Ericsson Plays Important Part in Folksam Multimedia Contact Center Roll Out.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Ericsson's (NASDAQ:ERICY) Solidus eCare solution is playing an important part in the roll out of a new multi-site multimedia customer contact center for one of Sweden's largest insurance companies, Folksam. The solution will reduce response times, personalize support, ease mobility and enable skills-based call management.

Ericsson's solution provides Folksam's 1,160 customer service agents with full, flexible communication capabilities, enabling them to manage calls from any phone or softphone-equipped PC connected to the corporate network at any location. The Solidus eCare solution operates on Ericsson's MD110 Convergence Communication System. Ericsson Mobile Extension also gives 400 employees remote or roaming capabilities. It offers a functionality equivalent to traditional PBX and gives mobile users full access to switchboard services, such as answering services and call forwarding.

"The implementation is a logical step in providing more customer-friendly and efficient service," said Per Ardehed, Manager for Folksam's Contact Center. "This solution will provide us with new opportunities to develop our operations, particularly in customer service and claims settlements. It will contribute to our external efficiency by enhancing customer accessibility and cutting response times."

Folksam has more than 60 offices throughout Sweden, all of which will form part of the new contact center. The Ericsson solution will provide continuous rerouting of call traffic between the offices, according to customer needs and available resources.

The solution allows Folksam to monitor traffic load and allocate resources accordingly. The system also helps Folksam to identify long-term trends and to plan future resources. When fully integrated with MD110, Solidus eCare has the added benefit of redundancy, which guarantees that customer service will not suffer in the event of server problems.

Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world.

About Solidus eCare

Solidus eCare enables IP- and mobility-enabled 'virtual' contact centers to be established across multiple sites. The solution routes incoming calls and other messages according to a wide range of pre-selected agent competencies and skills. The technique is known as skills-based routing and allows dispersed customer service organizations to behave as a single entity. Customers are given access to the most appropriate agent, wherever they are located and whatever communications medium they prefer to use.

Solidus eCare provides a flexible contact center platform that can be integrated with a customer database to give agents full access to customer data, such as previous transactions and current case status. The information appears in a pop-up window on the agent's PC when the system has identified the caller. It also provides statistics on traffic volume, call queuing, response times, elapsed time and so on that enables continuous monitoring and fine-tuning to match changing customer demand, in terms of volume and contact method.

Read more at http://www.ericsson.com/enterprise/library/press.shtml