Ninchat speeds up the digital evolution of internal remote communication

The need to accelerate the transformation of secure internal consultations is leveling up at an increasing speed. Communication between professionals calls for solutions that provide fluent access to the right know-how at the right time. Remote internal consultations require reliable, secure and flexible solutions to serve patients faster and more accurately. Thus, enabling more efficient peer support, information sharing, and problem-solving capabilities.

Communication and customer flows can be improved by evaluating statistics, data, and records for multiple aspects of the operations. The collected data enables evolution of tailored internal communication models, reporting, and cost efficiency across organization borders. 

With Ninchat, specialist doctors and general practitioners from different areas can consult each other effortlessly remotely. Before entering the chat or video chat with a peer specialist, a Ninchat bot can gather specific information about the case for the consulting part. The information collected in advance will speed up and enhance the work process of the professionals. To maximize the benefits of the consultation, the specialist can also access the patient national id number and thereby see all necessary health information.

Remote solutions enhance the utilization of know-how to a much wider audience.

Ninchat’s Notifier has also proven itself highly useful in on-call solutions. In addition to selected desktop notifications, all on-call members will receive a notification on their mobile devices. Any experts on-duty can then pick up the internal request. Doctors, especially on call during the night, and non-profit organizations use the Ninchat Notifier to accelerate replying to peer support chats and be available to provide support while not being on the desktop computer.

Multiple solutions for secure remote communications 

With Ninchat, you have multiple ways of ensuring secure identification for both the professionals and the customers. Different user groups often have varying needs for identification. When signing in to the Ninchat platform, the professionals can be identified, for example, through the organization's  own AD Azure or with the national ID card for regulated social welfare and healthcare professionals. Customers can either be strongly identified before the remote reception or, if the professional recognizes the need, during the reception.

Improve data and knowledge-driven management and process development

Health organizations are often tied to different patient record systems and multiple IT systems. Professionals from various organizations can be members of the same Ninchat channels and service queues. For example, an internal consultation channel can have members from a specific area of expertise, all from different well-being service counties. Statistics and data will support the needed allocation of expenses, time spent, and the development of solutions.  

At Ninchat, we continuously see health and social service providers implementing solutions that make broad usage and sharing of knowledge, expertise, and specific information securely possible. 

With Ninchat's solutions, it is possible to develop flexible customer flows where the professionals can transfer the customer, digitally during the remote reception, to another specialist. Internal consultation processes can be streamlined further by implementing tailored bots to gather essential preliminary information and perform service direction. As a result, the bot can direct the customer to the right specialist and thereby improve the customer care process efficiency. After the reception, the specialist can also redirect the customer digitally, for example, to a nurse or to customer service. Customer-sensitive information can be hidden from the customer service if applicable. Professionals can also take advantage of the possibility to consult peers internally during the remote reception.

Serve your customers with Ninchat and Suomi.fi e-Identification

The Finnish national ID, the Suomi.fi e-Identification, enables a strong electronic authentication for public sector organizations' digital services in Finland. It is possible to connect the Ninchat services to the Suomi.fi services. This way, it is easy to use chat services securely in the public sector.

Suomi.fi is an e-Identification service for the public sector actors. The customer can authenticate themself via the Suomi.fi service, and thereby the organizations can identify their customers digitally smoothly and securely. Services that handle sensitive customer information, such as healthcare and non-profit organizations, require strong identification. The customer will verify their identity using banking identification codes or a mobile certificate.

The Suomi.fi e-Identification service is provided by the DVV (Digital and population data services agency). The assignee, a person, company, association, or other organization can request authorization through the Suomi.fi e-Authorizations or make an application.

Additionally, Ninchat also supports the customers' various authentication solutions and transmits the information of an identified customer encrypted to the replying professional.

Use Suomi.fi e-Identification before or during your service

With Suomi.fi e-Identification service, you can identify your customer before or during the appointment. The pre-appointment identification directs the customer to the Suomi.fi e-Identification service, where the customer identifies themself with their online banking codes or a mobile certificate. After a successful authentication, the customer will get access to the chat or video chat appointment. It is also possible to identify the customer during the chat or video appointment. It means that an appointment starts anonymously, and when needed, the professional can direct the customer to identify themselves via the Suomi.fi e-Identification service. The latter is in use, for example, in maternity and child health care services.

