Southwest Airlines has renewed its relationship with Varolii, a provider of customer interaction management technology, to reach customers, pilots and employees with critical, time-sensitive information.

The three-year agreement extends a relationship that began in 2007. In the last year, Varolii delivered more than 35 million communications across voice, text, and email on behalf of the carrier to consumers and employees. With more than 1.2 million flights each year, serving over 100 million customers, the carrier must be able to quickly inform their customers of flight status updates.

Using the Varolii Interact Platform, Southwest Airlines proactively communicates with customers in nearly real-time -- reaching them with personalized messages and self-service options -- that allow customers to quickly and easily make changes to their flight itineraries. This effort not only delivers a high quality customer experience, it deflects stress on the carrier's call centers and customer service agents.

"With Varolii Interact, we can reach large numbers of customers in a fraction of the time and without any massive spikes in inbound calls,” said Teresa Laraba, Southwest Airlines senior vice president of customers. “Use of this platform has translated into higher customer satisfaction and cost savings.

The two companies are making further enhancements to communicate important information to key stakeholders. For instance, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) requires that all airlines notify passengers of any flight status changes or delays within 30 minutes of the change. Leveraging Varolii's Interact Platform, the carrier is not only compliant with DOT regulations but is able to reach customers with important information in less than five minutes.

“As we continue to add new capabilities to reach the digital consumer, such as smartphone push notifications and inbound call management, we look forward to exploring how we can further support and enhance the airline's reputation for delivering the best experience possible," said Andrea Austin, vice president, Varolii.