Smart carriers know that their agents and brokers are as muchtheir customers as their actual policyholders. As your first (andsometimes only) point of contact with the world, you need toprovide them with the tools to easily do business with you. Makethe connection to your home office smooth, and youll be rewardedwith more business and fewer complaints. Speed the connection toyour agents and youll keep them happy and productive.

The Internet Age has ushered in a host of technologies thatpromise to do all those things. Extranets and virtual privatenetworks provide high-speed, secure connections to the back-endsystems agents need to process accounts.

Wireless devices and connections to back-end databases allowagents to work when and where they want, pulling information fromyour systems as they need it. Handheld and palmtop computersalongwith lightweight laptopsallow agents to take your products withthem anywhere.