Tech Update

Among other services, My Insurance Center gives carriers the ability to quote, rate, and issue all commercial lines and various specialty lines policies, and that includes accommodating company-specific underwriting and workflow. It works through the entire life cycle of the process, including out-of-sequence endorsements, and can produce 25 standard reports as well as ad hoc reporting via any third-party report software that can work with an Oracle database.

Thomco was evidently pleased with MICCTI claims the companys staff was able to take advantage of the products capabilities without disrupting their operation and without losing any of their current technology investments. In fact, CTI says, by the second day, all Thomcos main systems had been connected to MIC with minimal guidance from CTI.

COMPLIANCE

Keeping the commissioners happy
Freedom makes filing reinsurance data simpler

No company wants to have the government on its backin this case, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). So Fiservs Freedom unit (www.freedomgroup.com) is trying to make it easier for carriers to send quarterly and annual reinsurance data to the NAIC with its new Schedule F Manager.

The software is designed to allow insurers to enter their reinsurance data once, then connect those data to the annual statement identifiers in the Freedom Annual Statement system. The tool also validates NAIC numbers, Federal ID numbers, and group codes to avoid costly processing errors.

Freedom president Tony Perdichezzi said the module accommodates all the data required to complete Schedule Fs first seven parts. Data can be accumulated, consolidated, and allocated for any period of time to match the insurers accounting methodology, Perdichezzi said.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Fineos hopes to capitalize on European success

If it worked over there, it should work over here. Thats the hope of Fineos (www.fineos.com) which released Fineos Investor for the North American insurance market. The company hopes to duplicate the success it found in Europe.

Fineos considers Investor a complete front- to back-office customer and contract management system that develops, administers, and distributes annuity, savings, and investment products.

More specifically, Investor takes front-end agent and customer sales and service capabilities and adds a product development engine and contract maintenance capacity in the back office. Fineos CEO Michael Kelly said this enables carriers to deliver and sell products faster across new channels. It will also, according to the company, improve relationships with customers by unifying marketing, sales, and customer service with policy administration functions.

Looking for Mr. CSR?

Want to find good customer service reps? A new Web site, CSRSelect.com, offers an Internet-based evaluation program to spot the applicants who have a knack for customer service.

The site also features training products and advice on building a customer-focused sales and service organization.

TRADE SHOWS

Insurance giants fielding speakers for 2002 TechDEC
Top management from CNA, Farmers, The Hartford, Nationwide, and more to present sessions

Speakers from nearly a dozen insurance powerhouses and consultancies will be presenting sessions at this years Technology Decisions Exposition and Conference (TechDEC; www.tech-dec.com) in Orlando.

At press time, speakers confirmed for TechDEC 2002 include keynoter Dennis Chookaszian, retired chairman and CEO of CNA Insurance; Cecilia Claudio, senior vice president and CIO of Farmers Insurance; Cathy Ellwood, director of corporate strategy for Nationwide; Wayne Fell, president and CEO of Member Insurance; Judy Johnson, vice president of insurance information strategies of Meta Group; Craig Lowenthal, CIO of The Hartford; Bruce Milligan, CEO of Republic Insurance; Tom Morgan, senior vice president for personal lines, Erie Insurance; and Don West, vice president of client services for State National Companies.

As one of the only industry trade shows with speakers exclusively from insurance carriers and industry consultants, TechDECs sessions are designed to give CEOs, CIOs, and other top insurance management useful, objective information from their peersto create a clear ROI for the show itself.

TechDEC is being held September 12-14 at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando. More information is available at www.tech-dec.com. (The show is presented by The National Underwriter Company, parent company of this magazine.)

RATING

RateMaker, RateMaker

The newest module in the Vista Decision Maker solution offers a comprehensive rating function to improve efficiency, reduce errors, provide accurate results, and increase productivity for the property and casualty industry.

Decision Research Corp.s (DRC; www.decisionresearch.com) Vista RateMaker is a runtime rating service operating on Windows NT/2000, Sun Solaris, Linux, and most mainframe systems. It can run as a standalone Internet service, a COM component, or integrated as a large-scale service using MQSeries.

