Carriers have good reason to be enthusiastic aboutagency-oriented Web sites. They have the potential to reduceexpenses associated with servicing agents as well as providecompetitive advantage over other carriers. On the other hand,though agents do use company Web sitesat least the good sitestheyrefrustrated at having to deal with carrier-by-carrier logon andnavigation differences. Theyre also frustrated by the need to enterdata into carrier screens thats already present in their managementor rating systems. (See Sounding Line, August 2002, for details onthe problem and a solution called hybrid interface.)

Its not surprising then that many carriers are asking themselveshow they can make their Web sites more palatable to their agencysales force by providing some measure of integration between theagents technology and the carrier Web site. But thats easierimagined than done. If integration requires elaborate softwaredevelopment, rollout, and then widespread adoption by agents, itmay never happen. So the issue for an increasing number of carriersis how they can provide integration (hybrid interface) withoutrequiring much effort by their IT departments, agency partners, orthe vendors that supply the agents.

Is effortless integration really possible? One major carrier isin the process of finding out. Though too early to go public aboutthe pilot, the carrier (name withheld by request) did share itsthought process. The carriers pilot technology partner, SeaPassSolutions, explained how the service works.

One Carriers Thought Process

The carrier is eager to show its agents that its attentive totheir issues with its Web site and wants to offer a solution thatretains the agency management system as the hub of agencyworkflowwhile making full use of the carriers elaborate Web site.The carrier has undertaken a pilot using SeaPass Solutions(www.seapass.com) to provide transparentconnections from Applied Systems and AMS Services agency managementsystems to the carrier site.

We want to show our agents that were not closed minded butwilling to deal with agency SEMCI workflow issues. Some agencieslive in their management systems and are reluctant to go out to ourWeb site. We think that SeaPass may be able to provide an answerwithout either our IT staff or the management system vendors havingto do any work. So weve put together a proof of concept projectwith SeaPass. We want to show that there isnt just one way to skinthe cat. Technology can provide a number of different ways tosatisfy our needs and our agents at the same time, the carrierexplained.

SeaPass has no effect on, makes no changes to, and requires nochanges in either the agency management system or the carrier Website. It acts as an intelligent intermediary that uses data fromthe agency system context to fool the carrier Web site intothinking the agency CSR is entering data, doing mouse clicks, andso on.

In a way, the approach is reminiscent of screen scrapingsolutions that were used to hide green screens behind moreattractive PC presentations. But according to the carrier, theSeaPass solution goes far beyond screen scraping. The solution cangenerate screens back to the agency on the fly for editing prior topopulating carrier Web forms and has a powerful business model andparser under the covers.

According to Eric Gewirtzman, president of SeaPass U.S.operations, a number of initial SeaPass agency/carrier integrationswere created for insurance agencies without the knowledge of themanagement system vendors or the carriers to whose systems/sitesSeaPass connected. SeaPass patented software had its origins inmilitary intelligencewhen the purpose was to hack, undetected, intosensitive Web sites. The SeaPass version of the software doesntbypass carrier Web site security but follows whatever logon andother security processes the carrier has put in place.

SeaPass reports that it has successfully implemented solutionsfor such agency management systems as Applied Systems The AgencyManager, AMS Services Sagitta and AfW, and is confident that itsapproach will work with any management system. SeaPass has alreadyprovided connections into a number of carrier Web sites (and legacysystems, by the way, for carriers without sites) and is confidentit can handle virtually any carrier site with aplomb.

Hybrid interface via a SeaPass solution can be applied to anytransactions supported by the agency software and carrier site. Ifthe carrier supports on-line endorsements, SeaPass can provide aconnectivity solution. If the carrier site has direct bill, claims,or other kinds of inquiry capabilities, the inquiry can be launchedby the agency CSR from the management system and then deliveredfrom the carrier Web sitewithout any additional action on the partof the CSR.

What would a SeaPass version of hybrid interface look like toagents? A new business submission might work like this: The agencyCSR would complete an application in the agency management systemand hit the export button. The CSR would then be prompted, ifrelevant, to add additional data not present in the managementsystem application and/or to correct faulty data. The CSR wouldthen be shown the fully populated application in the carrier Website (logon and navigation having been taken care oftransparently). The CSR could then go on with the rest of thecarrier processwithin the carrier site. A download to synchronizethe agency database would come back to the agency overnight.

The Business Deal

How does SeaPass make a living? Who pays? SeaPass offers twoalternatives. Both use the same software, but one is directed atagencies as customers and the other at carriers. When a carriercontracts with SeaPass, generally the carrier hosts a SeaPassserver and the solution is single carrier, multiple agency. Whenthe agency is the customer, the agency hosts the SeaPass server andthe service is single agency, multiple carrier.

The piloting carrier referred to above favors agency-sidesolutions, since its agency partners represent multiple carriers.On the other hand, a carrier with captive agents might find hostinga SeaPass server more appropriate for its needs. I suggested toSeaPass that it provide a third approach, hosting its server andthen providing multi-carrier/multi-agency connectivity. Gewirtzmansaid the vendor was considering such a SeaPass hosting option.

Today SeaPass gauges its pricing based on the projected savingsit will provide the customer. The piloting carrier would like tosee a more conventional pricing arrangement that doesnt depend onhypotheses.

Does This Really Work?

SeaPass likes to talk about the artificial intelligence builtinto its software that lets it set up connectivity between agencysoftware and carrier Web sites with a minimum of fuss. Those of uswho have seen screen scraping and chewing-gum-and-bailing-wireconnectivity solutions in the past might be a bit skeptical. Howdoes the SeaPass software handle branching, errors, and sitechanges? I was told that when the software cant figure out what todo because of unexpected results, the responsible administrator isnotified, then trains the program and puts it back to work. Is thateasy or hard? How often does it happen?

The test for the viability of any service like SeaPass lies inits ability to scale. It appears that SeaPass can create viablehybrid interface implementations for an initial population ofcarriers and agencies. And thats a major accomplishment. It will beinteresting to see, if its given the opportunity, whether SeaPasscan make its technology and business work for hundreds of carriersand thousands of agencies.

In any case, at least one savvy carrier thinks enough of theSeaPass solution to create a pilot with three agencies. If theexperiment works and the business arrangements can be put together,this carrier may see enthusiastic agency response and increased useof its Web siteand gain a competitive advantage over carriers thatwont or cant solve the agency technology/carrier Web siteconnectivity dilemma.

John Ashenhursts company, Sound Internet Strategy, providesconsulting, Web site evaluation, and seminar services to carriersand their trading partners. He can be reached [email protected] or (360) 376-1090.