Private health company BUPA is reconfiguring its Web site to create
separate interactive portals for customers and employees
The company employed BroadVision to change the operation of the
site into "self-service" portals using new application software.
BroadVision has completed similar changes on behalf of BT,
Vodafone, Lloyds TSB, and MMO2.
Using the new portals, which will be launched on Monday, staff will
be able to access their corporate e-mail and database information
through a browser on any desk or mobile device, including laptops
and PDAs.
Uwe Natho, BUPA group IS director, said he wanted this system of
working to create an "easy dashboard for his road warriors".
At the moment staff use full office application suites, including
Microsoft Outlook, to download their e-mails while on the move.
BUPA discovered, however, that employees were experiencing problems
when trying to connect to corporate servers using a number of
different devices.
BUPA is hoping to relieve pressure on its helpdesk by giving users
the choice to use this form of Web mail, which works in a similar
way to the Yahoo! and MSN Hotmail portals.
With the customer portal, Karen Flowers, BUPA's interactive and
multimedia services manager, said that customers would be able to
access and store specific medical information. Patients' typical
needs would be stored in a new customer relationship management
system being developed by BUPA.