Before You Sign with Genesys: Choosing a Deployment Partner for an Insurance Contact Centre

The Genesys Cloud CX licence is the easy part to buy. Tiers and prices are published, and every partner sells the same product. What differs is everything the partner wraps around it: the design, the integrations, the voice lines, the payment handling, the migration and the support for years afterwards. That's what an insurer is really choosing, and it's worth running the selection like a proper procurement.

To choose a Genesys Cloud CX deployment partner, an insurer should issue a short RFP that asks for evidence in six areas: insurance integrations, payment and recording design, carrier voice, migration method, managed service, and platform independence. Weight the answers, check them with reference calls, and write the commitments into the contract.

TL;DR

• Every partner sells the same Genesys licence. The partner decides how well it fits your operation.
• A six-area RFP surfaces the differences: integrations, payments, voice, migration, managed service and independence.
• Weight integration and managed service highest, because those decide value long after go-live.
• Reference calls with live insurance customers are the most reliable evidence you'll get.

What should an insurer's Genesys partner RFP include?

Keep the RFP short and specific. Long questionnaires invite long, generic answers. Six sections are enough, each asking for evidence rather than claims.

1. Insurance integrations. Ask which broker, quoting or policy administration platforms the partner has integrated with Genesys Cloud CX, for which customers, and whether those integrations are live. Name your own systems.

2. Payment and recording design. Ask exactly how card data will be kept out of call recordings under PCI DSS, whether agents have to take any manual step, and for an example in production.

3. Carrier voice and connectivity. Ask who supplies the SIP trunks and numbers, who owns a call quality fault, and whether office connectivity can be included.

4. Migration method. Ask for the project plan for a deployment like yours: phases, governance, cutover approach, rollback, and how number porting is handled. Ask for timelines achieved on comparable projects.

5. Managed service. Ask for the service schedule: incident response times, monitoring, change allowances, service reviews and how optimisation works after go-live.

6. Platform independence. Ask which other contact centre platforms the partner implements, and what it would recommend if Genesys weren't on the table.

How should the answers be weighted?

Weight the areas by how long their effects last. Migration happens once. Integration and managed service affect every day after go-live. The table gives a starting set of weights an insurer can adjust.

Score each area from 1 to 5, multiply by the weight, and compare totals. Then sense-check the winner against the red flags. One serious red flag in integration or managed service can outweigh a strong total.

What timelines and evidence are reasonable to expect?

Ask partners for real numbers from comparable insurance projects. DigitalWell's published contact centre implementation timelines are 6 to 8 weeks to a pilot and 3 to 4 months to full production.

Two insurance deployments give useful reference points. Campion Insurance moved 300 agents and 73 back-office users across 13 offices to Genesys Cloud CX in under 12 weeks, with a desktop application that pauses and resumes Genesys recording through the API whenever a payment screen opens. An Post Insurance chose DigitalWell partly because of its proven integration between Applied Connect, the core quoting platform used by Irish brokers, and Genesys Cloud CX. An Post Insurance moved from one customer channel to four and saved €220,000 in technology total cost of ownership over three years.

The Campion and An Post case studies give the detail. Ask every shortlisted partner for evidence at the same level.

Which contract terms matter most?

The RFP gets you a preferred partner. The contract decides whether its answers hold. Six terms deserve close attention.

• Scope in writing. A signed functional requirements specification that defines call flows, integrations and reporting.
• Acceptance criteria. What "working" means at go-live, tested with real call scenarios: renewals, adjustments, payments and claims updates.
• Managed service schedule. Response and resolution times by severity, monitoring, change allowance and review frequency, in the same agreement as the build.
• Fault ownership. Who is responsible for call quality across platform, carrier and network.
• Exit and portability. Number porting rights, data return, configuration documentation and transition support.
• Outsourcing requirements. For Central Bank-regulated insurers, the terms the Cross-Industry Guidance on Outsourcing expects, such as service levels, audit access and continuity arrangements.

How should reference calls be run?

Reference calls are where claims meet reality. Ask each shortlisted partner for two live insurance customers, ideally one of similar size to you.

Ask the references what went wrong and how the partner handled it. Ask how long it takes to get a routing change made today. Ask whether the integrations worked on day one or needed rework. Ask who they call when call quality drops. And ask whether they would choose the same partner again.

DigitalWell is a Genesys Gold Partner and also implements Amazon Connect, Zoom Contact Center and its own DigitalWell 360, as listed on its Technologies page.

What happens after signing?

Signing starts the project, and the first weeks set the tone. Expect requirements and design workshops, a functional requirements specification to sign off, and a governance cadence agreed up front. Campion's project ran weekly project meetings and twice-weekly check-ins with the project manager.

For insurers planning a migration around renewal periods, DigitalWell's guide to moving an insurance contact centre to the cloud without disrupting renewals covers cutover timing. Its article on running insurance contact centre projects without the handoffs covers delivery governance.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many partners should we invite to the RFP?

Three to five is usually enough. Fewer limits comparison; more creates evaluation work without adding much insight.

Should we buy Genesys licences directly or through the partner?

Either can work. Buying through the partner often simplifies billing and support, while buying direct gives you a direct relationship with Genesys. Make sure the managed service covers the platform either way.

Why do some Genesys projects disappoint?

Integration with the systems agents depend on is a frequent cause. If quoting, policy and payment systems aren't connected properly, agents re-key data and the platform underdelivers.

Do we need a partner that also supplies carrier voice?

It isn't essential, but it removes a gap. When the platform partner also owns the voice lines, one party is responsible for call quality.

How long should the RFP process take?

Allow enough time for written answers, demos and reference calls, typically several weeks. A rushed selection is expensive to undo.

Key Takeaways

• The licence is the same everywhere; the partner's integrations, payment design, voice and support make the difference.
• Use a six-area RFP and ask for evidence rather than claims.
• Weight integration and managed service highest, and treat red flags as potential deal-breakers.
• Write scope, acceptance criteria, service schedule, fault ownership and exit terms into the contract.
• Run reference calls with live insurance customers, and ask what went wrong as well as what went right.

Running a Genesys partner selection? Ask DigitalWell for an RFP response with named insurance references.