Ara Trembly, NU's technology editor, hits the mark in his Oct.30 column, “Are Apathetic Agents Holding Back SEMCI?” He correctlyconcludes that the cause of slow agency adoption rates of real-timeis probably not agent apathy but lack of awareness about real-timeand how it can benefit them.

I'm frequently out in the field with agents, and I can attestthat we continue to have a significant awareness problem aboutreal-time. Fortunately, the industry has recognized this problemand is addressing it.

The Agents Council for Technology and AUGIE (an umbrellaorganization of agency management system user groups and otherinterested parties formed by ACORD) spearheaded the formation of anall-industry initiative this summer (the Real-Time & DownloadImplementation Campaign) to get all segments of the industryworking together on this issue–agents, carriers, vendors, usergroups and agent associations.

This group is working to get the actual real-time transactionnumbers out more broadly, along with the numbers of active agentand carrier users.

Because the numbers have not been regularly published, theprogress we are making with real-time has not been recognized.

In fact, there are currently over 20,000 real-time inquiries andtransactions per day, not including the real-time quotes beingproduced by the comparative raters.

We also need to get the message out that the agencies usingreal-time like it and are realizing significant time savings withit–time that can be used for proactive service and sales.

For example, 50 percent of Best Practices agencies (cited by theIndependent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, and ReaganConsulting) are doing real-time inquiries with five or morecarriers, and 37 percent are realizing “significant time savings”from this tool.

Meanwhile, 54 percent of Best Practices agencies are doingreal-time rating with at least three carriers, and 45 percent areachieving “significant time savings” from this improved ratingworkflow.

Mr. Trembly challenges us “to get the posse out and spread theword on real-time technology's benefits.”

He's correct, and you will see the Campaign launch anall-industry marketing campaign for exactly this purpose in early2007. Agents will hear a consistent message promoting real-timeeverywhere they turn–from their carriers, user groups, agentassociations, and vendors.

You will also see more agency real-time training opportunities,both virtual and in person. There is strong agent interest in thesessions taking place today, and it is very positive to seecarriers, vendors, agent associations and user groups joiningtogether to deliver them.

An updated ACORD “Power of Change” seminar will be launched soonto assist agencies in making the move to real-time and otherimproved workflows in their offices.

The Campaign will also develop tools to help agents implementreal-time, including a real-time implementation guide and usagereports that will enable agencies to monitor their employees'real-time usage.

Real-time represents the most significant technology opportunityagents have had in decades to move us toward the agents' vision ofSEMCI–single-entry, multi-company interface.

Real-time takes us out of the world of having to deal with amultiplicity of carrier Web sites and gives our employees thechance to finally achieve a common workflow through their agencymanagement system or comparative rater.

Shame on us if we cannot convince our distribution force to moveto this improved workflow.

Mr. Trembly, message received. The ball is now in the industry'scourt.