Relay Network Brings Related Customer Communications Together for More Streamlined Experiences

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Today, Relay Network, the mobile customer communications platform for guided experiences, launched Branded Messages. This new feature enables multiple related businesses or departments within a business to communicate and interact with a customer on one, personalized feed within Relay’s mobile web application.

With Branded Messages, businesses can create an ecosystem for their customers, making it easy for them to get information or take actions that require interacting with multiple companies or departments. For example, an HR Director at a large employer and a service representative at a health insurer can send messages, links, instructions and information to the same employee, in the same feed. Or a credit card company and an affiliate rewards partner can notify a customer about their points availability in one thread.

Businesses can also brand each message with a department logo, product, image, or headshot, helping customers contextualize communications and take action more quickly.

“In many instances, consumers are interacting with more than one line of business, or distinct departments within a business, when they need to get something done. Until now, that meant saturated inboxes and mixed messages,” said Matt Gillin, co-founder and CEO of Relay Network. “Branded Messages was created after looking across verticals and realizing that a lot of friction could be removed by collapsing these communications into a streamlined experience for the consumer. Our new solution lets different groups within a business initiate customer interactions on a single mobile feed — it’s a completely new concept that’s helping customers get things done faster.”

Changing Healthcare Customer Communications with Branded Messages

Among the first to use the new feature are health insurers and employers using the platform to communicate with benefits recipients. Studies have shown that half of employees don’t have a basic understanding of their benefits. By providing a single channel for all benefits-related information – regardless of whether it’s from their employer or their insurer – Branded Messages can bridge the information gap between employers and workers, resulting in better-informed employees who are empowered to take charge of their well-being.

One example of this in practice is Independence Blue Cross, who is integrating the new feature with HR and benefits managers at large local employers to increase member responsiveness and employee engagement. “Branded Messages allow members to have a centralized, private channel for all communications related to their health care benefits,” said Paula Sunshine, senior vice president and chief marketing executive for Independence Blue Cross. “With the action-oriented nature of IBX Wire® by Relay, members have easier access to information, including one-click access to digital resources that employers would like their employees to have at their fingertips.”

Relay Network is also HIPAA compliant, so companies can use its web app to reach out to their customers about personal health information.