The professional can observe the progress of the customer's identification and receive information on when it begins and whether it has been completed or interrupted.

An increasing number of customers receive easy access to care via remote therapy

 

Remote therapy is a flexible digital service that allows quick and low-threshold access to care. Typical uses of remote services are short- and long-term types of therapy and various doctor and nurse appointments. With Ninchat, you can arrange your remote consultations easily and securely.

Access your appointments easily and securely

The consultation begins with a link received by email that leads to the strong identification of the customer. Alternatively, the service may also be available on the health care provider's website via sign-in.

Chat and video appointments can be conducted either as scheduled or on-call appointments. It is possible to add pre-information and symptom surveys. In addition to the Suomi.fi (a strong identification service in Finland), it is possible to also use other authentication services in Ninchat’s chat, bot, and video messaging solutions. 

If needed, you can integrate Ninchat into your current appointment scheduling system.

Advantages of remote therapy

Telemedicine benefits especially customers who have a long distance to their nearest consultation. Long distances increase the threshold for seeking help. Reaching the appointment can be time-consuming. It can also become expensive or even impossible due to the lack of transportation. When using remote therapy, the customer does not have to leave their home for the meeting. They can choose to sit comfortably on their sofa and begin the appointment with a computer or a smartphone.

Remote therapy does not require physical presence. The customer can choose the location that suits them best for participating in the appointment. The comfort of your home can increase the sense of security and remove barriers to participation. Remote services also improve the efficiency of the organization. And it is possible to optimize the service to benefit both the customers and the professionals.

Recently Yle, the Finnish media company, published an article (in Finnish) about perceived customer experience with remote therapy services.

When is remote therapy used?

There are many alternatives when and how to use remote solutions for therapy. You can apply it to both short- and long-term therapy, as well as for rehabilitation and physiotherapy. Hybrid therapy where face-to-face and remote appointments are combined is also possible. In addition, telemedicine used for follow-up visits is steadily growing.

Different nurse and doctor's appointments are also possible to carry out remotely. For example, occupational health and diabetes appointments have been conducted remotely by several hospital districts and private sector operators.

Offer your remote therapy services easily with Ninchat

Ninchat's chat and video consultation platform enable smooth and secure digital services for customers and professionals. With Ninchat, it is quick and easy to start using your remote therapy service. Your team will receive practical training on using the platform as a professional. After the training, they are ready to open the appointment and receive customers securely online. At Ninchat, we also offer comprehensive and continuous technical support for your remote services.

The valuable work mental health associations provide

Yle lists, in their article, entities that do preventive mental work and help individuals with various mental wellbeing issues. For example, the Sekasin-chat is a popular service for young people aged 12-29 that runs on the Ninchat platform.

Satu Raappana from the Sekasin Collective that operates the highly successful Sekasin-chat recently visited the Ninchat Sessions event. She talked in her presentation about how the work they do, using Ninchat, supports the well-being and resilience of young people. You can find Satu’s interesting interview and presentation (in Finnish) here

Chatbot helps you to help your customers

Chatbot is a great help with appointments and customer service situations. With a chatbot you can improve customers’ experience and guide them to sources of information quickly and easily.

What is a chatbot

A chatbot is an efficient communication tool. It can be used to answer routine questions without the need to speak to a customer service specialist. A chatbot can be helpful in situations where the question asked is simple enough to be answered without interpretation. A chatbot is also helpful in gathering the customer information before starting the chat.

In Ninchat chatbot the frequently asked questions can be brought into the chat window so that they are easily accessible all the time.

You can set questions and answers into the chatbot. The customer can click the chatbot link if she or he notices that the topic they want to know about already exists. This way the customer will get the information they need immediately. If the customer needs further information, they can easily start a chat with the customer service agent. By using the chatbot, the customer service agent can concentrate on more demanding questions and resources are saved. 

In Ninchat chatbot, you use buttons to make choices. This way, using the chatbot is easy and clear also for elderly people and non-native language speakers. The customer does not have to write their question but they can choose their topic from the chatbot buttons.

