NU Online News Service, Oct. 16, 3:15 p.m.EDT

KANSAS CITY, MO.--In a year when "growth" has meant"flat" and economic recovery remains frail, the fact that almost1,000 attended the Applied Systems Client Network (ASCnet) TENConhere is proof of the organization's success and the resilience ofits volunteer members.

The Applied Systems users group represents more than 80,000insurance professionals in 11 countries.

The commitment of ASCnet volunteers helped drive significantimprovements in usage and training over the past year, saidoutgoing ASCnet Chair Mike Montgomery, senior associate developmentconsultant for Lockton Companies, LLC, in a keynote addressWednesday.

The organization's gains included more than 18.7 millionreal-time transactions, increased educational opportunities andimproved relationships with carrier partners. And a new program,the "Real Time 21 Day Challenge," is designed to help agenciesimprove workflow and fully utilize their systems.

Mr. Montgomery said the proliferation of committee activityduring his tenure demonstrated the commitment of ASCnet volunteers.For example, the education committee developed more than 50 newcourse offerings for TENCon, as well as webinars and other learningexperiences for members throughout the year.

He noted that it's a "buyers market" for learning opportunities,urging agencies to take advantage of this, so they are wellpositioned for growth when economic conditions improve.

Rick Morgan, ASCnet interim chief executive officer, praisedmembers for their involvement and urged them to continue workingwith Applied and carriers to improve workflows.

"This system has survived other tough times," Mr. Morgan said."The fact that you're here means you're doing better than yourcompetitors because of your involvement in ASCnet. You're opinionleaders and advocates for change."

Mr. Morgan, long recognized in the insurance industry as anexpert on technology and automation, credited ASCnet's"three-legged stool" membership of agents, carriers and AppliedSystems for the gains made during the past year.

Mark Layden, chief operating officer of Applied Systems(pinch-hitting for absent CEO Jim Kellner, who had a death in thefamily), recapped the vendor's activities over the past year andassured attendees of the company's fiscal stability. Instead oflayoffs, Applied Systems has reallocated many of its employees todevelopment and customer service roles, scaled back on companysocial events, and downsized its mobile demonstration unit.

In an ongoing effort to listen to users, the company introduceda "Let's Talk" marketing campaign to solicit product feedback, andassigned a full-time staff to address the "tens of thousands" ofcustomer-generated PMRs (product modification requests) totroubleshoot problems.

Applied has also re-dedicated itself to "quality over quantity"by scaling back new features and stabilizing its current products,especially its TAM Series 9 and 10 products, Mr. Layden said.

The company invested in improving the transition process forusers upgrading to its top-shelf Epic system, introduced last year.Epic made news in 2009 when Willis Holdings announced plans to usethe system, but Mr. Layden stressed that Epic isn't only for bigbrokers.

"More than 20 agencies are starting to use Epic, each with 10 orfewer employees," he said. Epic 3.0 is now in general release, with4.0 in beta testing. Future releases will include improvedaccounting and reporting functions, including advanced graphicspresentations and drill-down reports, he said.

Applied Systems is supporting ASCnet's new Real Time 21 DayChallenge, now being prepped for rollout. Based on the premise thatit takes 21 days to form a new habit, the program will help AppliedSystems users of all levels use real time to adopt new workflows bymaking incremental changes to how the staff does business.

Laura Toops is Editor of American Agent &Broker, a member of Summit Business Media's P&C Magazine Group,which includes National Underwriter. She may be reached [email protected].