In the highly competitive insurance environment, all of theplayers are looking for any edge they can get, and wholesalebrokers are no exception.

It's no surprise, then, that many brokers turn to technology todeliver the kind of speed and efficiency they need to be among thewinners in the race for fatter bottom lines. But which technologiesdeliver the biggest bang for wholesale brokers?

National Underwriter spoke with several wholesale brokers to gettheir thoughts on what has been “the most valuable technology buy”for their operations.

o Imaging Pays:

For Robert Schacher, president of Continental Special Risks inRoswell, Ga., the most valuable purchase has been an imaging systemfrom Conyers, Ga.-based ImageRight, a part of Skywire.

“The product is really geared for our kind of operation,” saidMr. Schacher. “It lets you track your total workflows–when it comesin, who has it, etc. It has also helped us in accounting, becauseit can track transactions on the fly and fax or e-mail themelsewhere, if necessary.”

Among the benefits of the software, which has been in place atContinental Special Risks for about three years, is the fact that“nothing is lost” when files are imaged and stored electronically,he stated. “You can pull up a file and read everything that everhappened to it. If a company needs it, you just push a button andsend it instantly. Multiple people can pull up an account and lookat it at the same time, and discuss it from any location.”

He recalled that “when we first put it in, I thought half of mypeople would quit. It was new and hard to use, and we had to scaneverything in. You also have to get someone to do training and geteverything scanned and into folders in the right places.”

Now that the system is up and running, however, employees areenjoying the benefits, he added. “You don't have to leave your deskto get a file, and that improves productivity.”

According to Mr. Schacher, the ImageRight system links to theagency's AIM agency management package. “If you're typing anendorsement in the agency management package, it links back andforth, so you can answer questions immediately without going tolook for documents,” he explained.

He further expects that retailers will soon be able to dial intohis system and “pull up all their policies right there. We'retrying to convince them they don't need us sending them policiesanymore.”

In terms of bottom-line savings from the system, he noted, “Ihave noticed that we've had 20 percent growth over last three yearswithout adding any clerical staff. We completely got rid of thefile room and moved people in there. The system also does archivingto a special server on our premises, which we can still access withthe touch of a button.”

While the system is the result of a “$150,000 investment insoftware, plus $100,000 in hardware,” Mr. Schacher said, “we'vegotten our investment back.”

Mr. Schacher said the firm is looking for additional benefitsfrom its imaging system. “We add new functions and features all thetime and set up new workflows,” he noted. “ImageRight does it forus, and we can modify it internally.”

o Server Upgrades:

According to Nicholas Hill, chief technology officer for Burns& Wilcox in Farmington Hills, Mich., “for a variety of reasons,blade center technology and blade servers have been an importantacquisition.”

A blade server consists of many thin, electronic circuit boards(blades)–each of which has server capabilities. Blade serversprovide increased processing power in less space, and also reducepower consumption.

As a result of installing this technology, he said, “we havebeen able to consolidate more in the data center. We've becomeleaner and meaner, taking up less space.”

“We've had the technology for about seven months,” he noted. “Ithas added computing power and physical space in a smallerfootprint–and the extra space gives us room to grow.”

He said the server upgrade also allows agents to have betteraccess to tools that let them do work away from the office. This isaccomplished using Citrix–a presentation service that allowsenterprises to run multiple applications in many locations.

In addition to improved workforce mobility, Citrix has alsoenabled the firm to provide a “consistent application environmentfor all our multiple branches,” he said. “It makes it easier tointroduce and test new applications across the enterprise.”

Mr. Hill also reported that Burns & Wilcox is “moving moretoward being paperless with ImageRight. We've been doing that foreight or nine months. We've got a large part of our populationusing electronic imaging and storage–moving documentation aroundbased on a rationalized workflow.”

Thanks to the workflow upgrades, the agency has seen“significant improvement in terms of efficiency in the operation,”he said. “It allows people to understand and know what work needsto be done, where and by whom–it's all automated. You're minimizingthe amount of manual movement of paper, taking the human elementout of it in terms of making errors.”

Looking forward, Mr. Hill said B&W is considering morebusiness process management-type technology.

The firm is also concerned with “ensuring a secure environmentfor folks to transact business. A layered sense of security is thebest practice out there now. You have to consistently stay on topof it. Hackers are relentless in trying to find a way into yourenterprise and your business information. We are cognizant ofthat.”

o Keeping IT In-House:

At TAPCO Underwriters, based in Burlington, N.C., “our besttechnology buy was to invest in our own IT department,” said TapJohnson III, president and owner.

“We are not an advocate of packaged products,” he noted,especially after an experience in 1987, when the firm bought asoftware platform only to have the software maker close its doorsshortly afterward.

That sealed the decision to bring technology developmentin-house, said Mr. Johnson. As a result, he added, “we canintegrate outside products with what we have now. We can quote andbind coverage in five minutes, while our competitors may take fivedays.”

TAPCO's IT staff includes 10 full-time programmers and sixnetwork tech-support personnel within a company of 180 employees,he noted.

Increased efficiency for a better bottom line was the goal ofthe in-house effort, he explained. “A human works 140,000 minutes ayear. If you add a minute to every transaction at 140,000transactions, you have also added an employee,” he said. “If youtake a minute away, you need one less employee.”

“We look at the entire process for opportunities to automate,and quicker is always better. Duplicate entry is the kiss ofdeath,” he added, noting that accounting, issuance and renewalactivities may force an agency to retype the same data threetimes.

Efficiency has translated into more business for TAPCO, and Mr.Johnson attributes part of that success to focusing on customers.“We try to take every touch-point and get into the customer psyche,and make the experience the way the customer would like it to be,”he explained. “We answer the phone in 30 seconds and process about7,000 calls a day. Web sites often leave people with questions, soit is easier to talk with a human being.”

“We let customers interface with us any way they want–we findout what they want,” he continued. “We have it all programmed inour database, and we tell the customer all the choices. There is novariation between CSRs. We automate the sending of documents aswell. Being on the phone, if they want to change it, we just send anew e-mail.”

Mr. Johnson added that agents have access to the company's Webportal, “so they can go in and change their criteria. We give themchoices but try to steer them toward the electronic choice. It'scheaper.”

The company has also invested in hardware to enable printing,folding and inserting operations for mailing and other purposes, hesaid. “This is done automatically. The system puts things inenvelopes and decides where to mail them.”

TAPCO also direct-bills, “and by having a proprietary system, wecan run it through without touching it to re-price you,” Mr.Johnson noted. “We can even send automatic price updates.”

He added that the company is beginning to encourage agents totake policies as PDFs, rather than paper. “Now we send snail-mailand e-mail. We hope they will opt not to get paper in the future,”he said.