ONLINE SALES

Selectica tool provides Web-based sales and service

Selectica (www.selectica.com) is touting its new eInsurance Suite as a packaged form of its expertise in building online sales sites for insurance. The suite consists of: Selectica eQuoting, Selectica eEnrollment, and Selectica eAnalysis.

EQuoting helps carriers manage leads using predefined business rulesit allows them to standardize quotes and rates, and thus handle quote requests and proposal generation more quickly.

The eEnrollment component allows members to choose and enroll in a plan through a Web interface, providing them with selection tools and a health condition survey. It also captures information that can allow carriers to qualify members for coverage. EEnrollment can integrate with those carriers legacy systems for administration, billing, claims, and customer service.

When it comes time for renewals, eAnalysis matches carriers claims data against ratings systems to determine better pricing. It also provides real-time book-of-business reporting, and can even test actuarial assumptions and pricing effects before booking.

The company says that by tying Web-based customer service to back-end business processes, insurance companies can now generate real-time bookings with substantial savings and much greater accuracy and consistency, and increase customer satisfaction.

POLICY PROCESSING

OneShield releases Dragon

OneShield (www.oneshield.com) unveiled its Dragon productan automated policy processing system for auto, homeowners, and personal umbrella coverage. Initially designed for companies in New York, Florida, and Illinois, Dragons next release will be available for all states and will include options for specialty forms and coverages.

OneShield CEO Glenn Anschutz said the companys carrier clients wanted one platform on which to process commercial and personal lines business. They recognized that a common platform would enable them to transact business at a lower cost and with greater flexibility and underwriting control.

Using a carriers Dragon-powered system, agents can apply for, underwrite, rate, and bind policies online. Endorsements can also be requested, approved, rated, and processed online. The company claims the system also provides functionality for document and workflow management and third-party integration.

DATA ACCESS

UCT provides PC connection to back end

Solution organizes and formats data for easy access

Carriers that keep their data on mainframes, but use PCs to access it might be interested in the Data Analysis Reporting Tool (DART) from Universal Conversion Technologies (UCT, at www.uctcorp.com). According to the company, DART was designed to gather data from back-end systems and present it on a PC platform. The data are formatted, organized, and configured into easy-to-read reports that can be shared, printed or sent via e-mail. Audit data, conversion tools, exceptions, and balance information are accessible on the desktop without losing time filtering through pages of data or columns of numbers.

DARTs presentation features allow users to review the entire process from initial data analysis to final balancing on a PC spreadsheet environment, according to company CEO Dan OHara.

FRAUD

Infoglide launches enterprise-level anti-fraud search tool

Software flushes out fraudulent activity

Carriers looking to detect fraud as often and as quickly as possible might want to check out Infoglide Softwares (www.infoglidesoftware.com) new enterprise-level products, Fraud Investigator Enterprise, Fraud Investigator Enterprise DB2, and version 6.0 of the companys Similarity Search Engine (SSE).

SSE is a database search tool that flags not only exact matches, but similarities and relationships as well. By incorporating it, the Fraud Investigator Enterprise products can flush out aliases and other potential fraudulent activity.

Previous versions of SSE and Fraud Investigator were sold in an ASP pricing model as point solutions, but the enterprise versions are designed to be integrated into a companys workflow. They can process data in real-time, allowing a carrier to screen and process transactions quickly, thus having little effect on legitimate claims.

Infoglide isnt going after the little fishFraud Investigator Enterprise DB2 is designed to work with a very large number of transactions, according to the company; the search capability extends to any size database. (The non-DB2 version of Fraud Investigator Enterprise is designed for small- to medium-size enterprise applications.)

The new products are being sold by CSC on an ROI pricing model; licenses are selling in the million-dollar range. The company claims an ROI of $10 to $25 for every dollar invested.

Have a new product or technology you think should be covered in Tech Update? Send your information to update@tdmag.com, fax it to (859) 692-2246, or write to: Tech Update, Technology Decisions 5081 Olympic Blvd., Erlanger, KY 41018