Checking out the latest developments in agency automation

AgencyPro is the company's full agency management system, with policy management and accounting modules built in. EasyApps Pro, a version of the system without the accounting component, sells for $795. Integration with the comparative rating service is available with either system. In addition, McInelly said, the company also offers EasyApps, an ACORD forms package with fillable forms.

McInelly said the company has also released ASP-based versions of both AgencyPro and EasyApps Pro in the past year. Previously, both systems had been available only as in-house, Windows-based programs. "We find that this model works particularly well for agencies with branch offices or for agents working out of their homes," McInelly said. "Agents can now log in and access their agency data from any computer that has an Internet connection." He added that while a high-speed Internet connection is recommended, the new systems have been tested to ensure they work at speeds as low as 28.8kbps.

Another upgrade to the agency management systems is an integration bridge for Farmers Insurance agents formerly using the IBM AS400 system, McInelly said. "We have many customers who are Farmers agents. Since Farmers allowed agents to begin returning that system, the agents naturally wanted to keep their data," McInelly explained. "For a one-time fee of $300, someone in our office connects to a customer's system, extracts the data, and populates our agency management system with that data," he said.

Improved document imaging capabilities are another upgrade Agency Software has added in the past year, McInelly said. "Customers using our AgencyPro system can now use a simple drag-and-drop process to place a variety of file types into their database," he said. "The system makes a copy of the file and places it in the system for you, so agents don't have to worry about telling the system where to store it."

McInelly said an improved user support feature has paid off in quicker response times for short-answer questions and more tech support availability for tougher problems. "We've upgraded our Web site to enable users to send simple tech-support questions through the site," he said.

"This helps the customers who don't want to wait on the phone for simple issues, and we've found that our tech support people have more time to spend on the phone with more complex problems."

The AgencyPro system sells for an upfront cost of $2,500, McInelly said, with a $750 yearly renewal fee. The cost includes five user licenses, and McInelly said discounts on additional licenses are available for multiple offices. The EasyApps Pro system sells for $795 upfront and a $200 yearly renewal fee. The EasyApps ACORD form product is available for $300. With either the AgencyPro or Easy-Apps Pro system, McInelly said, the RealRating tool is available for an $89 monthly fee.

Amsoft (www.amsoft.org)

"The upgrades to our 'paperless office' are definitely the most significant enhancements our system users have received in the past year," said Gary Hoffman, Amsoft president. Amsoft's signature product is Amsoft for Windows, an in-house agency management system.

"We're always upgrading things such as ACORD forms on our system, as they are modified by ACORD itself," Hoffman commented, "but the biggest change recently has been in the process of scanning, storing and using attachments within the system." According to Hoffman, scanning and attachment of documents has been available with the system for some time, but an agency had to name the document and store it in a specified place. Now, Hoffman says, "the system will give a name to any scanned document automatically, and the system will remember where the document is, regardless of where the user stores an item."

Hoffman said agencies can set the system to organize attached documents by date they were entered, with either the original or most recently attached item listed first. Attached items can also be organized by type of document, so that items such as applications would all be listed together. In addition, Hoffman said, the system will now let agencies attach documents to the company section of the system as well. "We've always had agencies attaching items to their account files, but we realized our users could benefit from the ability to add such things as memos from carriers or new instructions about a certain type of coverage to their company section," he explained.

Hoffman said the basic module of Amsoft for Windows sells for $1,499 for a single user, with a $100 charge for each additional user. The product is shipped to agencies on a CD and comes with an instruction manual. Additional options, such as the ACORD forms feature and the paperless office function, are each $300. Agencies that pay the full price for the management system at the time of purchase receive a 25% discount on all items bought, Hoffman said.

Technical requirements include the Windows 98 operating system or a more recent version, and at least 64MB of RAM, Hoffman said. System upgrades are free, he added. "We put upgrades to the system on our Web site, and agencies can download them."

AMS Services (www.ams-services.com)

A year after introducing AMS 360 and TransactNow, AMS has released upgrades to both offerings, as well as to its entire line of agency management systems. The most recent enhancements to AMS 360, the company's newest agency management system, were announced in April at the AMS Users Group meeting.

