Information Services 'l Dentsu : Sony Assurance Adopts LiveEngage, Introduces Full-Fledged Web-Based Customer Service Using Chat

For General Release

August 9th, 2016 Information Services International-Dentsu, Ltd.

Sony Assurance Adopts LiveEngage, Introduces Full-Fledged Web-Based Customer Service Using Chat

Information Services International-Dentsu, Ltd. (TOKYO: 4812) (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President, CEO & COO: Setsuo Kamai; hereafter "ISID") annouces that the website of Sony Assurance Inc. (Head office: Ota-ku, Tokyo; President and Representative Director: Atsuo Niwa; hereafter "Sony Assurance") has introduced LiveEngage, a SaaS-type Web-based customer service provided by ISID. Sony Assurance began using this service on its sites for PC and smartphone users in May 2016.

LiveEngage, developed by LivePerson, Inc. (Head office: New York, United States; CEO: Robert LoCascio), is provided by ISID as a Web-based customer service to financial institutions in Japan. The service tracks page transitions and movements of users on website in real time to provide the information to users through the right channel at the right time.

• Background ■

  Sony Assurance is ranked as the top provider of direct automobile insurance by sales for 13 consecutive years. Since its founding, the company has concentrated on enhancing its level of customer trust and satisfaction, and it is working to resolve a number of issues based on customer feedback. In 2015, the company began using NPS for issue detection, improvement and verification activities across all its products and services. As a result, its call center and other services have earned NPS scores that substantially exceed the industry average. The implementation of LiveEngage is positioned as a measure for accelerating these activities.

  As a direct-type nonlife insurance company without physical shops, Sony Assurance's website and call center are its most important channels. Even though its website is one of the most highly rated in the industry, a certain number of users are still unable to find the information they are looking for or leave the website without having completed necessary procedures.

  On a trial basis between January and March 2016, Sony Assurance found that its web abandonment rate when users use this service was greatly improved. Based on these results, the company decided on a full-fledged rollout of the service on both its PC and smartphone sites.

• Service Descriptions■

Sony Assurance uses the service to analyze the page navigation patterns, browsing time and other information of the site visitors in real time. It then offers support to users who may need assistance, using pop-up screens saying "Can I help you? I'm happy to answer your questions by chat." User consent launches chat-based dialogue with an operator. Also, a permanent button may be placed on pages that users may ask questions frequently so that users can initiate a chat whenever they want.

Screen image (PC) Screen image (Smartphone)

Mr. Masaru Nishikawa, Contact Center Operation Promotion Department of Sony Assurance, comments as follows:

"The feedback from customers has been generally favorable. We recognize the main reason of high evaluation is because of better connectivity and communications by the use of text. In other words, customers experience less waiting time and less misunderstanding than telephone. Furthermore, users can ask questions at their own pace. With text-based communications, we strive not to make our chat too businesslike by back-channeling. At the moment, the service is not available on certain days and at specific times. However we are planning to extend the service across all business hours as early as possible."

For many years, ISID has been working on the construction of numerous systems for financial institutions, including Internet Banking and call centers in the retail finance. In recent years, we have been offering website strategy consulting and other services to help financial institutions formulate retail strategies, implement strategies for expanding sales of financial products and reinforce communications that are not face-to-face. By combining these solutions and services with LiveEngage, we aim to provide valuable solutions that support financial institutions' customer services from both the system and communications perspectives.

* Net Promoter Score (NPS®): This score is widely used overseas by companies that value customer orientation as a benchmark for measuring customer loyalty and intent to continue using a service. NPS is calculated on a 0-10 scale using the answer to a single question: "How likely is it that you would recommend the company [product, service, brand ] to a friend or colleague?" People scoring 9-10 are considered "promoters," people scoring 7-8 "passives" and people scoring 6 or below "detractors." Subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters yields the NPS. In recent years, companies in Japan have begun adopting this approach in a broad range of industries, particularly manufacturing and finance.

＜Reference Data＞

About LiveEngage, the Web-Based Customer Service

Provided by LivePerson, Inc., of the United States, LiveEngage is a SaaS-type cloud-based service that provides Internet-based "hospitality" in the aim of making website visitors' experiences smoother. The service tracks page transitions and movements of users on website in real time to provide the information to users through the right channel at the right time. This highly successful service has been installed in about 8,500 companies around the world, as is used by the top 10 commercial banks in the United States (Fortune 500).

http://www.isid.co.jp/solution/finance/retail/liveengage.html

Overview of ISID

Company Name: Information Services International-Dentsu, Ltd. (ISID)

Representative: Setsuo Kamai, President, CEO & COO

Headquarters: 2-17-1, Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108-0075 Japan

Website: http://www.isid.co.jp/english/

Establishment: 1975

Capital: JPY 8,180.5 million

Employees (consolidated basis): 2,559 (as of December 31,2015)

Net Sales (consolidated basis): JPY 56,771 million (fiscal year ended December 2015)

※9months due to change in our fiscal year-end

Business domain: Since its establishment in 1975, ISID has provided comprehensive services as a business partner for its clients, from consulting services to system planning, design, development, operations and maintenance support. ISID aims to be an "IT Solution Innovator" and is proactively deploying businesses in various fields, including solutions for financial institutions, product development solutions, group management and consolidated accounting solutions, HRM(personnel, payrol and performance management), ERP, marketing, and cloud-based services.

Contact:

ISID Financial Industry Business Operations TEL:[phone]

E-Mail: [e-mail]

ISID Corporate Communications Office Kayoko Lee, Rina Hattori

TEL:[phone]

E-mail：[e-mail]

Note: Company and product names in this release are the trademark or registered trademark of each company respectively.