Oh, Its A Wonderful (Paperless) World!

The most technologically savvy agencies are moving beyond paper. Rather than preoccupying themselves with process and paper as many agencies traditionally have, they are focusing on the client and the clients growing expectation for immediate service.

Moving to electronic document management and the paperless office positions the agency wonderfully to provide this enhanced client service.

In the last year, our agency has gone paperless, and it has had a huge positive impact for us. Not one of my staff members today would go back to the paper-based system we replaceda pretty strong indication that we have made real progress in our business processes.

Virtually every function that we perform as an insurance agency has been improved by a paperless orientation. Paperless orientation has changed our agency perhaps even more than our initial conversion from a non-automated paper-based agency to an automated one.

There are no file cabinets anywhere. There are never any misplaced documents. There is no such thing as a document out of file. And, any document that has been digitized can immediately be retrieved and re-sent or re-directed as needed without the employee ever leaving his or her chair.

What does going paperless entail? It means committing all forms of paper that would formerly be stored in paper files to a digital storage system. Applications, new business, renewal policies, endorsements, claims, audits and any other documents that the agency retains are scanned, indexed, and filed digitally. Information that is duplicative of the data already stored in the agency management system is not scanned.

It is critical for the agency to establish a new workflow and procedures for the paperless office in addition to implementing the new technology. Agency employees must understand the agencys electronic indexing and filing system so documents do not get misfiled in the computer. The document entry process also should be regularly monitored.

Once the electronic document is filed correctly, however, you know it will always be accessible from the proper location. It is the goal to tie these electronic files to the agency management system client file (as the proper software integrations are made) so that all client information is located in one place.

The benefits of the paperless environment are as follows:

Improved Staff Morale: Enabling the document handling of former paper files in a digital format truly empowers every employee to perform at a higher level.

Improved Response Time: The agent can answer the clients questions on the spot without having to leave the workstation, pull the file, and then call the client back. This benefit extends to every single service activity the agency performs, as well as management access to agency business management information.

Eliminate Retrieval, Storage Costs: Document retrieval can be accomplished without leaving your workstation. Retention of digital records can be extended well beyond the required seven-year period by purging to a CD- ROM drive.

Protect Documents In Disasters: Should the agency itself experience a disaster, electronic documents are protected along with the rest of the agencys electronic information, provided the proper off-site backups have been made.

Complete Geographic Flexibility: With the integration of e-mail and fax, any document can be retrieved or transmitted anywhere in the world. An employee working at home has 100 percent access to any agency information, as does any temporarily mobile employee with a network interface connection.

Easier Sharing with Clients and Business Partners: It becomes much easier to share documents with the client and others in the agency, as well as with other business partners.

However, going paperless should not be perceived as a one-step process. An understanding of the benefits of transactional filing, a firm commitment to going paperless, and a test of the fully digital record approach are critical first steps before making the transition to paperless. A poorly implemented paperless office could create an organizational disaster.

How has going paperless benefited our agency in upstate New York? The dividends we received from our purchases of digital imaging equipment outweighed the total cost of the equipment in just four months. Our agencys complete transition to a paperless office included investments in hardware, software and employee training, and the assistance of outside technology consultants.

Retrieval of even a transactionally filed paper document takes a few minutes. We have no retrieval costs. Weve been on this configuration for nine months. Every staff member is able to complete work faster and with less stress than ever before.

Once implemented, a paperless system is clearly and unequivocally a win for both the customer and the agency. Customer response time for any follow-up is greatly enhanced by never having to leave a workstation to retrieve a document for discussion.

Electronic document management is another example of how todays innovative agencies are using technology and new business processes to enhance their customer service and efficiency.

Ed Higgins chairs the Agents Council for Technology. He is president of Clayton, N.Y.-based Thousand Islands Agency, and can be reached at ed@tiagency.com.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, August 19, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.

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Oh, Its A Wonderful (Paperless) World!

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