After surveying independent life insurance producers for a report from Celent, Craig Weber, a senior analyst in the research firm's insurance practice, found life agents are becoming increasingly technology savvy as carriers are focusing more attention in the direction of the agents. In the past, Weber asserts, most multiline carriers have focused their technology initiatives on the property/casualty side, particularly with tools such as agency management systems and agency management interfaces. However, today, "some of the technology approaches have found their way into the higher-end, non-commoditized markets, such as life insurance and annuities," he says.

Not as many life producers use agency management systems as do their counterparts in P&C, Weber indicates, but the ones who use these systems are diehard users. The Celent survey found 38 percent of life agencies surveyed don't have agency management systems, but 25 percent of the respondents report using their system several times a day, and another 12 percent report daily usage.

"My advice to carriers is to support multiple means of working with agents because some agents will use agency management systems and others will go to proprietary carrier sites," says Weber. "You really need to do a variety of things to ensure you are available to all your agents."