Currently most of Europe is remote working and we are experiencing a significant acceleration of services that are provided online from companies that used to operate mainly in person. Some services by retail banks are still offered in person, as it has always been done this way. However, more video banking is possible these days and a good complement of mobile and online banking. Issuers such as RaboBank and ING in the Netherlands already started to implement it with a partner such as 24 Sessions for use cases such as mortgage advice, business loans, personal and private banking. 24Sessions is one of the StartupBootcamp Amsterdam alumni.

24Sessions develops technology and services that help businesses reinvent the way they connect, talk, and advise their customers and is considered one of the 10 best B2B startups in Europe by Google, McKinsey and Rocket Internet. Here is the interview with CEO Rutger Teunissen.

​What are the benefits of video calls compared to normal phone calls or meetings, both for b2b and b2c?

Compared to face-to-face meetings there is no travel time, meetings are 30% shorter and (interestingly enough) the customer satisfaction is higher (9.1 average) for video calls. This is because it’s more flexible, fast and efficient for the end-customer and they still get a very personal and high-quality experience. Compared to phone-calls you can have a more personal connection and share your screen. This also leads to higher NPS and CSAT. We created a tool that can help you understand better the ROI of videocalls here.

In the insurance sector in particular, is a video call instead of a meeting not perceived as a more detached contact?

That is what people initially think but we actually see the opposite with our partner insurance Achmea. Put yourself in the shoes of the customer: do you really want to visit a branch or have someone in your home? A video call is just as personal but way more flexible and modern. Banks such as Rabobank and ING also use 24sessions for private banking and wealth management and we even see in that segment that they perceive it as very personal and valuable.

What are the technical requirements necessary to make video calls, both for companies and their customers?

​24sessions is a Software as a Service solution, specifically built for businesses and organizations to have video calls with their customers. So, ease of use and reliability are the most important criteria. Therefore, besides having a modern browser, a webcam and stable internet, there are no requirements. The company and the end-customer do not have to install any software or plugins, not even on mobile.

How does the use of a technological solution such as video call impact on older customers, not always agile with innovative tools? Are there different satisfaction indexes, on the customer side, as age varies?

Our solution is so easy to use that there are no problems with elderly. They often enter on an iPad or tablet and also there they just need to click a link and already they are in the video call. If there are problems anyway, we have an AI-powered troubleshooting bot that will help them. Besides technology, we place a lot of emphasis on customer success. This means we take a very active approach to help our customers become successful in video calling with customers.

Internal video calls within companies, to strengthen the team spirit when working in smart working: is this an aspect that you have dealt with and/or will deal with?

No, this is something we don’t do. For this there are great solutions in place like Skype. We really focus on customer contact.

In which other sectors besides banking and insurance can video calls give great benefits?

We have kiosk cases for retail (for example Schiphol Airport with information kiosks with a video connection), the Dutch post uses us for all of their recruitment (hiring conversations), we have many b2b companies using our us field and desk account management, Vattenfall uses 24sessions for remote energy advice and technical maintenance and we have use cases in the medical sector for e-consults. The list goes on and on. Basically almost any meeting you would previously do face to face can be done via videocalls.

 

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