With chatbot you can easily handle material orders when the customer does not have to fill in long forms. Also making referrals and prescription renewals can be done easily and securely.

Be present 24/7 with chatbot

Ninchat chatbot serves the customers even when you sleep! Chatbot can serve all the customers who come into chat outside opening hours. Being able to get service at any time of the day, and without queueing, improves the customer experience. The professional, on the other hand, can concentrate on the more demanding and time consuming cases that the chatbot cannot answer.

With chatbot you can gather the customer information easily even outside opening hours. When the chat is closed the customer can leave a contact request via chatbot, and the customer service can contact them later. This way your service will reach the customer when it is suitable for them.

How can Ninchat chatbot help you?

With Ninchat chatbot you can easily and securely gather the customer information before the chat starts. Then you have all the needed information already available when the chat starts. With links in chatbot you can direct the customer to the source of information. This way services can be found in one place easily at one glance. When the customer clicks the link they will be directed straight to the ready written information document. Mostly the customer is happy with the information they get, if the topic and answer are simple and clear.

Gathering the background information and offering the FAQ links can affect long queueing times. When everything is ready for the appointment when it starts, there will be more time for the customers issues. And on the other hand, it may be a faster way to help the customer. Offering the FAQ links reduces the waiting time because the customer can get the answer without queueing.

 

It is also possible to use the secured suomi.fi authentication service with the chatbot. This requires for cities and municipalities to get a permission from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency to use the service.

To start using Ninchat chatbot is an easy, fast and straightforward process. That is executed in collaboration with us. The chatbot is ready to use within two weeks.

Would you like to know more about Ninchat chatbot?

Ninchat Notifier helps you to serve the customers in the chat even when you are not present

The Ninchat Notifier mobile application enables you to receive notifications to your phone when there is someone in the chat. Notifier helps you especially when there are no customers at the time in the chat service. So that you may continue your work uninterrupted. 

What is Ninchat Notifier?

Ninchat Notifier is a mobile application for Ninchat’s chat service. It gives you a notification when there is a customer in the chat. Notifier allows the professional to do other tasks when there are no customers in the chat. This also makes Notifier cost effective.

First you install the Ninchat Notifier mobile application to your phone. Then you sign in with a Ninchat account. Finally, Notifier is ready to use. The Notifier mobile application is available for both iOS and Android so you do not need to buy expensive equipment to use it.

How can Ninchat Notifier help you?

With Ninchat Notifier it is fast and easy to answer a chat request. Notifier alerts you when there is a customer in the chat and you can answer the call immediately. This way the customer or the professional does not have to wait for the chat to start.

With Ninchat Notifier it is possible to answer the chat call almost anywhere. This saves time for the professional who can log into any device to take the call. You can start the chat on your phone or a computer, and switch between the devices during the chat if necessary. 

You can move the customer to another professional or group of professionals within the same chat session, if necessary. The Notifier will send an alert to their phones and the fastest person to answer gets the chat. The customer will get all the service they need within one chat meeting without a long wait.

It is safe to use Notifier because Ninchat’s platform uses a secured connection.

Do you want to find out more about Ninchat Notifier?

Video consultation helps you to engage with your customers

Ninchat video consultation can help you when it is important to understand expressions or movements. Among all options video consultation resembles traditional, physical appointment the most.

What is a Ninchat video consultation?

A video consultation is an appointment where the professional engages with a customer by video. With video consultation it is easier for the professional to make the diagnosis, instead of using a telephone or chat, because they can see the customer. For some customers it may be easier to communicate by video because the appointment resembles a physical, traditional appointment.

A video consultation suits best for the situations in which it is critical to see and understand the other person’s expressions and gestures, nonverbal communication, and movement. Examples of these situations are psychologists’ or physiotherapists’ appointments. A video consultation can also be used in pre-employment health examinations or in different group meetings.

A video consultation is a fast, easy and secure way to organise healthcare services or organisations' counselling services. A customer does not have to leave their home which saves time and may also be a reason for the customer to be able to access the appointment. The benefit of the video consultation is that the professional gets a notification when the customer logs in to the service and is ready for the appointment. If the customer cancels the appointment or does not show up, the professional can continue with their other tasks.

