Back in the day, a one-personindependent agency could get by with a desk, a chair and atelephone.

But what tech tools today are as indispensable as thetypewriter, fax machine and desk phone were in the past? What arethe must-have, can't-live-without tools that independent insuranceagents are using every day to conduct basic business andmarket and promote their firms?

We took an informal poll at several LinkedIn agent groups todetermine what constitutes essential technology in today's agenciesand have come up with a short list of some of the favorites.

1. Smartphones

Using smartphones as a basic method of conducting business is away of life, especially among young agents—although old-schooltools like copiers, scanners and even fax machines are still in useback at the office.

“iPhones are our smartphone of choice, mostly because of ease ofuse. We have also been using Evernote for creating presentationnotes and keeping up with activities.”—Joe Cerzosie, owner,Lexington Insurance Agency Inc.

“We couldn't live without smartphones and our multifunctionalcopier, which handles our copying/scanning/faxing/printing. Wedon't use the fax function much because we use cyber-faxing, but itis more convenient to use an old-fashioned fax sometimes.”—AngelynS. Treutel, president, SouthGroup Insurance, Bay Saint Louis,Miss.

2. E-signature software

With mobile technology comes the necessity to procure customersignatures on virtual documents. Although there are a number ofproducts on the market, users are primarily concerned aboutsecurity and ease of use.

“Docusign(an easy e-signature service) is the best thing to come along sincesliced bread, the phone, fax and iPhone! Simply amazing: just wrote[a policy] up the other day while [clients] were camping!”—MichaelRandles, owner, Insurance Center Associates, Greater Los Angelesarea

3. Project-management and document-sharingsoftware

Successful insurance agents understand the importance of amanagement system that enables them to use the Internetto collaborate with associates and organize and sharedocuments.

”I'm using Basecamp tocollaborate with my agents on different initiatives we are workingon. It's a nice, simple little Web tool.”—Aaron Wallrich, vicepresident, Wallrich Agency, Oshkosh, Wis.

“Dropboxmakes moving and sharing documents of any size easy and efficient,between PCs, Macs, iPhones, etc. Free version is more than enoughto be useful.”—Charles Joiner, vice president, claims andoperations, The Insurance Alliance of Central Pa. Inc.

4. Screen-sharing technology

This is a must for working remotely and collaborating with folksback at the office.

“One of the greatest tools that Ilove is screen-sharing technology (WebEx, GoToMeeting). From anefficiency and a getting-your-point-across perspective, nothingbeats it. With the time savings from using my favoritetechnologies, I now have more time to figure out this social-mediastuff.”—Michael Rabinowitz, risk solutions consultant, RFKInsurance

5. Dictation software

With the need for blogging,tweeting and otherwise churning out content, writing is essential.But who has time? The solution is using dictation software tocapture your thoughts and turn them into the written word.

While I was at Aartrijk Brand Camp, Jason Cass, owner and agentof JDC Insurance Group in Centralia, Ill., said he uses Dragon Dictation app on his smartphone to compose blog contentand capture thoughts—three times faster than typing, according toDragon's Website.

6. Hardware Shout-outs

Some old-school pieces like keyboards and fax/scanners are stillessential. In-house staffers find using dual monitors to beespecially efficient.

“If you are speaking strictly hardware, my favorite is mykeyboard. A great keyboard (mine: MicrosoftArc) is an essential productivity tool.”—Michael Rabinowitz

“My Fujitsu Scansnap S300 double-sided scanner is and has been oneof the most productive timesavers I own. I owe a shout-out toPhil Schmitz fromSchmitz Insurance for steering me in the right direction withthis technology.—Jim Wright, owner, Wright Insurance Agency Inc.,Greater Milwaukee Area.