AscendantOne: "No legacy systemlimitations"

AscendantOne (www.ascendantone.com) hasdesigned its new rate/quote/issuance solution, Front Office Suite,to deploy accurate and cost-effective ratings for any line ofbusiness and in any state.

The company claims the browser-based suite-n-tier XMLarchitecture and all-can be deployed with minimal interruption toexisting systems.

Don Chase, AscendantOne's executive vice president, said, "Withno legacy system limitations and vast insurance expertise, we haveengineered a turnkey, open-component rating engine...and weincorporate industry-standard XML interfaces to overlay existingautomation and eliminate redundant front office operational expensein any P&C distribution environment."

Chase claims incorporating the product's e-commercefunctionality and Web interfaces will allow any company to "asserttheir market presence."

Another CRM?

G2X's (www.g2x.com) brand ofCRM is bit different: It's focusing on case and relationshipmanagement-CRM on steroids, if you will.

Its product, Agility:Insurance, was designed to provide acentralized point of access for all relationship and caseinformation throughout a carrier's workflow. The company claimsthis brand of data stewarding shortens the quoting cycle, improvesflow of information, and reduces costs of data gathering.

Agility:Insurance collects, analyzes, and sorts customer anddata and integrates them into one interface. This includes userssuch as clients, producers, underwriters; compliance issues such ascontracting and licensing; and products such as correspondence,case requirements, and billing.

This 'all in one place' thinking led to development of a singlepoint of entry for internal users, and centralized reportingcapabilities including preliminary, pending, paid, activity, andproductivity.

"The insurance industry is being reshaped by regulatory changes,new competitors, and heightened consumer awareness," said G2Xpresident Wayne Kaplan. "Now more than ever, providers are lookingfor a solution that helps to streamline internal new processes andprovide better service to producers.

ACORD finalizes XML spec (finally)

ACORD has released the first complete version of its XMLstandards for P&C and surety.

Born from contributions of carriers, brokers, agents, and techdevelopers, the specification version 1.0-described by ACORD(www.acord.org) as broad andcomprehensive-is geared to provide an impressive solution forindustry e-business messages.

Tana Sabatino, ACORD's assistant vice president of standards,said the decision to develop XML standards for P&C was made inMay 1999; six specification drafts were drawn up soon after.

"The need to share information in these industries isessential," she explained.

Sabatino said the XML standards 1.0 replace AL3-the current EDIstandard. She cited inflexibilities such as multiple versionmaintenance and incompatible company-specific extension supportissues as strong reasons behind leveling the playing field.

"Everyone had to have the same version of EDI to communicate,"she said. "There's always a need within a standard to add uniqueinformation. With XML it is possible to do that and still be ableto communicate."

Sabatino believes the new XML specs are open enough thateveryone will find the layout and structure agreeable. But how longwill the companies be able to hop, skip, jump, and hold hands?ACORD guarantees 12 to 18 months of stability, with no new specsdeveloped during that time; they would hate to tinker with backwardcompatibility.

But there's a hidden agenda-sort of. According to Sabatino,during that year to year-and-a-half time frame, ACORD will belaying groundwork for eMerge, one set of standards for the entireinsurance industry-a sponge saturated with specifications from theorganization's other industry XML standards.

ACORD is working with other companies to develop external globalframeworks for eMerge, including the ebXML consortium (www.ebxml.org), Microsoft (www.microsoft.com), and IBM(www.ibm.com).

Rackley Web-enables rating solution

Rackley Systems (www.rackley.com) took its ratingengine solution and, in tune with many tech companies, migrated itto the Web.

The Web-enabled engines will be available to all majorcommercial lines of business, and can be used with proprietaryinterfaces, external browsers, desktop systems, or the Rackleyinterface.

And, like many developers, Rackley is trying to shoehorn in asmuch XML as possible. Information is sent and received using it,and rating results are returned in that format, too. Datavalidation can be carried out in XML or HTML for additionalinput.

Rackley also wants the product to be used to generate real-timequotes over the Web, and usher legacy-dependent organizations tothe Internet market.

Input 1 releases online inquiry tool

When it comes to making policy information available to anyonewho needs it, Input1 thinks its new Policies in View solution(www.policies-in-view.com) hasit all.

Company president and CEO Todd Greenbaum described it asscalable, and with "an integration process as simple as can be."But Policies in View online looks like a new venue for a companythat specializes in TPA and software billing for insurance andpremium finance.

The Web-based inquiry tool has several viewing options,including reports and graphing, and features online paymentservices. "It reports sales, new business, and new productinformation by salesman, territory, and more," Greenbaum said. "Andwith e-payment, the broker or insured can view accounts, checkstatus and payments received, and the insured can opt to pay overthe Web by e-check or credit card."

On the back end, Policies in View uses a proprietary system ofpayment processing for checks; it uses a merchant account to handlecredit processes. Greenbaum said that all transactions areprotected by SSL encryption.

Companies upload data daily to the solution via FTP, andProcessClaims populates and customizes the client's site based onthose data. Clients can also license the source code. Greenbaumexplained that the app can be integrated easily because it outputsdata to a flat ASCII file.

ProcessClaims offers training over the Web, or for largerinstalls, will provide one to three days of onsite training.

Insurity launches two commercial P&Cproducts

Insurity (www.insurity.com) released CommercialIntellisys and Producer Intellisys for P&C. The former, anintegrated and fully automated solution for the Internet, Windows,or DOS, features customizable questions, scoring rules, andprogramming-free messages. With it, underwriters can reviewinformation before requesting additional verification.

