The major personal-lines carriershave wholeheartedly embraced the customer-service possibilities ofmobile apps.

Allstate, State Farm and Progressive, for example, offer iPhone-and Android-ready apps that allow customers to view accountdetails; find an agent or road-side assistance; or obtain aquote. 

The apps also provide auto-accident checklists to assistcustomers in taking information, photos of the accident andsubmitting claims.

But what about independent agents—are they, too, getting on theapp bandwagon? 

A growing number of agents are, indeed, finding real value inmaking a relatively small investment to develop custom apps thatcan improve customer service—and brand the agency as being on thecutting edge.

Duke Williams, founder and president of SehMobile, a developerof technology tools for the insurance and financial-servicesindustries, estimates about 75 insurance-agency apps are in usetoday.

While that number is tiny, it's way up from the 10 or so thatwere available at the beginning of this year.

So what kinds of functionalities are independent agentsembedding in their apps? We look at three case studies of earlyadopters to find out. 

McClain InsuranceAgency

Claudia McClain, president of McClain Insurance Agency, inEverett, Wash., a personal-lines insurance agency with nicheproducts, says having an app helps her business by "reinforcing inthe customer's mind that we are a forward-looking and tech-savvyagency."

The agency's app provides accident and claim-filing information,online premium payments to carriers that support it and quotingoptions.

McClain also embeds a QR code in her marketingmaterials—smart-phone readable bar codes that automatically link aphone to the agency's site.

McClain says her next step in upgrading her mobile capability isto make her website mobile-phone friendly by the end of theyear. 

Beyond that, she thinks the iPad and other tablet technologycould prove to be a "game changer," especially when it comes tooffering quotes—because it is much easier to display theinformation on a tablet than the phone.

Byrnes InsuranceAgency

Jay Byrnes, president of Byrnes Insurance Agency, an independentpersonal and commercial-lines agency in Dayville, Conn., says hewanted to develop an app as a component of the agency'ssocial-media strategy. 

Initially, he said the app was intended to be just another wayof exposing the agency to customers. But the rapid escalation infunctionality has made it a real value-added service to clients forall sorts of routine insurance transactions.

The app, developed with SehMobile, was initially built withprivate-passenger customers in mind to provide a value-addedservice in claim reporting, certificate-of-insurance requests and"other mundane transaction tasks," notes Byrnes. But those samecustomer-service functions could one day be used to helpcommercial-lines customers with certificates of insurance andanswering coverage issues.

He says having an app representing his 33-employee agency is a"clear enhancement" to the agency's image.

"We did not go down this path to increase revenue, but tosolidify our relationships," Byrnes says.

Comparing carrier apps to the agency's own one, he says that hefinds them to be complementary to one another and not a threat inany way.

"These are exciting times to bring apps into our workflow anduse them as facilitators and not barriers to our business."

The Davidson InsuranceAgency

Lyle Davidson, principal with The Davidson Insurance Agency inDelphos, Kan., says that as a member of the board of the KansasAssociation of Insurance Agents and through his work with ACT(Agents Council for Technology), he became aware of other agents'apps and became intrigued by the possibilities he felt they offeredhis agent community.

In rural Kansas, some agents still don't have websites, henotes, but mobile phones are ubiquitous. So developing mobile apps,Davidson thought, would open up a number of new communicationpossibilities between agents and their clients.

With seed money from Trusted Choice, the Independent InsuranceAgents & Brokers of America's agency-branding initiative, theKansas association went ahead and developed its own app for itsmembers. 

With the development services of IIA Mobile, led by Jeff Hollowof Castle Hollow Productions, the association developed an app thatmembers can customize. Its features include agency-contactcapability, a claims kit and carrier links.

Davidson says many agents initially don't understand the powerand functionality of apps, but after sitting through a presentationto explain them, their interest changes.

Within the few months the program has been available, 11 agentshave seen their apps go online, and Davidson says many more are inthe pipeline.