Automated Sickness Absence Management Service

In June 2007, BT and Eckoh announced a new five year contract with leading UK health insurer, AXA PPP healthcare, for the provision of an automated Sickness Absence Management service (SAM). The new service will be marketed to AXA PPP healthcare's corporate client base and to other large and medium-sized employers, enabling them to manage sickness absence more effectively throughout their organisations.

Developed by BT and Eckoh, this new service uses advanced speech recognition technology to capture and record information from employees reporting their absence. As well as enabling employers to record and manage day-to-day non-attendance, the service incorporates a unique trigger alert system based on key indicators (such as musculoskeletal and psychological problems) to notify the employer of potentially high cost absences where early assessment and treatment can be instrumental in mitigating the risk.

Alerts can also be generated to identify frequent absentees whose conduct should be addressed. SAM also collates and analyses employees' input to generate online management information reports to enable clients to benchmark and track absence trends throughout their organisations. This, in turn, allows managers to identify absence hotspots and potential problem areas such as an increase in workplace stress.

Dudley Lusted, head of corporate healthcare development at AXA PPP healthcare, said: "Working with these leading edge experts from the communications industry has enabled us to create a compelling offering that opens an important new area of business for AXA PPP healthcare. SAM, complemented by our range of additional employee health support services, gives us an even more powerful offering in the corporate marketplace. We are confident that the employee and reporting benefits, not to mention the cost savings and operational benefits afforded by SAM, will impress our clients and strengthen our relationship with them."