The insurance industry has recognized that significant gains can be achieved using collaborative tools. Collaboration within enterprises develops trust and implements strategic approaches to network relationships. 

Huaxia Life Insurance Co., Ltd recently deployed Avaya (News - Alert) IP Office at more than 100 branches across the country to enhance collaboration. To expand its business, Huaxia is expected to open the largest IP Office installations in the world, with addition of nearly 200 more systems in the next two to three years.

Huaxia Life is enhancing its communications system to support its rapidly growing business. With new deployment of Avaya IP Office, Huaxia Life’s employees can easily set up and join conference calls for knowledge sharing or problem solving. The employees can connect with anyone in the company by simply dialing his or her extension number. In addition, Avaya IP Office can support up to 128-way "meet-me" conferencing.

John Wang (News - Alert), managing director, Greater China, Avaya said in a statement, "As the insurance industry in China continues to grow, many insurance companies face the challenge of managing a continuously expanding communications architecture, and supporting the evolving communications needs of employees. Avaya IP Office provides companies with the flexibility and availability they need to manage branch offices, with a smooth and cost-effective migration path. At the same time, employees have access to rich communications tools for enhanced collaboration."

The Avaya solution is also allowing Huaxia Life to migrate to IP telephony in a smooth way to ensure there is no business disruption. With the new communication platform, Huaxia Life will benefit from the knowledge that individual systems at branch offices will be maintained, even in the event of a network failure elsewhere. Huaxia Life currently has 21 provincial branches, and plans to expand to around 30 in the future.

Browser-based voice and video communication is the next step in Web conferencing technology. D2 Technologies’ Doug Makishima (News - Alert), chief operating officer, recently spoke with key industry leaders in a debate on the future of WebRTC. The addition of VoIP and video-over-IP to Web browsers is the next big development in telecommunications.