BlueCross and BlueShield System, a federation of 44 independent plans, is the nation's largest family of health benefits companies collectively caring for 81.5 million Americans.  
 
Buffering change
BlueCross BlueShield of Massachusetts was in the process of a major telephony equipment upgrade which required changing all the phone numbers across the organization and losing their integrated employee directory that was derived from the old equipment.  Employees were dependent on the directories and had no way to reach each other without either the directory or the intervention of an operator. 

Sales connection
The organization also noted that traveling sales executives had difficulty connecting with co-workers, since employees were spread across 4 different area codes and multiple exchanges.  “Our sales executives were going crazy trying to connect with their support reps. There were too many numbers to remember and directories were awkward to use while traveling,” said Linda Copeland, Manager of Telephony Network Services. 

Fast installation and quick acceptance.
BlueCross BlueShield began to research different solutions to solve their immediate and longer term telephony issues. They chose Parlance for its reputation for service and high connection rates.
 
Parlance’s NameConnector service was installed and operational in one business day.  It provided callers with one number where they could say the name of the person they wanted to reach, and be connected 24/7. 

Enterprise wide adoption
"Employees who used the NameConnector® liked it and told their co-workers about it,” said Copeland. "The service became so popular at the Boston office that employees at other BlueCross BlueShield locations started to complain about their lack of access to the service.  So, we extended the service to all our locations."

Focused on service
High level of satisfaction with the service encouraged BlueCross BlueShield to further extend use to their public callers (customers, prospects, vendors, etc.)  “Most of our callers know the name of the employee they want to speak with but not their number”, said Copeland.  “Providing our external callers with access to the NameConnector has reduced the traffic to the operators, allowing them to focus on customers who need specialized assistance.”

Executive users
As a traveling executive Copeland said she enters all her numbers in the NameConnector® personal directory so she has access no matter where she is. She can also be easily reached at remote offices by just stating her name and office location.

Today, the service has connected 1.6 million callers since it’s been installed.

“The Parlance NameConnector® worked even better than directories.  It not only allows callers to connect via voice but you didn't have to know how to spell the person’s name. It also allowed you to use nicknames and alternate names.”
Linda Copeland, Manager of Telephony Network Services.