The world of mobile communication is not limited to big cities. Rural carriers, such as Mennonite Mutual Insurance, have distinct needs of their own as they often service wide areas for customers that expect quick and timely service just like their big-city brethren.

Mennonite Mutual wanted a mobile solution for its marketing and loss control representatives to use in the field. During the search process, the commercial lines insurer—with coverage for churches and large farms—met with Hyland Software about developing a mobile solution to leverage some of Hyland's tools.

Mennonite Mutual, founded in 1895, is located in Orrville, Ohio, hometown of J.M. Smucker of jelly-making fame (and basketball coach Bob Knight). Smucker was the first president of Mennonite Mutual, which insures property in Ohio and Indiana.

Mennonite Mutual deals strictly through the independent agency network. The policy process begins with a request for quote from one of their agents, according to Jennings Carpenter, director of IT for the carrier.

“The agent will submit a request for quote, which is simply an e-form on our agency portal,” he says. “That comes into an underwriting workflow where the underwriter will do a pre-assessment to determine whether it is worth sending a marketing rep to inspect the property. Our model is we pre-inspect all our churches and large farms. Once the decision is made, the information is preloaded into a tablet device. The marketing reps will have the information that summarizes the risk and anything the underwriter picked up as well.”

Loss control representatives conduct the pre-loss inspection, which includes use of a thermal imaging camera.

“We also have a sketching application to sketch the dimensions of the property and we take photos as well,” says Carpenter. “They will fill out the loss assessment which is then used by the underwriter for the rating and issuing of the policy. They will gather all the information and sync it back to the home office, which kicks it into a workflow for the underwriter.”

Mennonite Mutual has used the application programming interface that Hyland provides to populate the quote system so the marketing reps don't have to enter that information in order to generate a quote, which Carpenter believes is a major time savings for the carrier.

The underwriter will produce the proposal that goes to the agency and the potential insured. It then feeds back to the underwriter when the agent gets the signature. Mennonite Mutual then creates and issues the policy, explains Carpenter.

Hyland also has integration through smartphones, which allow users to create forms on the iPhone, the Android or the Blackberry, explains Fisk.

“We have a full set of mobile capabilities,” says Ruth Fisk, Hyland's senior analyst for insurance. “We believe it is a combination of hardware devices as well as processes because there are so many different facets of the work that needs to be done in the field. For example, when you talk about hardware, Mennonite Mutual uses the Motion which is very rugged for the insurance industry. When (Carpenter) talks about moving forward he already has the right device. We are trying to be innovative to bring these solutions because it creates an opportunity to help insurers change the way they do business.”

Hyland offers mobile solutions span across many of the vital areas for insurers. One such area is for field adjusters that need to access information and collect information.

“Our Field Adjuster Client product allows insurers to easily get to all the applications they need to access,” says Fisk. “If someone needs specific information about coverage they can get information on the diagrams and the photos required for adjusting claims.”

A tablet solution allows adjusters to import the information directly to the OnBase system, whether connected or offline.

“OnBase can operate in both modes,” says Fisk. “That allows the adjuster access to all the estimating tools. Because of the Windows 8 platform, you can access it through a 3G connection on the tablet PC within a single interface to make them more efficient and effective.”

Field Adjuster Client can give adjusters assignments as first notice of loss comes in and it allows the carrier to distribute other information to the field adjuster, explains Fisk. The adjuster can prioritize the information depending on whether it concerns a high value or a priority customer or a particular line of business with a service level agreement that needs to be processed quickly. The solution also allows users to manage the business rules appropriately.

“When the adjuster receives the assignment he can get there through Bing Maps to know the exact location,” says Fisk. “We've integrated with those tools to store information like a claimants address to contact them and launch the maps,” she says. “Onsite, there is access to all the forms.”

For example, if the adjuster needs to complete diagramming they can pull up a grid and use a stylus to draw measurements and take notes; they can take photos from the device, which are automatically imported to OnBase. That makes the data readily available to people in the home office without worrying about the adjuster getting back to the home office to process the claim, according to Fisk.

There also is the capability to integrate a dictation tool for the adjuster's notes, which will be stored in an MP3 file.

“We are looking for innovative ways to make the field adjusters more effective and to be able to manage SLAs, process claims faster, and have the capability to access all the other tools needed during the claims process,” says Fisk.

Mennonite Mutual purchased its tablet devices from Motion Computing, but Carpenter admits the carrier is interested in the Windows 8 tablets that Hyland is using for its mobile claims solution, which Mennonite Mutual has yet to sign up for.

The OnBase Mobile solution tested out well, according to Carpenter.

“We put it in the hands of one of our top marketing guys—one who would put it through its paces the most. He used it in the field and worked with it,” says Carpenter. “We had to make adjustments based on his recommendations and also get the interface with our back-end systems—quoting and policy—to make sure all the info gets where it needs to be.”

Mennonite Mutual operates with a legacy mainframe system, but Carpenter feels Hyland's application interface (API) makes things seamless for the user, whether they are on the legacy system, on the portal, or wherever they are.

“The information stays the same throughout,” he says. “That's a big plus for us over some of the other solutions we looked at. It's a huge advantage not only as far as efficiency but it gets us in the marketplace with our agents with better tools than what the other carrier have to offer. It gives us a competitive advantage within that independent agency.”

Mennonite is able to extract the information they capture on the tablet and push it directly into their core system, which Fisk adds is “another element of efficiency.”

Carpenter agrees. “It would not have been a big enough win for us if we were unable to integrate because you can't pick up efficiencies,” he says. “This was a slam dunk as far as ROI.”

Special Reports /

Mobility and Rural America

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