Producer extends Commercial's features, with agent-specificunderwriting, variations on comparative rating, 24/7 quoteturnaround, and reporting and inquiries on claims or policyinquiries.

ProcessClaims to use Web services for autoclaims

If ProcessClaims (www.processclaims.com) CIO DavidBoden's plan is successful, all the parties involved with thecollision repair process will be able to quickly and seamlesslyintegrate their business and technology processes.

Boden has been working with Microsoft at its MicrosoftTechnology Center in Silicon Valley. His goal is to move hiscompany's collision repair industry solution to a Web servicesformat using Microsoft's .NET framework.

According to Boden, the Gates dynasty has provided him with thebrains (an associate from Microsoft Consulting Services) and thebrawn (a fleet of up-to-date hardware and software pre-configuredfor his flavor of developing and testing). The consultant ishelping Boden move across the board, from ASP to SQL Server 7 to.NET.

In the end, the Web services for collision solution will allowinvolved trading partners (e.g., body shops, parts warehouses,glass manufacturers) take advantage of the solution's features viaXML without using ProcessClaims's Web front end directly. Aworkflow example: the insurance company takes claims data-fromaccident to damage appraisal-and sends it to the body shop.ProcessClaims provides a communication forum between any systems sothe carrier can connect and communicate directly through theProcessClaims app that manages the data in between.

Boden calls it platform independence.

"With the Web services, companies will use their systems andthen send the data to our back end without having to use afront-end interface," Boden explained. "That way, different frontends can enjoy all the capabilities."

Boden said the ProcessClaims site uses SSL encryption, and theback end is protected by a propriety solution so "companies seeonly what they need to."

Mitchell, AT&T speed up wireless claims

Mitchell International (www.mitchell.com) is using CellularDigital Packet Data (CDPD) technology and working with AT&TWireless (www.attwireless.com) and itsGeneral Packet Radio Service (GPRS) to bring its wirelesstransmission speeds to 100 Kbps. Claims adjusters can now sendMitchell UltraMate estimates, digital images, ValueMate data, andother files directly to Mitchell's e-Claim Manager solution.

Thomas Julius, Mitchell Wireless's senior product manager, saidfile transmission takes seconds; the entire transfer takes place inthe background, allowing mobile workers to respond to their nextassignments.

SunGard updates Finpack

SunGard Insurance Systems (www.sungard.com) has updated anexisting solution, launched a new product, and deployed yet anotherin Africa.

The company's Finpack-a financial needs analysis and estateplanning tool-was rechristened as version 6.0 when new featureswere added and existing functions overhauled. Included are updatedtax law exemptions, asset allocation analysis with new classes, andminimum distribution plans for retirement plan analysis.
SunGard Insurance Systems' senior vice president Howard Stern saidthe company is aggressively moving Finpack's functionality to theWeb, where SunGard will host the product as an ASP.

The Versatile Illustration Partner (VIP) is SunGard's latestdesktop-to-Internet system. Stern said it's a multi-tieredconsolidation of illustration systems that separates inputs frombusiness code and logic and the presentation layer. On the frontend, it reads information from CRM solutions, and distributesinformation from illustrations to home office admin systems in auser-specified file format on the back end.

Stern explained that SunGard could become a strategic partnerwith its clients, licensing authoring tools so companies can designtheir own input and presentation screens-and do so via a friendlyinterface.

IASA to sponsor TechDEC conference

IASA, one of the most influential organizations in the insurancetechnology field, announced that it will sponsor The NationalUnderwriter Company's TechDEC-the Technology Decisions Expositionand Conference-by adding a life insurance track to the show.TechDEC is being held in Tampa, Fla., October 8 and 9.

Presented by Technology Decisions magazine, TechDEC will offerinsurance company CEOs, CIOs, IT managers, and other decisionmakers insight and expertise into the questions and problems facedby carriers trying to implement the technologies of the 21stcentury.

"TechDEC 2001 is a great opportunity to begin transforming [our]visions, for both our membership and our organization, intoreality," said Jim Schmidt, president of IASA. "We believe that thecombination of the trade show, technology demonstrations, andeducational sessions will serve our member companies."
Information about TechDEC, including registration, is available atwww.tech-dec.com.

Prudential helps advisors target affluentclients

Affluent clients choose independent advisors, according toPrudential (www.prudential.com), which is whythe company designed the PrudentialXpress Internet platform forindependent financial services distributors. It wants to help thefolks in the trenches sells insurance in new markets.

The Web-based B2B entity is a suite of sales tools and processesthat Prudential hopes will make foie gras out of the sometimes uglyduckling that is the current business model. Gordon J. Wilson, asenior vice president in Prudential's U.S. Consumer Group, said,"Industry trends show that affluent clients are increasinglychoosing independent advisors to purchase financial servicesproducts. To earn the endorsement of independent distributors, werecognized the need to broaden our customer target market beyondour traditional super-affluent, specialized-risk niche."

So now it's targeting affluent, younger, clean-risk clients.

Even $1,000 Mont Blanc pens won't be touching the paperwork,thanks to PrudentialExpress's all-electronic format. And userssubmit an XpressApp (which gathers information directly fromclient), further simplifying the advisor's workflow. And accordingto Prudential vice president Erik Raper, in most cases a singlesignature is all that's needed to get the underwriting ballrolling.

For the wealthy client or potentially wealthy advisor comes thefunction-rich application: online access to illustrations, newbusiness status, underwriting rating, licensing data, businessforms, and marketing materials.