GEICO and location-technology provider what3words announced a new partnership to provide enhanced roadside assistance to customers across the U.S. With what3words, GEICO teams can pinpoint a customer’s precise locations with ease, dispatch assistance to that exact location, and provide help as quickly as possible.
When breakdowns or roadside incidents occur in places with no precise street addresses, like the side of a highway or a remote road, it can be difficult to describe where help is needed. what3words technology divides the globe into a grid of 10ft x 10ft squares, and gives each square a unique combination of three words: a what3words address. Customers can now say exactly where a breakdown has happened with just 3 words when they contact the GEICO team, instead of relying on approximate descriptions.
“Breaking down is stressful enough without the added frustration of trying to describe an exact location when you’re somewhere unfamiliar or without a street address,” said Chris Sheldrick, co-founder and CEO of what3words. “GEICO’s adoption of our technology provides customers with a simple solution for these situations, ensuring roadside assistance can always be directed to exactly where help is needed, as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
When customers contact GEICO Roadside Assistance teams, they will now automatically be sent a link which opens a page in the mobile browser and displays their current what3words location. The individual then simply reads the three words on their screen. Alternatively if the caller already has the free what3words app downloaded, they can read their three words out directly from the app. After trialling the technology this summer, GEICO has now started a nationwide rollout of the technology for Roadside Assistance customers. Once fully implemented, GEICO expects to use what3words for tens of thousands of incidents a month.
Typically, GEICO’s contracted providers can reach the service location within 60 minutes, and results of a trial with what3words indicated that the integration will cut response times further. GEICO’s Roadside Assistance provides customers with a dedicated team to help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Emergency call centers around the world are embracing what3words at a rapid pace, with control rooms in the UK, US, Australia, Germany, France, Belgium, Austria, Singapore, Canada, India, and South Africa all utilizing the innovative technology to save their teams time and resources when locating incidents. As well as using the app for emergencies, individuals are using what3words every day to meet up with friends at parks and on beaches, to share great running and hiking locations, and to share sports match locations with their teams.
SOURCE: what3words
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