The world of mobile communication is not limited to big cities.Rural carriers, such as Mennonite Mutual Insurance, have distinctneeds of their own as they often service wide areas for customersthat expect quick and timely service just like their big-citybrethren.

Mennonite Mutual wanted a mobile solution for its marketing andloss control representatives to use in the field. During the searchprocess, the commercial lines insurer—with coverage for churchesand large farms—met with Hyland Software about developing a mobilesolution to leverage some of Hyland's tools.

Mennonite Mutual, founded in 1895, is located in Orrville, Ohio,hometown of J.M. Smucker of jelly-making fame (and basketball coachBob Knight). Smucker was the first president of Mennonite Mutual,which insures property in Ohio and Indiana.

Mennonite Mutual deals strictly through the independent agencynetwork. The policy process begins with a request for quote fromone of their agents, according to Jennings Carpenter, director ofIT for the carrier.

“The agent will submit a request for quote, which is simply ane-form on our agency portal,” he says. “That comes into anunderwriting workflow where the underwriter will do apre-assessment to determine whether it is worth sending a marketingrep to inspect the property. Our model is we pre-inspect all ourchurches and large farms. Once the decision is made, theinformation is preloaded into a tablet device. The marketing repswill have the information that summarizes the risk and anything theunderwriter picked up as well.”

Loss control representatives conduct the pre-loss inspection,which includes use of a thermal imaging camera.

“We also have a sketching application to sketch the dimensionsof the property and we take photos as well,” says Carpenter. “Theywill fill out the loss assessment which is then used by theunderwriter for the rating and issuing of the policy. They willgather all the information and sync it back to the home office,which kicks it into a workflow for the underwriter.”

Mennonite Mutual has used the application programming interfacethat Hyland provides to populate the quote system so the marketingreps don't have to enter that information in order to generate aquote, which Carpenter believes is a major time savings for thecarrier.

The underwriter will produce the proposal that goes to theagency and the potential insured. It then feeds back to theunderwriter when the agent gets the signature. Mennonite Mutualthen creates and issues the policy, explains Carpenter.

Hyland also has integration through smartphones, which allowusers to create forms on the iPhone, the Android or the Blackberry,explains Fisk.

“We have a full set of mobile capabilities,” says Ruth Fisk,Hyland's senior analyst for insurance. “We believe it is acombination of hardware devices as well as processes because thereare so many different facets of the work that needs to be done inthe field. For example, when you talk about hardware, MennoniteMutual uses the Motion which is very rugged for the insuranceindustry. When (Carpenter) talks about moving forward he alreadyhas the right device. We are trying to be innovative to bring thesesolutions because it creates an opportunity to help insurers changethe way they do business.”

Hyland offers mobile solutions span acrossmany of the vital areas for insurers. One such area is for fieldadjusters that need to access information and collectinformation.

“Our Field Adjuster Client product allows insurers to easily getto all the applications they need to access,” says Fisk. “Ifsomeone needs specific information about coverage they can getinformation on the diagrams and the photos required for adjustingclaims.”

A tablet solution allows adjusters to import the informationdirectly to the OnBase system, whether connected or offline.

“OnBase can operate in both modes,” says Fisk. “That allows theadjuster access to all the estimating tools. Because of the Windows8 platform, you can access it through a 3G connection on the tabletPC within a single interface to make them more efficient andeffective.”

Field Adjuster Client can give adjusters assignments as firstnotice of loss comes in and it allows the carrier to distributeother information to the field adjuster, explains Fisk. Theadjuster can prioritize the information depending on whether itconcerns a high value or a priority customer or a particular lineof business with a service level agreement that needs to beprocessed quickly. The solution also allows users to manage thebusiness rules appropriately.

“When the adjuster receives the assignment he can get therethrough Bing Maps to know the exact location,” says Fisk. “We'veintegrated with those tools to store information like a claimantsaddress to contact them and launch the maps,” she says. “Onsite,there is access to all the forms.”

For example, if the adjuster needs to complete diagramming theycan pull up a grid and use a stylus to draw measurements and takenotes; they can take photos from the device, which areautomatically imported to OnBase. That makes the data readilyavailable to people in the home office without worrying about theadjuster getting back to the home office to process the claim,according to Fisk.

There also is the capability to integrate a dictation tool forthe adjuster's notes, which will be stored in an MP3 file.

“We are looking for innovative ways to make the field adjustersmore effective and to be able to manage SLAs, process claimsfaster, and have the capability to access all the other toolsneeded during the claims process,” says Fisk.

Mennonite Mutual purchased its tablet devices from MotionComputing, but Carpenter admits the carrier is interested in theWindows 8 tablets that Hyland is using for its mobile claimssolution, which Mennonite Mutual has yet to sign up for.

The OnBase Mobile solution tested out well, according toCarpenter.

“We put it in the hands of one of our top marketing guys—one whowould put it through its paces the most. He used it in the fieldand worked with it,” says Carpenter. “We had to make adjustmentsbased on his recommendations and also get the interface with ourback-end systems—quoting and policy—to make sure all the info getswhere it needs to be.”

Mennonite Mutual operates with a legacy mainframe system, butCarpenter feels Hyland's application interface (API) makes thingsseamless for the user, whether they are on the legacy system, onthe portal, or wherever they are.

“The information stays the same throughout,” he says. “That's abig plus for us over some of the other solutions we looked at. It'sa huge advantage not only as far as efficiency but it gets us inthe marketplace with our agents with better tools than what theother carrier have to offer. It gives us a competitive advantagewithin that independent agency.”

Mennonite is able to extract the information they capture on thetablet and push it directly into their core system, which Fisk addsis “another element of efficiency.”

Carpenter agrees. “It would not have been a big enough win forus if we were unable to integrate because you can't pick upefficiencies,” he says. “This was a slam dunk as far as ROI.”