TMLS sees good traction on its TOMI chatbot

• Some 60% of agency force engaging with the chatbot
• More than 95% of the users continue to regularly talk to TOMI one month after launch

TOKIO Marine Life Insurance Singapore Ltd (TMLS), one of the top retirement insurance provider, is seeing encouraging results from the recent implementation of its TOMI chatbot. 

The TOMI chatbot, short for Tokio Marine Insurance chatbot, is Singapore's first chatbot to be offered by an insurer for advisers. The chatbot is available 24-7 through Facebook Messenger, and it can answer frequently asked questions posted by advisers. It will also expand its knowledge base by keeping track of questions it is unable to answer.

"Since our launch in January, around 60% of our agency force have engaged with TOMI. More than 95% of these users continue to regularly talk to TOMI one month after the launch.

"Also, the average number of conversations per active user has increased by 63% from January to February," TMLS chief information officer Cheong Wai Hon told Digital News Asia in an email interview recently.

"We are pleased with these results and are excited by the opportunities that the application of new technology offers."
Cheong (pic left) said that the launch of TOMI chatbot was to empower its advisers and enable them to better serve its customers through increased efficiency. 

"The positive response from advisers has been encouraging, particularly from those who are new to TMLS. The ability to access information at any time through Facebook Messenger has been particularly valuable as it allows our advisers to focus their time on handling more complex queries and reduce customers’ waiting time, for example, at roadshows," Cheong explained.

For Cheong, the launch of TOMI is only the beginning of its digital and insurtech journey - which is focused on developing tools that engage the entire customer value chain.

"We will continue to launch new digital initiatives in line with this strategy, including exploring ways to expand TOMI’s functions to allow for interaction with our customers as well as our advisers," said Cheong.

To improve TOMI's capability over the long run, the company will be banking on the Deep Learning for Natural Language Processing (Deep NLP) solution that is powering the chatbot. The Deep NLP enables the chatbot to understand language beyond identifying keywords and gives users the right information they need.  

"Our vision was for TOMI to be a step above the average chatbot. We recognized that the level of engagement with a chatbot depends on the chatbot’s ability to understand natural language questions and respond with accurate answers. 

"With a typical chatbot, users might need to go through a few rounds of questions before receiving relevant responses. Therefore, we challenged ourselves to develop a chatbot that can provide information quickly and accurately, regardless of how users structure the question," he added.

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