How Ninchat can help you?

Ninchat video consultation is an easy and secure way to organise appointment services. It is also a very fast way to access the appointment – the customer can engage with the professional in seconds in the best cases. An on-call video consultation is superior in speed compared to the traditional appointment service.

Ninchat video consultation makes it possible to share the professional’s time between many operators at the same time. The professional does not have to change their location, but they can engage with the customer in their own office by video connection no matter where the customer is located, or whichever unit has sent them. This saves time and is cost efficient.

On the Ninchat platform you can carry out both scheduled and on-call appointments by chat or video. Video consultations work on all modern web and mobile browsers.  

Are you interested in hearing more about Ninchat video consultation?

FIGHT COVID-19 WITH SECURE MESSAGING

Whole Finland stopped in the spring 2020 when coronavirus COVID-19 hit the country. It affected our economy and healthcare the way we have never seen before. Now that the second wave of the virus is underway and vaccine soon to be available, we are better prepared for its consequences. We have taken a huge digital leap as a nation just within nine months. We have switched to remote work and built digital remote appointments.

Digital remote appointments

Digital remote appointment is a doctor’s or nurse’s appointment via an identified video or chat.

Digital remote appointment brings advantages to the customer: it is fast and easy to reach, it is not bound into one place – you can even visit a doctor from your own couch! There are many advantages from the professionals’ point of view, also. The same professional resource can be shared between many different operators because customer appointments can be held via video or chat. If the appointment is cancelled by the customer, the professional can make another customer appointment without having to wait.

In Finland digital remote appointments via identified chat became refundable by the Social Insurance Institution (Kela) in the beginning of May 2020. This made wider use of chat possible in public and private sector healthcare services.

Ninchat can help to build a digital remote appointment with secure chat. Video, audio and writing possibilities are available within the chat. It is also possible to put a lightbot into the chat window to guide customers to the information they need. There are different kinds of reports available within the chat to support your business.

Counselling

COVID-19 has increased the need for counselling services. But at the same time the amount of physical services has been restricted. Chat is a great tool for producing counselling services because customer appointments can be made by a phone or computer. Customers can stay safely at home while getting the service they need.

Ninchat’s chat is secure and easy to use for both, customers and professionals. It is easy for

customers to attend to an appointment at their own turn without physical queueing. For the

professional it is easy to see the customer by chat. If for some reason the appointment gets

cancelled, it is easy for the professional to do something else while there are no customers in the chat.

Sharing the professional’s time between many operators

Sharing the professional’s time between many operators, like hospital units, is cost-effective. It also makes it possible to produce quality services to a larger customer base. Sharing the professional’s time between many operators is possible with Ninchat’s chat. Specialists are often needed in different locations at the same time. As a solution to this, Ninchat offers the Notifier chat alarm system. With Notifier you can easily alarm the specialist in question anywhere. Notifier lets the professional work anywhere because they will get an alarm to their smartphone, and can answer the call from any device. Are you interested in hearing more about easy-to-use and secure chat options?

Ninchat participating in Vertical Accelerator Health Fall Batch

Ninchat is proud to participate in Vertical 2017 fall batch.
Vertical is the first Nordic digital health and wellness startup accelerator. It runs a four-month accelerator program twice a year in Helsinki, Finland.

On August, with eight other innovative startups, we began a 4-month acceleration program at Vertical. Together with partners such as Samsung, The Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa and Fazer, we will be revolutionising digital health as you know it.

Read more: http://www.vertical.vc/fall2017batch/#.WcEfDsgjGUk

Ninchat Sessions #2

Ninchat Sessions #2 was held in the beginning of June, here at Maria 0-1 hub, Helsinki. 
We would like to thank everyone for your participation and attendance at our event! We had a lovely evening and enjoyable show.

Ninchat Sessions #1

On September 13th, we hosted the first Ninchat Sessions at Maria 0-1 Startup Hub, Helsinki.
The event brings together the people creating digital transformation, across different industries.

