Customer Overview
Southern Vanguard Insurance is an insurance carrier whose claims team handles hundreds of inbound calls each week, from first notice of loss to routine status requests. A three-person team was responsible for answering, triaging, and routing every call.
As call volume grew, Southern Vanguard needed a way to answer every policyholder immediately and keep claims moving without expanding a small, specialized team. The company partnered with Atonom to determine whether a Claims Support Cloud Employee could own the repetitive front line of the claims operation.
The Challenge
Claims demand does not arrive evenly. During peak periods, inbound volume routinely exceeded what three people could answer promptly. Policyholders waited on hold or went unanswered while experienced claims professionals spent much of their day answering routine questions and routing calls.
This created three constraints:
- Policyholders did not consistently receive an immediate response.
- Routine triage consumed time needed for complex claims.
- Expanding coverage would require additional headcount sized for peak demand.
Southern Vanguard did not need another phone tree. It needed a Cloud Employee capable of answering, resolving, and escalating claims calls in real time.
The Atonom Solution
Atonom deployed Maria, a Claims Support Cloud Employee, as the first point of contact on Southern Vanguard's inbound claims line.
- Answers every incoming call immediately.
- Handles common questions and routine claims intake.
- Resolves appropriate calls without human involvement.
- Transfers complex calls to the claims team with context.
- Improves through continuous review of live call data.
Maria absorbs repetitive call volume while preserving human capacity for claims that require experience, judgment, and direct customer care. Southern Vanguard and Atonom continue to review Maria's performance and improve the calls she can resolve independently.
Results
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48% Calls Resolved
- 146 of 305 inbound calls resolved without a human in the latest measured week.
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52% Peak Weekly Resolution
- 157 of 302 calls handled entirely by Maria during the strongest measured week.
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100% Calls Answered
- Every caller engaged immediately instead of waiting for an available claims representative.
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~150 Calls Per Week
- Roughly half of weekly inbound volume now handled by Maria.
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3 Person Claims Team
- The existing team absorbed full inbound volume without adding claims headcount.
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0 Added Headcount
- Southern Vanguard expanded coverage without increasing the size of the claims team.
Customer Perspective
“We only have three people on the claims line, so when the phones lit up, someone was always waiting. Maria answers every call now and handles about half of them on her own.”
Felecie Medellin Director of Claims, Southern Vanguard Insurance
Why This Matters
Lean claims teams should not spend their limited capacity answering the same questions and routing routine calls. That work delays policyholders and pulls experienced employees away from claims that require judgment.
Maria now answers every caller immediately and resolves nearly half of inbound claims calls without a human handoff. Southern Vanguard expanded coverage without adding headcount, while its three-person team gained more time for complex claims and direct customer care.
The result is a claims line that absorbs peak demand, keeps policyholders moving, and protects human capacity for the work that matters most.
