Covid-19 and the global pandemic it’s caused has really turned things upside down. There’s been quarantines, social distancing, mandatory mask usage and so much more. All with the goal of reducing the spread, lowering the curve and keeping everyone safe.
Funeral service like most businesses, has had to adapt how families are served. There’s been limitations on the size of gathering, and rules for attending services. Throughout all of this, our industry has done an incredible job at adapting and finding new ways to provide families with the level of service expected. From virtual arrangement tools to live streaming services and everything in between, many firms have drastically changed processes and introduced new tools to help families.
Things Are Changing
What’s really been interesting during all of this is seeing how families have reacted. Funeral service has been very traditional for decades and this disruption has really changed how families are getting information, communicating, and planning services. Recently The Foresight Companies released a consumer preferences survey and the results were quite interesting. Some of the stats that really stood out were:
- 75% expect online pricing to be available
- 52% will ONLY do business with companies that show prices online
- 73% say it’s important to have pre-planned funeral arrangements (up from 58%)
- 40% of consumers expect live-streaming of services to be permanently available
- 46% of consumers say they will handle funeral arrangements virtually going forward
As you can see, consumers have quickly adopted and now prefer the convenience of digital solutions and tools. As time continues to progress, this desire to be able to complete arrangements online will not be going anywhere.
Introducing EasyID
During this pandemic, we’ve made it a priority at FrontRunner to help our clients have little disruption to their businesses. As the homepage of our website says, “we’re a true partner for your business”. That’s something we take very seriously. We’re proud to offer solutions that help you meet the new needs of today’s families and make sure you have everything you need in your tool box.
Earlier this week, we released a new tool called EasyID. It’s a virtual body identification tool that has seen incredible feedback so far.
Help Accommodate Families
Not every family can make it into the funeral home or crematory to identify a loved one’s remains. For some, it can be difficult to see their loved one like that. Other’s might live in different areas and be unable travel. There are plenty of reasons why this can be difficult. Add in a global pandemic, and things become even tougher.
You’ve likely experienced this before and know that waiting for the remains to be identified means waiting longer to perform a cremation and return the ashes to the family. Now you don’t have to. EasyID is a virtual body identification tool that lets families complete this crucial identification step from anywhere. Rather than driving to the funeral home, they complete the identification online through a private and secure portal.
How EasyID Works
We’ve made this process as simple and straightforward as possible. All you need to do is take a photo of the deceased (from shoulders up) and upload it to the system. From there, the family receives an email with a secure link. Upon clicking the link, they’re redirected to a secure web portal where they can click a button to view the photo. After confirming the identity, the photo disappears and the process is complete. Your firm receives a notification and you move forward with the rest of the process.
Check out this video to see it action.
Why We Built It
We understand that every family is different. To help you accommodate everyone, we want to make sure our clients have the right tools available if a family needs them.
Whatever the case may be, EasyID is a great alternative to offer if the family is going to have trouble visiting you. Some would rather do the identification in a more comfortable setting like their home. Or like mentioned earlier, travel restrictions can arise. Whatever the reason is, now you can say no problem we’ve got a tool to make this work.
Best of all, this new tool is just going to help you save more time. After sending the email to the family, your staff can focus on other tasks while waiting to hear back from them. Better yet, the sooner you have a positive identification, the sooner you can complete a cremation and return the ashes to the family. You’ll impress with families with both your new accommodating tool and prompt, professional service.
Ready To Get Started With EasyID?
If you want to learn more about using EasyID, click here to visit our website.
If you have any questions or would like to schedule a demo, our team would be happy to tell you more about it.
Tommy holds a Communications degree from Laurentian University and an Integrated Marketing Communications Graduate Certificate from St. Lawrence College. He is a Content Marketing Specialist at FrontRunner and focuses on producing engaging content that funeral homes can use to connect with families. In addition, Tommy crafts SEO content for clients and specializes in helping the general public connect with the death care industry as a whole.
