Speech And Language Translator S.A.L.T. (Deaf people service via Contact Centre) Qorus Innovation in Insurance Awards 2018 - Winner

Approximately 50,000 users of sign language live in Poland. PZU has about 40% insurance market share so significant part of those people are our customers.

In everyday life, Deaf people encounter communication barriers during handling their affairs, because Polish is a foreign language for them. Until now, the Deaf person most often came to PZU with a family member who was a translator. The Deaf person wasn’t independent and couldn’t handle his case discreetly, without the need to share information, often sensitive, with family members.

PZU serves Deaf customers in selected branches in the largest cities in Poland. We wanted to bring a situation where the Deaf person, regardless of his location, may contact PZU. Therefore we had made the decision to expand the service and provide it via our Contact Centre. This is possible thanks to the tripartite video call between the Customer, the Sign Language Translator, and our Consultant. The connection can be made free of charge at our website. All the Customer needs is a mobile device or computer with webcam and Internet access. To our knowledge we are the first insurer in Europe that has applied such solution. We have the ability to authenticate the Deaf Customer. The Customer can handle almost every case in PZU and get all the information he needs, also confidential and sensitive, without leaving home and without involving others. The project was led by PZU Contact Centre and PZU Innovation Lab.