In the late 1970s, AT&T introduced its "Reach Out andTouch Someone" campaign. The tag line instantly struck a chordbecause it humanized the potential of century-old technology. Thetelecom giant wanted people to understand the telephone wasn'tsimply a device—it was a way to connect people instantly despitedifferences of distance and to fulfill our human need tocommunicate and collaborate.

Communication technology has continued to evolve, and insurershave more ways to reach out and touch someone today than everbefore. 

"Collaboration is a huge emerging trend in all aspects of theinsurance value chain, whether internally or externally," saysKarlyn Carnahan, a principal in Novarica's insurancepractice. 

"The industry has always been very collaborative, but what youare seeing today is technology enabling the process," says CraigBeattie, insurance analyst for Celent in London. "Collaborative andsocial technology is enabling human beings to do apart from eachother what they had needed to get together to dobefore." 

The economy has also been a factor in the adoption ofcollaborative technologies to augment, or even replace,face-to-face meetings. Swiss Re launched its collaboration platformstrategy, Ourspace, at the onset of the global recession in2008. 

"We started [Ourspace] in the middle of the financial crisis. Wecouldn't travel any more. We had to cut costs. We had to reorganizeand change our strategy," explains Christoph Isenschmid, head ofe-communication channels at Swiss Re. 

While targeting reduction in travel costs, Swiss Re looked toachieve three strategic objectives with Ourspace: connect peoplevirtually, nurture a culture of transparent sharing andcollaboration, and create an organizational dialog around topicsimportant to the enterprise. 

Swiss Re built the Ourspace sharing platform using Jive'ssocial intranet solution. When it was launched in September 2009,users first focused on sharing documents and putting informationinto Ourspace that already existed. Within a few months, thecompany saw the formation of discussion groups and forums. Aftertwo years, the company saw a rise in blogging and a broadwillingness to share information and collaborate on an ad-hoc andas-needed basis.

Isenschmid explains that Ourspace is now a common way todisseminate news and information within Swiss Re. "Over the courseof three years, it has changed into a platform for short-term usageand for communication purposes," rather than a knowledgebase ordocument repository, he says. 

Employees can subscribe to groups and receive notifications ofnew documents and discussions. They also use the platform toidentify coworkers who have the knowledge to help with specificquestions or problems. 

"People look up information about their peers andcolleagues—what kind of group memberships they have, what kind ofquestions they have answered, and so on," Isenschmid explains. "Youmuch more easily find real experts based on what they are actuallycontributing, rather than relying solely on their job description.With Ourspace, you can find your way from people to content topeople to content." 

Initially, Swiss Re had reservations about the collaborativeplatform, fearing that users would be distracted or that therewould be too much private or social usage. Those fears turned outto be unfounded. Nine out of ten collaboration groups arebusiness-relevant; the other one tends to be a social group. "Thesocial groups are the stamp collectors and the bird watchers, butwe decided to encourage that as well to build a sense ofcommunity," Isenschmid says. 

Swiss Re measures how many people create content, comment on it,jump into discussions, and join groups. "Right now one out of fouremployees has created a document or blog post. Almost 50 percenthave commented on a post. More than 60 percent have joinedcollaboration groups, and more than 90 percent are readinginformation. Also, it contributes to reducing internationaltravel," Isenschmid says.

"That's just on the sheer quantitative side," he adds. "On thequalitative side, there has been an improvement in how employeesview the transparency of the company. They are also telling us thatOurspace is helping them get their jobs done better. They aretelling us that it helps them save time and effort while achievinga better quality result. And it has started changing leadershipcommunication, especially with executives blogging on theirpersonal accounts."

EXTERNAL COLLABORATION

Swiss Re also used the Jive platform to build Risk Connect, aplatform for allowing internal staff and external parties tocollaborate on Swiss Re initiatives such as product research anddevelopment, that is used on a much smaller scale than Ourspace isinternally. Across the insurance industry, there are many new toolsbeing utilized to collaborate with customers, agents, and otherexternal stakeholders in various insurance processes. 

"We've been seeing insurers make greater use of collaborativeand social technologies in marketing and distribution," says ChadHersh, partner in the insurance practice at Novarica. "It's notjust using Facebook for marketing; it's using collaborationtechniques in the marketing arena."

Hersh has observed an increase in engagement techniques, such as"gamification," to encourage stakeholders to choose onlineplatforms for doing business. "One example is a carrier thatprovides a direct-to-consumer quoting app where customers collectpoints as they answer questions. They can spend those points onreduced deductibles or increased limits. The idea is that peopleare using gamification and friendlier interfaces in the sellingprocess to move away from a 'system' paradigm."

Carnahan, who focuses on the claims process in her research,points to several solutions that illustrate insurers' interest inelectronic collaboration among stakeholders.