We were happy to hear about customer care chat experiences and success stories from 

- The Dutch Police  -  A case how the Dutch Police is building an online community where the police & young adults meet frequently around contemporary topics.
- Terveystalo  -  How the largest healthcare service company in Finland is using secure, cross platform chat in OmaTerveys web and mobile applications.
- Aurinkomatkat  -  A case how  the largest package tour agency in Finland is digitalizing their travel experience using new Aurinkomatkat mobile app that allows customers to chat with destination guides before, during and after the trip.
- Swica  -  A case how one of the leading health and accident insurers in Switzerland, a leading Swiss health insurance company, is transforming its sales in a distributed operational environment.

New Ninchat features were also presented, including audio & video chat, predefined canned messages, conversations tags, notes and a glimpse to the upcoming Ninchat design update.

Thank you for all participants and see you next time!

Antti and Ville talking about new Ninchatfeatures

       

Use Ninchat like a pro on desktop!

Here's a little tutorial post for you.

You may be happy running Ninchat in your favourite browser, but did you now there are ways to make your team communication and handling of customer service chat queues even better?

We gathered a few tips for more advanced use of Ninchat for Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer users.

Run Ninchat like a desktop application (Chrome)

If you're a Chrome user, you can use Ninchat like a desktop application. The desktop application runs in its own window, separate from the browser. It can be pinned to Windows taskbar and Start menu, so you can quickly access and start Ninchat at any time and you don't have to find it amongst the browser tabs.

Here's how to do it: Go to Ninhat App page on Chrome Web store: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/ninchat and click "Add to Chrome".

2) After installing the app, you will find Ninchat in your Chrome Apps: chrome://apps
Open the apps page and right-click the Ninchat icon. Select it to "Open as a window" and then again right-click and select "Create shortcuts..."

This will create Ninchat "application shortcut" to your desktop and Ninchat opens in its own window. As said, you can pin Ninchat to your taskbar and Start menu to quickly access Ninchat.
The desktop application works otherwise just like in browser - notifications and other functions work fine.

 

Pin and auto-start Ninchat tab (Firefox)

While Firefox does not have desktop application feature like Chrome, you can pin the Ninchat tab to the browser and keep Ninchat always open and just a click away. Pinned tab is small and can't be closed by accident, and it's automatically open when you start Firefox.

How to do it: Open Ninchat in Firefox and right-click the tab and select "Pin Tab".

That's it. Now you see the Ninchat tab small on the left. It also shows a notification icon when something happens in Ninchat.

 

Pin Ninchat to Windows taskbar (Internet Explorer)

Here's a cool tip for Internet Explorer (IE) users! While the browser lacks the support for desktop notifications, we have something similar for you.

Instructions: IE allows you to create kind of similar desktop applications from websites. Open Ninchat.com in IE and click the Tools menu (gear icon). Select "Add site to apps" and in the following popup window, click "Add".

Ninchat then opens up in a new window and you will see Ninchat in the Windows taskbar. Right-click the taskbar element and select "Pin to taskbar". This way you can quickly access and start Ninchat from there at any time. You can now also find Ninchat from the Windows Start menu.

The cool part: Taskbar element also works as a notifier. When you don't have Ninchat open and customer enters a chat queue, the Ninchat bar starts to blink and you will instantly notice the customer!

(Please note that the newer Edge browser, that ships with Windows 10, does not have this feature yet. But you can still start Internet Explorer from Edge's menu, and do this with it.)

 

Set audio and desktop notifications

Even if you stick with a normal browser, remember to enable audio and desktop notifications for Ninchat (the latter available in Chrome, Firefox and Safari browsers). Notifications allow you to instantly react to new messages, customers in chat queue, etc. - even when you are not looking at Ninchat window.

To do this, go to User Settings. Click the Notifications tab. To use desktop notifications, you may need to first enable the feature for your browser. Click Enable. Follow additional instructions if necessary.

Now you can set notifications for wanted events. When a notification event occurs, Ninchat plays a sound and / or shows a notification box on your desktop when you don't have Ninchat window active.

That's it. We hope these tips make your Ninchat usage even better!

If you any questions about Ninchat, just click the chat buttons on the bottom right.
We are happy to help :)