One of the great advantages of doing business today is that itis not business as usual. And one key to a bright future iswireless technology. The ability to send and receive data fromremote locations without a desktop hookup has greatly opened theinsurance world, particularly for claims adjusters. Today, thanksto a host of technologies that could barely be imagined 20 yearsago, an adjuster can pick up his assignments, carry out his tasks,and even write a check, all from the back of his car.

Wireless technology will dramatically impact the way insurers dobusiness. It has improved to the point where signal interruptionsand dead zones are no longer the disaster they once were, and wherethe middleware available for wireless applications is makingworries about bandwidth seem less troublesome than in yearspast.

Sure, everyone would love to have 3G wireless,said SteveRamirez, senior director for market planning for e-business withMitchell International, referring to the third generationtechnologies promised in the next three to five years, but theexisting throughput works well with accompanying middleware. We allwant everything to be bigger, faster, and strongerits an indeliblepart of our society. But businesses dont need to wait till tomorrowto derive significant value from wireless applications, accordingto Ramirez.

Before you think that wireless applies only to claims, thinkagain. Chuck Lownie, director of business development for iAnywhereSolutions, said that many companies wireless strategies center ontheir agents; theyre finding success with sales automation toolsfor their captives, where they can dictate the devices those agentsuse and the software they run. Those solutions can beoff-the-shelf, proprietary, or somewhere in between.

But the power of the tech is spreading beyond the walls of thosecarriers. A few years ago, independent agents who wanted a wirelessconnection to a carrier (if they could get one at all) would findthemselves facing a version of the same problem SEMCI was supposedto solve: Each carrier had a different infrastructure and supportsystem, and agents could conceivably end up with a stack ofwireless devicesone for each carrier.

Today, though, the pocket version of the Web browser provides astandard interface to carriers software. Independent agents offer adifferent type of challenge, Lownie said. The carrier doesntcontrol what type of computing device they can use, but we areworking to solve this with Web-based wireless. Its a great way toconnect.

Letting Go

Many carriers are still wary of cutting the cord, so to speak.Issues of security, obsolescence, infrastructure, and the cost ofimplementing wireless solutions hang over their collective heads.Lownie recommends that carriers uncomfortable with wirelessbut thatunderstand the benefits of ithook up with a trusted advisor beforeshopping for solutions.

You need someone who has done it before who can find out what ispossible and what is not possible, he said.

Take Frank Arment, vice president of claims forMassachusetts-based auto insurer Plymouth Rock Assurance. Hes soldon the wireless system his company purchased from Mitchell becauseit gives Plymouth Rock a competitive advantage in claimsprocessingsomething thats important in a state like Massachusetts,where rates are set by the state. The end result, Arment said, isincreased efficiency and better customer service.

The company currently has three of its 12 mobile crash bustervans equipped with the Mitchell wireless system; the remainder willhave it by the end of the year. By starting the claims process fromthe field instead of the office, Plymouth Rock can speed up many ofthe things that traditionally slow the process, particularly when avehicle is totaled. We can start working with the banks quickly ongetting the title changed, Arment said. They are notoriously slowin that regard. We can move to get the car out of storage and sentto the salvage yard. Also, we can cut down the number of days weare paying for car rentals for the customer. We can issue a checkright on the spot. All those things add up.

The claims staff also carries cellular phones and digitalcameras as part of its high-tech package.

Of course, Arment realizes there are issues that have to besolved, but the benefits are exciting. You can do more appraisalsper appraiser, he said. We can dispatch directly to the appraiserthrough the assignment screen.

And things will roll even more quickly when Plymouth Rockreplaces its antiquated legacy system so that appraisers can accessthe back-end system directly instead of sending data through theMitchell Web site. Its not quite instantaneous for us yet, but weare getting there, Arment said.

Fill er Up

From cable connections in their homes, T1 lines in theiroffices, and forthcoming 3G wireless devices, people are demandingmore and more bandwidth.

Randy Arndt, senior product marketing manager for XcelleNet,maker of the Afaria mobile management system, thinks the worldsappetite for bigger and bigger pipes is insatiable. The more theyget, he says, the more theyll use. When bandwidth goes up, so doesthe amount of information being sent, he said.

Data pipes always seem to be a step behind what people want touse them for, which can result in applications wanting to send afire hoses worth of information through a data pipe the size of astraw.

The key, Arndt said, is to be smart about what you send. What ifthe IT department needs to get data to the device, but the user ischecking his e-mail at the same time? he said. The software has tobe smart enough to step away and let the user complete hisbusiness.

Getting data from the mobile user to the management system isonly half the process. Administrative tasks and upgrades have to besent to mobile users as welland those users arent always willing orable to come to the home office and wait while someone from ITinstalls the software.

A better solution, Arndt said, is having software to track thedevices and monitor the programs so you can update or repair thesystems without physically touching it.

Downsides

One of the inherent problems with portable devices is that theycan be too portableeasily lifted from table, airport scanner, oreven a jacket pocket. When those devices carry sensitive companyinformation, the company needs a way to keep it away from pryingeyes. If [a wireless device] is lost, you have to be able to sendit a command to delete the content and show a message with returninstructions, Arndt said.

Damage is a common problem for mobile solutions as well, eitherin the form of a cracked keyboard or a corrupt file. In the lattersituation, the user might not be able to get to the home office fora repair. So Arndt recommendsonce againsoftware that can connect tothe devices and fix things. Backup management can put the data onnew devices, install shareware, or delete files that are breakingthe software, he said. It can recognize a corrupted file and keepit from breaking the solution.

Every cell-phone user knows that there are dead zones out therewhere wireless coverage is spotty at best. That can be a problemfor not-so-smart software thats trying to exchange data withcorporate HQ.

Arndt feels the key for hisor anywireless solution is itsability to store data thats entered, even when a user enters a deadzone and loses her connection to the management system. You havecoverage, and then you walk somewhere and all of a sudden you donthave coverage, he said. Your wireless connection has to be able topick up where you left off even in an unpredictableenvironment.

Lownie agrees, calling that always available computing. He alsoaddresses the bandwidth issue, saying that insurers have to getbeyond it and concentrate on good applications.

Standards play a big part in this, he said. iAnywhere supports aJava-based API for sending and receiving messages. As long as thetransport mechanisms have a JMF interface, I can swap differenttransport messages, he said. It has had a fairly high acceptancerate. That can mitigate the never-ending barrage of newtechnologies that seem to render yesterdays equipment obsolete.

Theres little doubt that the future holds great things forwireless computing. Higher bandwidth, smarter devices, morepowerful applications, and, of course, snazzier machines are all inthe planning stages. But Lownie cautioned against getting caught upin the hype. He pointed to European smart phones as an example. Nomatter how sharp they are, he said, one simple question has to beanswered: Does it have a good, solid business application? If theanswer to that question is yes, than youre in business.

Increases in bandwidth are coming, but they havent yet been ableto keep up with the demand for usage. With the proliferation ofcell phones, PDAs, and laptops, it will be nearly impossible tomeet the global demand. Smart carriers know that the power ofwireless devices lies in a combination of bandwidth, smartapplications, and users who see computing without wires for theuseful business it can enable.

iAnywhere Solutions: www.sybase.com
Mitchell International: www.mitchell.com
Plymouth Rock Assurance: www.prac.com
XcelleNet: www.xcellenet.com