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AETNA INTRODUCES 'ANN,' A VIRTUAL ONLINE ASSISTANT TO HELP MEMBERS

Ann Improves the Online Experience, Averaging 2,500 Chat Sessions with Members Every Day

HARTFORD, Conn., June 3, 2010 - Aetna (NYSE: AET) today announced the availability of an online assistant to help members who have questions about how to navigate Aetna's secure member website. "Ann," Aetna's personalized, virtual assistant, offers 24-hour support for members who are new to the website or need help logging in. Members receive the same responsive service from Ann that they receive when calling customer service, but without leaving the website. Ann is interactive and easily interprets members' questions, helping them with the registration process or with recovering forgotten user names or passwords.

 

Ann understands members' questions and provides answers
 "Ann is an extension of the industry-leading service we provide to Aetna members," said Frank Cobbin, Aetna senior vice president of Service Operations. "Many people turn to the web for service. There are about 2,500 chat sessions between our members and Ann every day. This is evidence that Ann is engaging and makes it easy for our members to get help while they're online without taking an extra step to call us."

 

Members visiting the Aetna Navigator® secure member website on Aetna.com can click on Ann to open a chat window where they can enter a question. Ann is programmed to understand the intent of the question by recognizing the natural language members use to ask it. She then provides an immediate written and spoken response in friendly terms to create a personal and interactive experience. Developed by Next IT, the technology behind Ann emulates the look and voice of a human.

Ann improves website experience and reduces phone calls
 Ann debuted earlier this year when many new Aetna members were first beginning to use their plans. Results show she is having an impact.

  • More than half of people registering on the website for the first time engage with Ann.
  • Calls to Aetna's customer service technical help desk have been declining since introducing Ann. In the past month, those calls decreased 29 percent.

 

"We are committed to delivering information and resources that help our members get the information they need to make the right healthcare decisions, and maximize their benefits," said Cobbin. "Ann is another way we are investing in technology to improve the experience our members have with us on the web. We will continue to expand her functionality and capabilities to help members."

 

Want to interact with Ann?

About Aetna
Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 36.1 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities and health care management services for Medicaid plans. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com and Aetna's Annual Report atwww.aetna.com/2009annualreport/.

About Next IT
"Next IT helps companies deliver the perfect online customer experience. Its Intelligent Virtual Assistants combine the intimacy of 1-to-1 service that customers love, with the speed and accuracy of automated self-service that scales cost-effectively. Some of the world’s largest organizations rely on Next IT for conversational customer care that boosts satisfaction, loyalty and revenue including Aetna, Alaska Airlines, Shaw Communications and the U.S. Army. Visit www.NextIT.com to learn more."

Next IT Media Contact
Jacquelyn D’Andrea
NextIT@corporateink.com
(617) 969-9192

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