There is a conversation being held around telematics at almostevery level of the insurance industry these days. One place wherethe conversation began over two years ago is at Zurich, where JimNoble, line of business director, motor fleet, for the riskengineering group of Zurich Services Corporation, has seen benefitsfor both his company and its customers using Zurich FleetIntelligence.

“It's definitely beneficial and the benefits have come in manydifferent forms,” he says. “The insurance product will evolve asthe technology evolves. We've gone from clunky black boxes tosmaller, more agile units to pocket size units to smartphones. Whoknows what the technology evolution will provide us. The trick for insurers isto be agile and react to quick changes in technology and understandwhat value we can get from telematics and how we can help ourcustomers achieve that value.”

Noble is on the fleet side of Zurich's commercial linesdivision, but he believes there is as much if not more going onwith personal lines.

“What I think is happening is the technology is movingvery rapidly and the insurance markets are seeing the informationthey've been waiting for,” he says. “[Zurich] looks at our fleetoffering as a way to capitalize on [the technology]. The ZurichFleet Intelligence (ZFI) proposition is value add. It's much moreabout how we can gain synergy between the operational side and thelost prevention side to maximize a telematics unit.”

Noble points out there are telematics units that are used justthere for logistics that offer a certain value to a customer. Aproduct on the vehicle that just does emergency calling, he adds,offers a certain value, and one that measures driver performancehas a certain value.

“If you put them all together you are maximizing what telematicscan do for a customer,” says Noble.

There are serious differences among the telematics products thatare on the market, explains Noble.

“Everybody has a niche of what they can do depending on customerneeds,” he says. “Some telematics providers do a good job ofmeasuring driver behavior. At various stages in the product lineyou go until you get the complete mobile resource managementsolutions and they do a lot of different things for a customeroperationally and from a safety standpoint.”

From a carrier standpoint, no one wants to be married to asingle technology, explains Noble, because customers have a widerange of needs and carriers need to be able to respond to thoseneeds.

“That's why our system offers multiple vendor solutions,” hesays. “The ZFI product is almost completely hardware agnostic. Ouronly requirement is it reports on the basic standards we need inorder to measure and engage risk.”

Noble maintains that having an end-to-endproduct enables Zurich to identify risk and then determine what theinsured is going to do with the information.

“We are working with customers to create action plans and driverisk out of the business,” says Noble. “That has been beneficialfor the customer and for Zurich.”

Much like carriers, insureds are just now learning what they cando with the telematics technology.

“For us, it's more about how we can educate the customers to usethe technology and what are their hot points,” says Noble. “Wherein this use do they look at the technology and go, 'That's aperfect application for me?'”

That's not to say the carriers aren't learning from theircustomers as well.

“To a certain degree they are educating us,” says Noble. “It's agive and take with the customer. Who is leading and who isfollowing depends on the customer and the needs they have. It'sinteresting in a new marketplace.

Noble points out Zurich is pushing its customers to understandwhat the telematics data is telling them and how they can createaction plans for continual improvement cycles based on thedata.

“Where that will go on the commercial side and even on thepersonal side, it is still in its infancy,” he says. “I don't thinkwe've begun to scratch the surface of what telematics can do for usfrom an insurance standpoint and from a customer value chainstandpoint.”

As with any type of change, there has to be a value for thecustomer over and above a single point, explains Noble.

“There are various single points with telematics, so integratingthose values together makes it something that becomes attractive tothe customer when they say they can go to one spot and manageoperations or manage risks,” he says. “That becomes attractive tothe audience we are talking to.”

On the operational side there are different points that create areturn on investment for the customer and it varies depending onwhat their operation is.

“As integrated as we can make that on the risk management side,the easier it is to manage for the customer and the more value theyactually get from telematics,” he says.

(Noble will be presenting at Insurance Telematics USA Conferenceand Exhibition on Sept. 4 and 5, at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel inChicago. The event is expected to attract over 500 executives fromacross the insurance, automotive, wireless, and telematicsindustries. PropertyCasualty360.com has secured a $100 discount offticket prices (a total discount of $200 if you book before Aug 3).Just enter the discount code '2104P360' when you book at insurancetelematics/register.)