It only takes a few years for technology toleap the gap between novelty and indispensable business tool. Inthe mid-1990s, during the Internet's infancy, it was hardlyuncommon for corporations to do business without e-mail or awebsite. By 2000, the thought of a corporation without a robustinvestment in both of those areas was a joke.

Now, mobile devices have taken on the role once occupied by thefledgling Internet. In the space of five years, “there's an app forthat” has gone from punch line to foregone conclusion. If there'snot an app, there should be. If there's not an app, the company islosing customers and income.

Mobile applications are now simply part of the cost of doingbusiness, a fact that holds true for insurance companies as surelyas it does for any other customer-facing industry. Those who don'toffer mobile applications are being left behind just as thosecompanies were a decade ago who didn't embrace the Internet.

Mobile devices are becoming the preferred computing device ofyounger users. This mobile-connected generation uses their mobiledevices as the 40-year-olds use their laptops. Obviously their useis more about consumption of content rather than producing content(yes, they deem Twitter and Facebook posts as creating content),but the amount of content they consume is vast.

According to a recent Nielsen study, some 61 percent of mobilesubscribers own a smartphone of some kind, an increase of more than10 percent over 2012, the first year smartphones became themajority in mobile devices. The highest penetration is among usersaged 25-34 at 78 percent, but use of such devices is growing in alldemographic groups. An increasing number of Americans are spendingmore time with their phones than they are with their computers,their televisions or any other kind of media.

The majority of this time is not spent making calls, texting orusing the web, it is spent in mobile applications. According to appanalytics firm Furry, roughly 80 percent of the time mobile usersspend on their devices is spent in apps. What company in theirright mind wouldn't pay attention to that?

In March, ABI research reported downloads of applications formobile smartphones will be in the range of 56 billion for 2013.Additionally, mobile users will download around 14 billionapplications for their tablets. Given 365 days a year, 24 hours ina day, this equates to close to 8 million applications downloadedper hour or more than 133,000 downloads per minute. There arecurrently more than 800 applications in the Apps store under thecategory of “insurance.” Everything from insurance glossary anddictionaries, to insurance industry journals, life insurance,homeowners, even home inventory management applications, autoinsurance, healthcare, home mortgage insurance, and patientcheck-in applications to streamline the check-in at healthcareproviders' offices. Every major provider—Allstate, USAA,Progressive, Humana, United, Aetna, Blue Cross, Anthem, andGeico—have applications in the mobile application stores. This istrue for many brokers and agents as well.

Insurance companies may not see the need for mobile applicationsas clearly as, say, a banking institution or a retailer. However,the truth is, while insurance customers may not need to accessservices as often as customers of other business sectors, believingthat the mobile capabilities are not needed or should be limited towhat amounts to brochures is a dangerous path. Such thinkingignores the myriad advantages of offering a mobile application:

• Extending the image of the company
• Increased self-service and straight-through processing
• Expense reduction in postage, labor to answer calls, andprocessing customer requests

One could argue that for insurance users, policyholders may notneed remote access very often, but when they do, they'll want itimmediately. For example, some companies offer a digital insurancecard (where states allow) that the customer can access through amobile application, a service the customer will want immediately inthe case of anything from a traffic citation to a visit to thedoctor's office.

For insurance companies, the advantage of putting information attheir customers' fingertips can add critical functionality tomaintain that “stickiness” in the relationship, giving the customersomething that can be used more often than simply whenever thecustomer needs to access insurance information. Health insurancecompanies may augment their mobile application with an exercisetracker or calorie counter; auto insurance companies may add in amileage log or automated reminders for oil changes.

These aspects of added functionality, related to the centralbusiness of the insurance company, can dramatically increase the“face time” the mobile customer spends with the application,serving to strengthen the relationship between company andcustomer. Every section of the insurance industry is beginning toadapt to mobile applications. The ones that will be successful arethe ones that are providing more functionality, a use beyond simplyaccessing insurance information. Interactive, daily use keepspeople coming back to the app, and keeps customers engaged with thecompany.

For policyholders and members, insurance carriers are improvingcustomer service with mobile applications to assist in findingcovered medical providers, linking hours of operations, maps, andother information on the provider. Obviously many carriers areproviding mobile applications for claims inquiry, depositnotifications, adjuster status and other traditional functionalitythat once required a phone call or a connection to the insurancecompany's web site. Healthcare carriers have built mobileapplications for wellness and health maintenance that aid membersin tracking physical fitness activity and other ­wellnessactivity.

A mobile application for an insurance company can go far beyondpolicyholders or members and extend to agents, brokers, andemployer groups.

P&C carriers have jumped at providing some of the sameclaims and traditional call-center support via the mobile device,as well as the ability to track and report workflow activities in amuch more real-time fashion via the mobile device. Taking picturesof an auto accident or of storm damage on the device and attachingthem within a mobile claim application provides functionality thatallows the claimant to provide all necessary information straightfrom the mobile device at the scene of the accident or event.

Something as simple as a claim on homeowner's insurance haschanged dramatically in the past few years, simply because of themobile technology now available to adjusters. An adjuster can comeout to the home, take pictures from his mobile devices, fill outthe forms and have them signed by the policyholder on the mobiledevices and wirelessly transmit payment to a blue tooth printer inhis truck to print the check for the policyholder. That's a lot offunctionality and service in 15 minutes from a mobile device.

While many carriers have enhanced their website for mobileaccess, best practice is moving to a much richer device-residentapplication that interfaces with the web to provide a robust andinteractive user experience.

Perhaps the greatest usage for many carriers has been theincreased functionality to the agents and brokers. This is an areawhere the carriers have not only been able to reduce cost by movingwork to the field, they have also streamlined transactions toreduce time and float in the system to gain a more real-timeunderstanding of the activities in the field.

It can be a powerful tool in the carrier-to-agent relationship,expanding the agent's image and putting a wealth of information atthe agent's fingertips, allowing them to focus on what they need todo.

The amount of mobile functionality being rolled out to the agentand broker community is staggering. For example, interactive salespresentations can be customized by industry in a matter of minutesfor an iPad. In one case a company developed a “sales presentationapplication”, that allowed the agent to pick and choose theelements in the application, determine which products to present,industry specifics, and other ­customizable options.

The application built an interactive presentation tailored to anindividual client. Halfway through the presentation, the client,who was an owner of a mid-sized company, stopped the agent and saidhe was so impressed with the technology for the sales discussionthat he was confident the company was ahead of the competition inthe use of technology and that this was the carrier for hiscompany.

In another instance, an agent on a visit to an existing clientwas told the company hadn't paid on a claim by one of the client'semployees. In the space of a few minutes, the agent was able to usehis mobile app to find the claim and show when the check wasissued, and then show the check was endorsed and deposited weeksearlier. Giving agents the tools and functionality to do all thesethings “in the field” saves the agent time and effort.

A robust and powerful mobile app, one that shoulders part of theagent's burden, creates a more efficient, more effective salesforce. Most of all, a mobile app improves the company's reach,giving your organization access to new policyholders, new accounts,new agents that may have been beyond your grasp.

Technology always marches on. A decade ago, no one consideredthe mobile app a realistic or important business tool. Before therise of the iPhone in 2007 and the flood of smartphones thatfollowed, not many even knew what a mobile app was. In the nextdecade, there's a chance something new will come along and rise upto dominate the market. But for now, today is the age of the mobileapp. Embrace it or be left behind.