Kristin Moyer

When I first saw the announcement that Avaya was getting into mortgage mods, my first thought was honestly, “Another provider to jump on the bandwagon.” Then I thought again.

Proactive Outreach for Financial Services is an outbound contact solution that uses voice automation to determine whether or not a borrower qualifies for modification (previously it was more focused on collections). It also does proactive closed loop communication, for example to communicate the status of an application to a borrower or notify them of missing documentation (a huge challenge in modifications right now).

On the one hand, I’m not sure I’d personally want a voice automation program calling me up if I was worried about losing my home. On the other hand, mortgage servicers are overwhelmed by default volumes, particularly in light of HAMP (which Avaya refers to as “HAM” in its white paper). Avaya quotes some scary call center statistics…call hold times in excess of 1 hour, call abandonment rates of 50% and others.

This solution, while not perfect (given the emotional stress distressed borrowers are under), could help reach more borrowers and potentially alleviate call center jams and servicer capacity.  What this solution made me think of though, as well as some conversations I’ve recently had with clients, is that there are better ways to work with distressed borrowers than what the industry is currently doing.  For example, mobile alerts.  More on that soon.