However, the adoption of download in commercial lines has been much slowercurrently about 20 to 25 percent of the agentssuggesting continuing download issues which must be addressed.

When the ACT work group considered the following download objectivesconsistent, accurate and complete data in the agency management system and support for a paperless processing environmentwe found these objectives were not being consistently met across all transactions, all carriers, or on all agency management systems.

Our research found:

Not all, or not enough, data is provided in download for the agent to be able to handle a renewal without entering additional data;

Data is truncated and “overflow” data goes into “notepads” or “remarks” on the agency system;

Agency data is not protected and is overwritten by the download;

Carriers, and vendors, handle data inconsistently;

Not all commercial policies are suited for download, but often agents have to accept all or nothing from a company in download;

No entry is made into the agency management system transaction/activity log to match the download; and

Agency education on the download process often is lacking.

After reviewing the current problems with download, the working group made the following major recommendations:

Carriers should send in download on all the data they have available;

Carriers should follow standard procedures to protect the agents data;

Carriers and vendors must document and share details on data they can process, and how they process it;

Carriers and vendors should take advantage of standards to update transaction/activity logs on the agency management systems; and

Agents, and their management system user groups, must take responsibility for educating themselves on the process of download.

When reviewing a process as broadly implemented as download, it is important to remember that every agency, every vendor and every carrier is different. They are each independent organizations with varying business strategies and capabilities. Both carriers and agency management system vendors are working under specific constraints when they try to produce a single process that meets everyones needs.

Agency management systems must employ a general overall system design, capable of collecting and loading data from a variety of sources in a manner that is intelligible to the user. Carriers dont always store all the data they require to issue a policy, let alone all the data an agency collects.

Agencies have some very specific ideas about where they want their data displayed. If they customize their data display (put data in a field for which it was not defined), the download process likely will delete the data.

Finally, a major constraint today is XML real-time interfacing. While download currently serves a very useful purpose that no new technology or standard has yet replaced, the carriers and agency management system vendors are focusing much of their resources on XML real-time interfacing and the use of the Internet.

The future of agency/carrier interface is with XML standards and with the Internetnot with the AL3 Standards used for download. Nonetheless, continued refinements in download capability are critical if agents are expected to function in an environment where the companies increasingly turn off the paper sent to the agent.

The ACT work groups single most important recommendation involves increased communication and education among all of the stakeholders involvedagents, user groups, vendors and carriers. This process will increase understanding as to what data is processed by the carrier and downloaded; what data can be accepted by the vendor and where in the agency system; and how these carrier and vendor capabilities fulfill the agencys needs for data.

This process will begin to facilitate specific solutions between communicating partners. And better promotion of the benefits of download will encourage additional implementations.

The benefits of the download process to agencies are huge and well worth the time it takes for agents to gain a detailed understanding of the capabilities and download processes of their carriers and vendors. The carriers, too, benefit from implementing an effective download process, because it positions them to communicate with their agencies electronically, rather than with paper. Vendors benefit because their management systems will continue to meet the evolving business needs of their agency customers.

Mele Fuller ([email protected]) is Seattle-based SAFECO Insurance Companys representative to industry standards organizations, agency user groups and associations. SAFECO is a member of the Agents Council for Technology. The complete ACT download report is available by clicking on ACT on www.independentagent.com. This article reflects the opinions of the author and does not constitute an official statement of ACT.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, March 10, 2003. Copyright 2003 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.