Upon examining the issue of innovation in insurance—particularlyin the eyes of North American consumers—the insurance research andadvisory firm Celent concluded that their research upheld severalassumptions about the service functions provided by insurers andchallenged other long-held views.

With mobile technology, one of the areas where most insurers arelooking to become innovative, Mike Fitzgerald, a senior analyst inCelent's insurance practice, found that a long-held belief that theuse of mobile systems is generational seems to be false.

"All age groups and customer types are looking at using mobile,"he says.

The home computer and the work computer remain the top forms forservice by insurance customers, but Fitzgerald points out thatmobile technology comes in a strong third.

The assumptions that the Celent survey challenges were:

• The greatest opportunity for mobile service lies withtech-savvy consumers and mobile platforms should be designed andmarketed to this group.
• Young people want to receive customer service only on theweb.

As for the conclusions the Celent survey upheld, Fitzgeraldreports they are:

• Consumers have and use a variety of technology options in theirservice interactions.
• Users have distinctly different preferences concerning customerservice that vary based on the type of transaction for which theyseek assistance.
• Consumers seek service methods that offer maximum convenience,ease-of-use, and speed.

"What came across with this study is a continued focus on mobiledevelopment for customer service," says Fitzgerald. "It's not justfor the look-up type things; people want to have self-service onmobile platforms."

Over the next year, Fitzgerald believes it will be interestingto observe how the mobile interface works out, particularly touchscreen or voice response on a mobile platform.

"That helps with some of the data input or prefill services thatcompanies provide," he says. "Those are ways the platforms can beimproved and get around data input problems."

Insurers are investing in informational mobile services ratherthan transactional, according to Fitzgerald.

"It's going to be a continued area of focus for the next year,"he says. "When people figure out how to do moretransactions—creative ideas that come from solving that problem—isanybody's guess, but it will remain a focus. Certainly customerswill continue to look for it."

Tablets might prove to be the next battleground for customerself-service innovation because of their form might be moresuccessful and meet more needs, explains Fitzgerald.

"My vision is you have a tablet that plugs into a dockingstation," he says. "That could replace what we traditionally thinkof as the home PC. I see it surrounded by equipment that makes itlook and feel like a PC so you can pop it into your cradle and usea full keyboard and a full monitor and wirelessly connect to yourprinter. It won't be the tablet alone."

Fitzgerald maintains the convergence of what you can do on atablet and the speed in which they operate is more aboutperipherals.

"What peripherals can keep you productive in terms of storage,memory, and speed?" asks Fitzgerald. "There is no advantage tohaving a tower next to your desk anymore."