Insurers seem to have a love/hate relationship with their contact centers. On one hand, they love the opportunity to make a good impression with customers. But on the other, they hate to spend any money on technology that might help accomplish that goal.

"Insurance companies really are behind other industries when it comes to the customer contact center," claims George Svoboda, senior manager responsible for Deloitte Consulting's contact center practice. "They have been very reactive to the customer service market."

It's a problem, Svoboda says, that affects all insurance verticals. "The life companies virtually have ignored the problem [of contact center performance] because they view their call center as only a backstop for breakdowns between the broker and the customer. Health insurers have done a better job but still are recovering from acquisitions and the system consolidation projects that resulted. P&C carriers are more focused on it than life, but they, too, have structural barriers that are standing in the way."