In his song, "Welcome to the Future," Brad Paisley sings abouthow as a child he wished he could watch TV in the car on longdrives, describes the letters his grandpa wrote to his grandma fromJapan during the war and how he was on a video chat with a Japanesecompany that morning, and muses that the games he played at thearcade are now available on his cell phone.

Technology is changing everything and its successfulimplementation is quickly becoming a key differentiator forinsurers. New products are entering the market at an alarming rateand insurers, auto makers and other industries are scrambling tocatch up with the innovations customers are seeing from Google,Apple and Microsoft.

Sean Allen, vice president of American sales for XchangingInsurance says that external forces and rising customerexpectations are the primary reasons insurers have to look at thetechnology aspect of their business. "Customers have more needsthan in the past. For example, 70% cite value for their money asthe most important factor when shopping for insurance. Sixtypercent want an insurer who is easy to work with, 40% want aninsurer who is responsive to their needs, and insureds wantinformation immediately and they expect the insurer to provide it24/7."

Over the next several years, Allen believes that analytics willbe a major priority for companies as they work to combine theirmultiple legacy systems together into a single database. "A lot oflarge carriers can't tell you what you're doing with them becauseof the multiple legacy systems," he explains and this can lead tomore issues with fraud because companies can't identify it early-onin the process. "You need immediate data these days."

And this is particularly true for clients. "Customers want themulti-channel experience. They want to interact with the insurervia mobile, text, e-mail and phone, and they want to be able tointeract 24/7, so your systems need to correspond with this need,"he adds.

Photo: TFoxFoto/Shutterstock

The drive to be competitive is encouraging many insurers topartner with companies who are developing the functions andprograms that insureds are demanding. One example is thecollaboration between Librestream, a technology developer, andUSAA. Librestream developed Onsite Connect, a program that allowsan insured to video chat with a USAA representative when filing aclaim. Think an advanced version of FaceTime or Skype that is farmore collaborative and works well with a connection on a mobiledevice. The application is built into the USAA app thatpolicyholders have on their phones.

"It's an extremely simple operation," explains Kerry Thacher,president and CEO of Librestream. "A lot of customers can use iteasily. It can be fired up by the adjuster, the insured just needsto give permission to let the camera be turned on."

He says the built-in security is particularly important. "Itsecures the insured's data and information, and protects theinformation that is shared. Skype and FaceTime don't do that."

Mike Burns, AVP of Claims System Development for USAA says theprimary focus for the application has been on property claimsbecause they have a higher percentage of those types of claims. "Weusually required a representative to go to the site, now that's notalways the case."

Burns says the app gives USAA a real opportunity to provideworld class service in claims because they can see what theirmember is seeing right from the beginning. The technology providesimages of areas like damaged ceilings, walls or water heaters,which lets USAA triage the claim immediately and can save thecustomer as much as three to four days on their claim. "It allowsus to triage on the front end and identify with specificity whatneeds to be done to have the damage repaired," he adds.

The response from customers has been extremely positive."Customers are over the moon about it when we have the right devicehooked up to it. It's different from what others who are using thesame technology are doing. It is actually built into our app andthey don't need to add anything or any other software and it givesUSAA access to the video stream. We tell them where to hold thecamera and they can send photos to confirm the loss. USAA cancontrol the zoom and flash to get the best images."

Show me the pictures

Video technology is also impacting the salvage auto business.IAA is a salvage auction company that sells total loss vehicles onbehalf of insurance companies, fleet managers, charities andothers. The company runs a live auction while simultaneously airingit online, allowing buyers from around the world to bid via theInternet.

The company serves buyers and sellers, and both types ofcustomers can benefit from the company's technology. "Thetechnology has evolved more quickly on the buyer side," explainsJohn Kett, IAA's CEO and president. "We were the first company tomarket mobility. There are a lot of vehicles going tounderdeveloped countries with limited internet capabilities, so thetechnology needs to be flexible and mobile. We're trying to providethe tools that allow them to bid and buy from anywhere."

Kett says adoption of technology has been a little slower on theseller side because some of the insurers' legacy systems have takenlonger to integrate the technology which can help expedite theprocess for them. "We've built technology that will really helpthem make the assessment that it's a total loss and then get itassigned to us," he says. Making these decisions in a timely mannersaves the insurer storage charges, gets it to the IAA locationsooner and allows the adjuster to determine what action needs to betaken. "The more we shorten their time, the faster they can servicetheir policyholder."

When IAA picks up a vehicle, their staff will take a set ofhigh-quality photos so they can provide a rich photo overview ofthe vehicle for the adjuster to review in order to determinewhether the vehicle is a total loss or needs to be sent out forrepair. These same photos can also be used by the online buyers sothey can see the vehicle clearly.

