There's one word that best defines the vision for AUGIE, theACORD-User Group Information Exchange, in 2013: outreach.

"We will be continuously emphasizing the need to 'reach themasses' throughout the year,' says Carolyn "Cal" Durland, CPCU,AUGIE Facilitator and ACORD's Director of Member Relations.

Building the Member Base

AUGIE participants come from independent agencies andbrokerages, regional and multinational carriers, solution providersand associations. They volunteer their time to work cooperativelyto improve the insurance transaction for everyone by identifyingand resolving data exchange and workflow inefficiencies within theinsurance industry.

Since participants are essential to AUGIE's effectiveness, oneof the key areas of focus in 2013 will be using outreach to engageyoung professionals in user group activities throughout theyear.

"Young professionals are the future of the industry, and thisindustry will create more and more jobs for them as growth happensand as boomers retire," Durland says.

AUGIE has already been increasing its efforts to encourageexisting group participants to bring other colleagues to panels andevents. So far, the results have been promising.

"We've been successful in getting more involvement at panels,"says Durland, adding that sustaining that success will requireshowing that the industry has rewarding careers to offer.

"For young professionals, the insurance industry provides theopportunity to be an entrepreneur," she says. "As an agent, theycan decide what market to promote, where to specialize, and how tobuild a book of business. At insurance companies and vendors, rolesand responsibilities are going beyond the traditional realms ofservice, claims, and underwriting into high-tech and otherfields."

Building a Community

At the same time AUGIE has been working to build its ranks ofparticipants from within the insurance industry, it has alsoexpanded its reach beyond agencies, brokerages, and carriers toinclude vendors, consultants, and media in its communities.

"We've been successful at engaging the choir, but we need to getmore perspectives involved," Durland says. "The pace of change israpid and there are a lot of unknowns out there, so a breadth ofperspective is essential to help us set priorities."

The group has moved from having teams where information flow waslimited to those teams to the new AUGIE Community where anyone canfollow activities and work in progress. "We're inviting everybodywho has an interest in helping independent agents be more effectiveand profitable," Durland says. To sign up to follow a Community,follow the links under the "Community" tab at acord.org.

Download and Real Time

One of AUGIE's longstanding goals is to encourage real time anddownload to become the predominant workflow of independent agents.Commercial lines download continues to be an agenda item in 2013,with the group seeking to grow the number of agencies and brokersusing commercial download and the number of consultants advocatingits use.

Despite the benefits of commercial download, there is resistanceto using it—and AUGIE seeks to understand why. "Through oursubgroups and face to face meetings, we're addressing the issueswhere there is pushback one by one," says Durland. "Encouragingly,we have seen a growth in commercial lines download, but not to theextent that we'd like."

AUGIE is further promoting real time in aclass called "Real Time Makes Real Sense." Originally planned forthe for the FAIA (Florida Association of Insurance Agents)convention in June 2012, the class is now offered as a webinar thatcarries two hours of continued education credit in several states,with more states being added each month. The class is included inthe ABEN catalog, which is part of the IIABA, and is offered twicemonthly. 

"Real-time helps independent agents truly act like independentagents by enabling SEMCI, " Durland says. " The success of realtime is real and proven by people who speak from their heart andexperience in the webinar."

AUGIE also continues its efforts along several areas ofe-business and mobility, including working with states to gainacceptance of electronic ID cards and with agents and carriers topromote e-signatures.

"We continue to advocate for e-signatures and get the messageout to our user base, agency associations, ACORD task groups, andmore," says Durland. "E-signatures are happening. Agents arealready using this technology to increase their success rate at thepoint of sale and improve service to clients, as well as reducetheir E&O exposure." 

The "New Strategic Analysis: Guidelines for e-Signature ande-Delivery in the Insurance Business" paper has been posted in theDocument section of the AUGIE Community. The paper contains awealth of information on the benefits and use of e-signatures,including best practices common to insurers and producers for theiruse.

Lastly, AUGIE has its eyes on mobility in 2013 and beyond as anefficiency gain for independent agents and their customers.Throughout the year, the group will continue to advocate for waysthat agencies can provide service to their clients through mobileofferings and to communicate to states on the benefits of mobiletechnology as well.

"It's no secret that everybody wants to use their mobile smartdevice to do business, so independent agents need to do whateverthey can to be mobile," says Durland. That includes optimizingagent web offerings for the displays, capabilities, and userinterfaces of mobile devices.

"Agents emphasize that clients come to them in person or throughtheir website. Websites are designed to provide many options fortheir clients to contact them and an easy to use experience, andare expanding the depth of information that is available forself-service.  That is why connectivity from their agencymanagement system to the carrier systems is so important—it is thelink to ultimately expanding those self-service options," Durlandexplains. "It's our goal to help agents work toward that goal sothat their website and staff become a one-stop, home-basedestination for customers, who in many cases have many policieswith multiple carriers."

Agents are making progress on this front, but there is stillwork to be done. "There is often not total integration with theagency management system yet," Durland says, "but when agencies getto the point where that information is flowing freely throughoutthe process, they will see tremendous gains in both serviceefficiency and customer satisfaction."