and customer service within financial institutions
over the past 12 months. Through its avatar technology,
BT has created an award-winning match for these criteria.
The Ask Avril character presents a friendly face that greets
the Newcastle Building Society's web site customers, asks
how it can be of assistance and provides verbal answers
to the web site's frequently asked questions. For the Society
the technology has been used to improve its online customer
service for its Offset Mortgage product.
Peter Richards, head of marketing for the finance sector,
BT Retail, said:" The 'Ask Avril' concept is a new
principle in electronic CRM and had not been tried by a
building society before. Customers of Newcastle Building
Society are now able to interact electronically with a friendly
face, perhaps even a face that they will recognise from
their local branch. The solution has already proved to be
a success, and a recent satisfaction survey found that 51
per cent of users thought that 'Ask Avril' was better than
normal text pages, and 60 per cent were happy with the speed
of operation. As a result, Newcastle Building Society is
now planning to introduce more virtual characters across
its web sites."
Colin Greaves, general manager at Newcastle Building Society,
added: "Offset mortgages are relatively new and we
decided one of the best ways to help our online customers
understand the concept was to provide a virtual assistant.
Instead of trawling through the text customers can opt to
ask Avril as if they were speaking to a real person. It
may not be for everyone, but many do appreciate the interactive
approach. Ask Avril was also based on an actual member of
staff, which makes it all the more real."
David Butcher, BT Exact's managing director for customer
management said: "We are delighted that BT Exact has
been recognised by The Banker Technology Awards. 'Ask Avril'
is BT's first financial services customer using avatars
as customer service agents, and winning the Online Services
Solution of the Year is a testament to BT Exact's commitment
to innovation and technological development."
For more information about BT Exact, please go to www.bt.com/btexact
Source: Bt
june 17th 2004