While IAA has been doing online auctions for years, Kett saysthe technology is constantly changing. "Customers want theirinformation fast and we've had to adjust what we put out therebecause not everyone has the bandwidth to capture the informationwe send out to them. We've modified the website so they can choosehow they consume the information. For example, they don't have todownload the high-res images, they can select specific photos ornot download all of them."

The ultimate goal, however, is to maximize the proceeds for theassets for the seller, and IAA recognizes the value in constantlyupdating and fine-tuning their technology to serve all of theircustomers.

Save me time and money

It would be fair to say that technology impacts every aspect ofinsurance. With pressure to provide better, faster cheaper serviceto insureds, technology that allows insurers to do this is evenmore valuable.

Here is a brief overview of some of the products and servicescurrently on the market that have the ability to provide insurerswith critical data while saving them time and money. [More will befeatured online at PropertyCasualty360.com] These are notendorsements of the products, but merely an introduction to some ofthe newer innovations on the market.

Software/Apps

Bill Audit Pro
www.vipsoftware.com/billauditpro
This billing program from VIP Software automates the entirebilling and auditing process, reduces expense ratios, providescustomized reports to track vendor performance and expenses, andhelps to eliminate manual auditing errors. A dashboard allowsinsurers to track invoices and details for each claim and allowsdifferent levels of access for various users.

RiskShield
www.riskshield.com
There's anew tool in the war on fraud from INFORM Software that assesses thepotential for claim fraud at the first notice of loss. RiskShieldcan identify medical billing fraud and performs risk assessmentwithin the insurance application data. Using a predictive approachthe program incorporates proven methods such as patternrecognition, business rules, fuzzy logic, and internal and externaldata sources to score claims quickly and effectively to provideinsights into fraudulent behavior.

Hyperlocal Severe Weather Alerts
www.ubimet.com
Weather can be animprecise science, but UBIMET takes some of the guesswork out ofthe process with hyperlocal severe weather alerts customized andprepared by meteorologists. The locations can be defined by zipcodes or geo-coordinates and can be sent out anywhere from 48 hoursto 30 minutes prior to a weather event. Insurance customers whoreceive these alerts have time to take appropriate measures tosecure their homes before a storm hits their area.

Services

Arbitration Resolution Services
www.arbresolutions.com
Technologyand arbitration combine for a new solution to solving businessdisputes and disagreements. The online solution allows parties tosubmit their claims and supporting evidence electronically forassignment to an experienced attorney who serves as a private judgefor the parties. Arbitrations can be handled solely electronicallyor in a video/voice call hearing.

Social Media Risk Scoring
www.socialintel.com
Socialmedia is full of data for insurers and other interested parties,and Social Intelligence has launched a new social media riskscoring solution for property and casualty insurers. Using anindividual's online presence, the company can generate a riskprofile of the person. Insurers can use information on the web togain information on individuals who may not have credit historiesor more traditional risk profiles.

Adsensa Policy Checking Solution
www.adsensa.com/solutions_insurance.html
Recognized as the winner of the 2014 Insurance Initiative ofthe Year Award in the London market, Adsensa has introduced a webbrowser Policy Checking Solution that allows brokers to conductpolicy checks and analyze documents to determine if coverage meetsindustry and company standards, and to identify any coverage gaps.Brokers are seeing savings from lower E&O expenses and asignificant reduction in policy review time.

Contents Valuation
claimplusonline.com
Usingproduct knowledge, technology and experience, Claimplus can workwith policyholders to develop an accurate contents list over thephone or onsite to reduce cycle time and provide accuratesettlements. Their archives contain more than 16 million productskus to help expedite the inventory and pricing process.

Cool Stuff

Spike
www.ikegps.com/spike
Thelatest technology from ikeGPS is a Smartphone measurement solutionthat utilizes digital photography to capture, record and sharesizing data. Amica Mutual Insurance Company has been testing thetechnology since last fall and has found it particularly helpfulfor exterior siding claims. It can be used to measure windows,doors, roofs, and walls with a snap from a mobile device or tablet.The measurements and location are saved with the photo and can beshared via email in a .pdf, Spike file (XML) and .KMZ.

Comfort Zone
www.ibrtek.com
With all of thistechnology that we're using, if your employees aren't working in anergonomically correct setting it could affect their productivityand create occupationally-related injuries. IBR has created ComfortZone, a self-assessment tool that can help determine if employeesare using proper posture at their workstations or desks, identifyany risks, and provide recommendations to prevent occupationalrelated injuries.

Enviro Case
www.enviroproductions.com
Thefuror over bedbugs seems to have died down, but that doesn't meanthe problem has been eradicated. Healthcare facilities, hotels,cruise ships and other locations with a high turnover of clientscan experience problems with bedbugs. The Enviro Case provides aportable solution for addressing clothing, bedding, backpacks, andother items that have been infested with bedbugs.

It seems that the future and its technological advances havearrived at our front doors and by the time we learn how to usethem, a newer version will be knocking.