Independent agents and brokers place the highest priority on getting more insurance carriers to offer real-time interface functionality to ease workflow issues in their agencies, according to a recent Real Time/Download Campaign (www.getrealtime.org) survey. 

More than 3,100 survey participants from every state were asked to prioritize 11 possible enhancements to real-time programs and tools using a five-point scale. The survey then asked agents to choose their "top three" priority items, drawing from the list they had just identified with a "5″ (most important).

 Six of 10 respondents gave "additional carriers with real-time capabilities" a "5″ on the five-point scale. Nearly half (45 percent) put "broader carrier participation" in their top three priorities, as well. About one third also placed having "consistent lines of business/real-time functions offered across carriers" in their top-three priorities, showing the importance to agents of having consistent real-time workflows across their carriers.