Having hired Dr. Eric Chalmers as Director of Data Science in the fall of 2017 to spearhead the company’s artificial intelligence and machine learning initiatives, Surex has already seen these AI processes improve efficiency within the billing department.
When billing issues arise, typically, a staff member will read through the customers’ documents, sort them and perform a combination of data entry/lookup before communicating with the customer to resolve that issue. These tasks take only a few minutes per case, but when the billing department is dealing with 100+ cases per day, that time adds up.
Surex Direct’s AI-based system intelligently reads and categorizes documents, extracting the important information and performing all the necessary data entry and data lookup. The system handles over 90% of the documents automatically and refers the rest to staff members for expert judgement. The system also continuously learns from staff members: If there’s a case that the AI-based system doesn’t know how to handle, it will learn from staff members' actions and be more likely to handle a similar case autonomously the next time.
"This ability to self-improve separates AI from conventional software," says Chalmers. "Because this system can learn and adapt autonomously, we don't incur large maintenance costs to update the system whenever the process changes. Low-maintenance is key in an industry where things are always changing."
‘’These AI initiatives have opened up a new world of cost saving measures within our department,’’ Rhonda Paxman, Billing Supervisor at Surex Direct, said. ‘’We are able to add 4-6 hours a day back into our teams’ schedule, which is invaluable to a rapidly growing company.’’
Sherron Brinton, Audit Supervisor at Surex Direct, agrees: ‘’We used to spend 80% of our time working on 20% of the workload, so it was a constant struggle to keep up with the demand to get documents processed. Now, we’re able to focus on the most important tasks at hand. Our productivity, time management and effectiveness have all improved since introducing AI into our processes.’’
At this point, the system's 90% success rate in handling documents means that 45% of all billing-related processes are initiated by the AI system, before being turned over to staff for personal communication with the customer. The direct benefit AI and machine learning are having on Canada’s fastest growing online insurance brokerage is clear. Check also this post why Ontarians are choosing a modern-day broker experience.