"With Instant Estimator [instantestimator.com], you take apicture of your vehicle and upload it to get a damage estimate. Notonly does that give the insured great information and transparencyinto the process, but it helps the carriers significantly.Symbility Solutions offers an interesting platform to collaboratewith contractors. MyContentsClaim.com lets insureds enter inventoryonline. Claims adjusters review that inventory, and claimants seewhat's been paid and what hasn't," she says.

The MyContentsClaim platform is being used by one of the largestclaims and risk services organization in Australia. Claims handlerscreate a claim and send a link to both policyholder and suppliersto access a customized MyContentsClaim portal. As the claimprogresses, policyholders can see which contents losses have beenapproved, not approved, and finalized, and what property has beenreplaced. 

Due to ongoing negotiations, the company declined to be named,but a company spokesperson commented on the impact of the platformto the claim process. 

"It [the platform] gives us three-way collaboration betweeninsured, insurer, and supplier. The loss adjuster can facilitateand control the process without the need for face-to-face contact.The system gives us better quality of both communication and data.It provides efficiency—the adjuster doesn't have to get handwrittennotes, retype them, and go back and forth with customers andsuppliers. And it allows us to data mine by capturing claiminformation, allowing us to analyze our claims and negotiate betterdeals with suppliers," he says.

"Customers have become more advanced and are demanding moretransparency with real-time access from their insurer beyond payingtheir premium, just as they now have in some many other sectors andservices," he adds. "For us it's all about improving self-serviceoptions in claims with more transparency and better customerservice."

PORTAL POWER

Katherine Evans, CFO at Ontario-based Unica Insurance, pointsout that the typical carrier portal has also been a useful tool forcollaboration on business opportunity by reducing or eliminatingback-and-forth between agent and insurer.

"Brokers used to struggle with answering questions while thecustomer was on the phone because they'd have to call the companyfor information and call the customer back. Now, brokers can getinformation in seconds," she says. Unica's real-time integrationwith agency management systems, enabled by iter8's agent portalsolution, has advanced that cause. 

"Previously the insurance company was not completely visible tothe agent trying to service the customer. Now we can provide accessto information so the front line servicing of the client is donewell," Evans says. 

Insurers are also continuing to push real-time collaborationcapabilities to their portal.

"For collaboration features such as web chat, companies canestablish the business case around 'when did you lose the customer'because they became frustrated with the online experience," Beattiesays. "By integrating live chat with the portal, it becomes acollaborative tool to help someone who is spending too much time ona question. You can reach out to them and provide the help they areasking for, alternatives, or take them offline."

Specialty insurer Torus introduced its ESCAPE portal inNovember 2010 for quoting casualty/umbrella, errors and omissions,and healthcare lines of business. ESCAPE uses the policy quotingand administration system from Accenture Duck Creek, queryingunderwriting rules to notify agents of problems in-process, ratherthan after applications are entered. A dashboard icon called"Quotie" (shown on left) changes its color and expression fromgreen and a smile to yellow and a frown as agents' entries generateconcerns, and to red as    they createreferrals. 

Another key feature of the ESCAPE platform is the ability tochat live with an underwriter. Additionally, using a co-browsingcapability, a Torus underwriter can remotely view the agent'scomputer screen. Both of these collaboration plug-ins are poweredby LivePerson. 

"We wanted to design something so that once users come, theydon't leave. I can't talk revenue but it's been wildlysuccessful—[agents] stay when they come," says Justin Manley, TorusCIO-Americas. Although Manley won't talk dollar amounts, in thefirst year of deploying the portal the company surpassed premiumprojections by 180 percent, paying for the investment in thesystem. He also reports that the insurer has increased itsstraight-through quote ratio to 87 percent. 

"One of the big complaints in the marketplace is what agentsreferred to as a 'service black hole.' You don't know when you'regoing to hear back from somebody. When we created our system, itwas important to avoid that black hole—to build a system that wasnot only intuitive, but also collaborative for when users did runinto problems," says Manley. 

MOBILE COLLABORATION ANDCHALLENGES 

Collaborative and mobile technologies have met at a naturalintersection point, allowing people to connect and communicateanytime, anywhere, and with any device. 

"Mobile is going to be table stakes very soon," Carnahan says."It's one area where if you're not already investing, you'rebehind."

Mobility is becoming widespread within the p&c sector. AGartner study found that approximately 52 percent of property &casualty insurers in North America were investing inconsumer-facing mobile applications in 2012. Insurers must be readyfor device proliferation and the demand that they support BYOD(bring your own device) for all the stakeholders who desire tocollaborate on a particular transaction or process.

"If they have a mobile phone, they want to use the phone. Ifthey have a tablet they want to use the tablet. If they're in theoffice they want to use the PC," explains Beattie. 

"Companies are being forced to think about how to design portalsbecause those portals are being opened by tablets and smartphones,"says Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, vice president and distinguishedanalyst in Gartner Research. 

Frost & Sullivan forecasts smartphone penetration in NorthAmerica to surge to 90.5 percent of devices by 2017. According toForrester Research, more than three-quarters of employees who usesmartphones, and 63 percent who use tablets, access their companyintranet or portal sites using those mobile devices.

