ONLINE CLAIMS

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., an insurer known forusing technology to deliver better service for independent agents,has applied its expertise on behalf of its policyholders when theymake a claim. The Hartfords Claim Expediter relies on customizedwireless technology that allows appraisers to respond faster andhandle auto claims on the spot. This keeps the claims processmoving and reduces the time to resolve auto claims.

The Claim Expediter connects the appraiser in the field inspectingthe vehicle with the claim handler taking the claim call. TheHartfords claims personnel also are linked electronically toauto-damage estimating sources through a seamless wireless network,improving response time and productivity. Using Claim Expediter,auto appraisers can be notified immediately when a claim is filedso they can assist policyholders faster. When inspecting thevehicle, the necessary resources are at the appraisers fingertips,often leading to resolution of the claim on the spot.

In addition to improved customer satisfaction, shortening the cycletime to resolve a claim pays off in reduced costs associated withvehicle rental and storage charges, says Martin Iverson, vicepresident of auto physical damage at The Hartford. The fact all theinformation is contained on one wireless network allows us to thinkof our response to customers in terms of hours rather thandays.

With the Claim Expediter, which in-cludes electronic verificationof repair estimates from local repair shops, appraisers have theinformation they need to discuss options with customers right away,with the goal of getting customers back in their car quickly orproviding a replacement vehicle faster. If clear liability can beestablished, The Hartfords Claim Expediter also enables a totalloss to be settled in as little as two hours rather than severaldays.

For customers who opt to use auto repair shops in The Hartfordspreferred network, the process is even faster, since the shops canuse the system to submit appraisals and digital photosimmediately.

This technology really improves our claim service and customersatisfaction, says Iverson. The seamless link among our staffappraisers, loss-adjusting resources, and The Hartfords network ofpreferred auto body shops results in happy customers and efficientappraisers.

VOIP

Voice Enabling on Web Site Yields Customer Satisfaction
Esurance, a direct-to-consumer personal auto insurer, launched itsnew Voice over the Internet Protocol (VoIP) click-to-call service,powered by eStara, Inc. Push to Talk from eStara allows Esurancecustomers to click a button from PC-to-phone or throughphone-to-phone calls to speak with an Esurance insurance adviserdirectly from Esurances Web site.
In a recent online survey of more than 5,000 eStara Push to Talkusers on financial services and banking Web sites, upward of 25percent said the click-to-call service saved them from abandoningtheir Web site visit.

AGENCY PORTAL

Allmerica Companies Introduce Web-based Portals for Agents
The Citizens and Hanover Insurance companies, subsidiaries ofAllmerica, have launched The Agency Place, a Web-based agencyportal that provides its network of independent agents with acentralized gateway to the information and tools agents need toconduct business. The portal is available 24/7, making it easierfor agents to conduct business on their own schedules.
The Agency Place provides quicker access to information and fastertransaction processing. It also offers agents easy access todetailed billing, claims, and customer and policy information.Agents can tap a library of online documents, forms, manuals, andother informational resources they need to do business withCitizens and Hanover. The portal, currently in its initial rolloutstage, is available to all independent agents representing Citizensand Hanover.


WHOS USING WHAT

Donegal Group has signed a licensing agreement with AllenbrookInc., a provider of policy processing software and consultingservices for the insurance industry. Allenbrook will be supplyingits PhoenixDirect, which offers Web-enabled agent access for newbusiness. PhoenixDirect will allow Donegal to give its agentsaccurate, real-time quotes for the carriers varied commercial linesbusiness. Church Insurance Companies, a division of Church PensionGroup, has signed a licensing agreement for Phoenix fromAllenbrook. The speed-to-market Phoenix solution will provideChurch Pension Group with an integrated policy processing andadministration system including rate/ quote and issuance, claims,billing, and document and workflow management for the ChurchCommercial Package Policy.

Western United Life Assurance Company now is in production with theannuity administration solution from AdminServer, Inc. The firstphase of AdminServer system implementation included new-businessadministration for 16 different annuity products.

Unitrin Multi Line has selected the new Web bridge technology fromApplied Systems, Inc., to offer real-time billing, claims, andpolicy inquiries to agencies using the Agency Manager software fromApplied. In addition, Allied Insurance has partnered with Appliedto supply the Web bridge technology to Allieds agencies.

Fatum Life NV, a Curacao-based member of the Guardian HoldingsGroup, has picked SunGard Insurance Systems COMPASS as anenterprise group benefits administration system. SunGard InsuranceSystems is a global supplier of group benefit administrationsolutions for the insurance and financial services industries.Fatum Life will leverage the COMPASS solution to help deliverstrategic support for product development, billing, collections,and administration. SunGard also announced Mutual of Omaha hasselected SunGard COMPASS.

Health Plus, PHSP, a provider of government-sponsored ManagedMedicaid health insurance in New York City, has chosen Fuegossoftware suite FuegoBPM. Fuego and its partner, Daou Systems, aprovider of IT consulting and management services to healthcareorganizations, collaborated on FuegoBPM to automate the claimsmanagement process for Health Plus list of Medicaid recipients andother members.

Old Mutual, one of South Africas leading financial services firms,has implemented COREid, an identity-based security solution fromOblix. COREid is used for identity management and Web accesscontrol for user authentication and authorization. The productprovides Web single sign-on and user self-service to customersaccessing the companys Web-based applications, including onlineportfolio viewing, investment research, and other financialservices.

AAA Life has licensed Agility: Insurance from G2X, a producer ofWeb-based relationship management solutions for the life insuranceindustry, for the carriers call center operations in Omaha, Neb.Under the terms of the agreement, AAA Life will be implementingAgility: Insurance and Agility: Leads to increase revenues throughimproved efficiencies in the lead management process.

