Inside-IT, Switzerland: Cognizant’s Country Manager for Switzerland Explains how Swiss Insurers can Benefit From Google Glass

“Digital health is very much a topic of discussion at the moment with the health and insurance markets being flooded with new information and ingenious communications technologies. But just as insurance workers finally find themselves equipped with tablets and smart phones, the next innovation is already up and running and ready for use: Google Glass,” writes Stefan Metzger. Excerpts:

“A study, carried out by the Center for Risk and Insurance at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, looked at the Swiss insurance sector in 2015, and predicted that the industry will make a quantum leap in the way its uses technology. The study identified technology as one the key factors driving the insurance sector and the development of new business models.

Google Glass is, in principle, a miniature, head-mounted computer. Attached to the frame of a pair of glasses, the device blends information into the vision of the wearer, using a “head-up-display”. This information can be combined with photographs taken by a digital camera aligned with the wearer’s line-of-sight. Although initially seen as a consumer gadget, Google Glass also presents a whole range of benefits and business possibilities across many sectors, including insurance.

The most important and unique feature of Google Glass, compared to other mobile devices is its interactivity.

The use of Google Glass in property loss insurance has a number of advantages: claim adjustment costs are reduced and with them the threshold value for an inspection and more inspections result in fewer fraudulent claims. Faster settlements and improved control of the process means that, in general, a lower amount will be reimbursed, but the client still feels that the quality of their insurance coverage is better due to the active support provided by the insurer. This also improves the reputation of the insurance company.

Google Glass also enables the “assistance model” often applied in car insurance to be applied to the property loss and home insurance market.

When it comes to complex claims in industry, insurers do not rely solely on official reports of the damages; investigations of their own are usually necessary to eliminate breaches of obligation or more complicated cases of fraud. In these circumstances, therefore, special industrial and claims specialists have to examine the location in person. Again, an agent wearing Google Glass will be able to link back to a central specialist team, which can be made up of experts from different fields to provide an analysis of the situation. The faster availability of specialist knowledge and expertise can only improve the quality of analysis.

Google Glass technology presents a number of advantages for insurance companies: Deploying an interactive team of agents locally who are linked to a central team of experts enables claims to be managed much more actively in both private business and industry. This means insurers save on costs while the client perceives the speedier and less bureaucratic handling of their claim as an improvement in quality – a win-win situation all around.”

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