Insurer's deployment of tablets for internal users is also upover 25 percent in 2012, Hersh reports. "The cost to replace atablet is a fraction of the laptop, the battery lasts longer, youcan hold them in your hand, you can do handwritten notes. It's aninfinitely better option than a laptop except for heavy dataentry," he claims. 

Frost & Sullivan predicts rapid growth in the tabletcategory, increasing to over 142 million devices in 2016. Also bythat date, prices are expected to drop to an average $362 perdevice. Digital business analytics firm comScore reports thattablets have already reached a "critical mass" in the U.S.

ACUITY has gone the tablet route to enhance mobile collaborationamong the staff. The insurer's device of choice is the 4G-equippediPad. In early 2012, ACUITY outfitted all its mobile staff—claimsrepresentatives, damage appraisers, field underwriters, losscontrol reps, and sales staff—with iPads, replacing thelaptop/aircard configuration they had previously, as well asiPhones to maximize platform compatibility. 

In claims, ACUITY managers use Facetime or Skype to connect withadjusters. "Our managers are able to talk with their people, answerquestions, or conduct a claim file review. It's better than a phonecall because it's one-on-one video conferencing," says JamieLoiacono, vice-president of claims, ACUITY. 

Employees use iPads to connect with the insurer's mobile-enabledcore processing systems. Web-enabling core systems is aprerequisite to mobile collaboration. "Portals are the front end tothe source system, so if source systems aren't real time, andunable to support user requirements [for mobility], you're openingyourself up to some real issues," says Harris-Ferrante.

"Along with web-enabling our claims and policy processingsystems, we redesigned our screens to make them simpler and makethem more of a 'one-stop shop' for adjusters," says Neal Ruffalo,vice president–enterprise technology, ACUITY. "All a field employeeneeds, whether using an iPad, laptop, or desktop, is a web browserto have full access to everything that a 'wired' home-office systemwould have." 

In claims, adjusters also use newly deployed apps on the devicesto help appraise damage, such as Pictometry, which incorporatessatellite imagery to let adjusters measure roof sizes and pitches.The next phase in mobile collaboration for ACUITY will be the useof "sign and send" e-forms on the iPad that can be used for avariety of situations where paper forms and signatures are neededtoday. 

"Claims adjusters will have all the forms they need that can befilled out and physically signed on the device, then instantly sentto wherever they are needed—a doctor, clinic, repair shop, or toour content management system," says Loiacono.

Loiacono explains that field staff have reported being able tocollaborate effectively with agents, claimants, and serviceproviders because the instant-on devices are more portable thanlaptops. 

"I can't say we've increased our efficiency by X percent, butanecdotally it's allowed our service to be more timely andcomprehensive. Transfer of information between adjusters andmanagers happens quicker. We capture better and more consistentdata in the field because the device is there and easy to use," hesays. 

Ultimately, ACUITY plans to deploy tablets to all employees, notjust field staff.

"We want to move our entire computer platform for the entirecompany into the next technological arena and to maximize thecollaborative potential of that technology," says company presidentand CEO Ben Salzmann. "It starts with employees in the field, butthere's no reason that processors, clerks, and other 'inside' staffcan't benefit from mobile devices, social networking, and othercollaborative tools. We want to support our employees wherever,whenever, and however they want to work together."

ACUITY's device strategy aligns with what Michael Kim, Cognizantbusiness consulting vice president and insurance lead, sees as thefuture for collaboration in claims and other core processesinvolving both internal and external stakeholders. 

"Right now, insurance adjusters take a picture, then synch it toa laptop, then transmit it back to the home office. It's mucheasier to use a single mobile device to take a picture of a claim,drop it into the claims processing application on that device, andcollaborate with a home office person who might have more judgmentas to the cause of the damage to let the insured know whether theyare covered," he says. 

Kim adds that mobility will play a key role in creating newefficiencies in claims management by empowering customers, claimsadjusters and back-office employees through improved connectivityand collaboration that can reduce turnaround time and the overallcost of serving customers. 

COLLABORATION CHALLENGES

Employees, agents, and consumers have more choices forcommunication and collaboration than ever before. That presentsopportunities for stakeholders to connect, but it also generatesnew challenges for IT.

"When you add mobile, you can't subtract anything,"Harris-Ferrante says. "You still need portal capabilities, PC-basedsystems, and the online channel. Mobile is something else you needto add. So how do you manage an IT budget year after year when youcan't cut something out?" 

And no matter what form online collaboration takes in thefuture, a segment of the user base will still want to "reach outand touch someone" during the process. According to Novarica, morethan half of insurers report heavy usage of both the phone andemail channels during the underwriting process, and the telephonecontinues to be the most heavily used channel for policyholders tointeract directly with their insurers.

"People have a job to do and they want to do it using whatevermedium they have at hand," says Celent's Beattie. "Traditionalmethods are not going away."