Catholic Mutual Group has opted for ChoicePoint from Insurity Inc.to deliver full outsourced policy-management services and software,including bureau reporting, claims management, managementreporting, and back-office functions. Insurity will host allapplications and handle all updates and rate changes.

AmerUs Life Insurance Group, a subsidiary of AmerUs Group Co.,successfully has implemented Field Administration Support andTracking system (FASAT) from DSPA Software Inc. in the first of twophases covering all of the AmerUs Life Insurance Groupcompanies.

Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania has chosen the edocs, Inc.,technology platform to power its new member portal application.edocs offers customer self-service and e-billing softwaresolutions. With the edocs software, the insurer will supply itsmembers with online access to frequently accessed information andtransactions.

The CNA group of insurance companies has decided on the SIRCONsolution from Innovative IT Solutions, Inc., to manage theorganizations appointment processing and licensing. Innovative ITSolutions offers online services and products for licensing,regulatory compliance automation, and producer management withinthe insurance industry.

International Corporate Marketing Group, a subsidiary of HartfordLife, Inc., has selected the EDITSOLUTIONS suite of components fromSystems Engineering Group to process variable life insurance andcommissions.

AutoOne Insurance, a division of OneBeacon Insurance Group, hasreached agreement with Applix, Inc., which produces businessintelligence (BI) and business performance management (BPM)solutions. Applix has enabled AutoOne to forecast and report on thefinancial performance of its Limited Assignment Distribution (LAD)Assigned Risk automobile insurance operations through the use ofApplixs TM1-based planning, forecasting, and reportingapplications.

CIGNA HealthCare has teamed with Post-N-Track Corp. to deliverfaster claims submission and tracking for healthcare providers,billing entities, and transaction aggregators. The new service isavailable through a secure Web-based transaction solution thatadministers, monitors, and controls these transactions.

Empire Financial Group has completed a successful implementationwith SOLCORP, a source of software solutions to the life insuranceand financial services industries and a subsidiary of EDS. TheSOLCORP/E-LINKS solution has allowed Empire to join Canadianinsurers trading segregated fund products through FundSERV, theleading network service provider for the Canadian investment fundindustry.

Firemans Fund Insurance Company (FFIC), which offersproperty/casualty insurance products, has begun to implement WebifySolutions Insurance Transaction Applications, a suite of Webservices-based applications that permit process and transactionintegration among disparate business systems within the company.Firemans Fund selected Webify Solutions to improve agencies ease ofdoing business with FFIC, leverage ACORD specifications, and drivedown operational costs through straight-through processing.

Grange Insurance Group has decided on the ProClarity AnalyticsPlatform from ProClarity Corporation as a business solution todrive improved operational performance and increased competitivepositioning. Grange, which deals in personal and commercialinsurance coverage in the western states, will use the ProClaritybusiness intelligence solution to identify business trends,increase sales opportunities, and improve customer service throughenhanced policy management.

Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company, a national provider of cropinsurance and reinsurance services, has purchased the ImageRightdocument management system, including the ImageRight desktop andadvanced workflow; fax and e-mail capabilities; archive, unarchive,and import modules; the database updates package; the softwaredevelopers toolkit; and ImageRights FastTRACK implementationprogram.

Property/casualty insurer OneBeacon has partnered with Opus Group,which offers performance management solutions for the insuranceindustry, to improve service and reduce operating costs for itspersonal lines underwriting, customer service, and claims areas.The Opus Group Performance Management solution for OneBeaconincludes Opus Suite Performance Analytics software and expertprocess optimization and training services.

Arbella Insurance Group, a property/casualty insurer, has chosenDocument Sciences Cor-porations ReadyForms as its enterprisedocument automation solution. ReadyForms supplies a library ofprebuilt electronic bureau forms, complete with predefined businessrules for automated forms assembly, and delivery via DocumentSciences xPression content processing technology.

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company has awarded First ChoiceSolutions, which delivers mobile electronic claims-handlingtechnology and services, a contract to render those services on anational basis. First Choice Solutions offers a blend of servicesand technology designed to provide ease-of-use and severity savingsto the insurance industry.

Indiana Farmers Mutual Insurance Company and ConnectiveTechnologies, Inc., announced the signing of a contract to provideTEAM-UP Download to Indiana Farmers Mutuals agents.

Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company has an-nounced the successfulimplementation of Xenos GoXML Integration Solution. Xenos GroupInc. is a data-to-e-content company. The new system equips fieldagents with real-time access to information and ACORD-basedinsurance policy generation.

Montana State Fund, the largest workers compensation carrier in thestate, has opted for Guidewire ClaimCenter to increase efficiencyand customer service in its claims operation. The implementation isbeing led by HCL Technologies, one of Guidewires implementationpartners.

Fort Dearborn Life Insurance Company has joined the BocaInformation Sciences Group (BISG) Carrier Content Partner Program.This agreement will allow Fort Dearborn to leverage BISGs WebAgenttechnology to distribute the carriers content automatically toagency Web sites.

Kansas City Life Insurance Company has contracted with PreferredMedical Claim Solution to use the PMCS Advance Funded Provider(AFP) program. The AFP program utilizes the PMCS Preferred DataInterchange (PDI), an electronic data interchange between PMCS anda number of benefits administration software programs, includingTriZettos QicLink operating system. PDI facilitates and streamlinesthe processing of out-of-network claims for PMCS clients.

Ameritas Acacia, a diversified family of insurance and financialservices, and its full-service broker/dealer, Ameritas InvestmentCorp., have selected eMoney Advisors AdvisorPlatform as theirfinancial planning system.

Hastings Mutual Insurance Company has selected Duck CreekTechnologys Example Platform Product Suite, including: ExampleAuthor, Example Server, and Example Express.