A new "alerts" feature allows agencies to set prompts that notify them when selected events are approaching. "The system is highly configurable by agencies, with dozens of trigger points," said Michael Krassner, vice president, product management and marketing of AMS. "For instance, agencies can choose to be notified when claims have remained open for a certain length of time, when expiration dates are approaching, or when bank balances dip below a certain level." Krassner said the feature is in keeping with the company's belief that "agencies shouldn't have to work to 'pull' information out of their management system. The system should 'push' information to the agency."

A new "Documents 360″ feature improves the system's ability to route and attach images and documents to files, promoting a truly paperless workflow, Krassner said. Another feature, Mobile 360, allows agencies to access account data through cell phones or PDAs. "The Mobile 360 feature allows agencies to perform such tasks as looking up coverage limits or what activities have occurred," Krassner explained. He said that AMS recommends a high-speed Internet connection for AMS 360, which is primarily sold as an application service provider system.

Krassner said that in the past year, approximately 30 carriers have signed up with TransactNow, a single-entry, multiple-carrier interface tool. Available as a free plug-in to agencies using any AMS agency management system, the tool allows users to visit participating carriers' Web sites and conduct real-time policy transactions. In addition, he said, AMS has added several features to the tool. "We introduced it with billing and claims inquiry," he said, "and we've since added policy inquiry and a 'carrier passport' feature, which enables the user to go from the agency management system directly to a carrier Web site with a single sign-on."

According to Krassner, approximately 90% of the company's new agency management system sales are for systems hosted by AMS and provided to agencies in an ASP format. Still, he said, the base of in-house users remains strong, and AMS continues to provide upgrades to all its systems, including AfW version 5.2, the recently released Sagitta version 6, and Prime version 4. Among the enhancements to the latest version of Sagitta are a CRM sales component and a workflow manager. Prime version 4, intended primarily for smaller agencies, includes a feature called the "policy explorer," Krassner said. It provides a simpler, drag-and-drop process for making attachments to account files.

Krassner said that another new product, Service 24/7, can be used with many AMS management systems. The service allows agencies to give clients access to their data at a self-service Web site and to use an after-hours call center. "Both of the services are highly configurable," Krassner said. "Agencies can decide which of their customers have access to the services, and which services each customer uses. In addition, the agency can determine how the AMS call center responds to various types of insured's inquiries."

If an agency uses the call center, Krassner said, off-hours calls to the agency will be routed to the facility, where someone will answer the call with the name of the agency. Krassner stated that the call center can record requests for changes and log them into the agency's management system, as well as route calls to the appropriate person in the event of an emergency.

An agency that uses the self-service Web site can install a link on its site that will take visitors to a page on the 24/7 site designed to look like a natural extension of the agency's site, Krassner explained. "An agency can decide that a large contracting client should have the ability to print out certificates of insurance, for instance," he said. "For another client, the agency can set the system so the client can only view his coverage limits."

Krassner said that upgrades to the agency management systems are generally considered a part of the monthly maintenance fee. He recommends a high-speed Internet connection and Windows 2000 or more recent operating system. Service 24/7 is an optional service and involves a separate charge, Krassner noted. For a 10-person agency, he said, a modest start-up fee applies, along with a yearly fee of less than $2,000.

AMS also added a benefits product in 2003, Krassner said, in response to requests from AMS users. The new product, AMS Benefits Workflow, helps agents automate their benefits activity into the same workflow and reporting processes as with their P&C coverages, he said. AMS Benefits Workflow includes such features as sales force automation, policy management and accounting integration.

Applied Systems (www.appliedsystems.com)

While releasing new versions of its two agency management systems in the past six months, Applied Systems continues to focus on increasing the amount of real-time activity available to agents using its systems.

Version 7.1.1 of The Agency Manager (TAM) was released last fall, and version 3.0 of Applied's Vision series will be available next month. TAM is intended for small to midsize agencies, and Vision is intended for larger agents and brokers. Both are available as in-house systems or in an ASP environment, and a Windows 2000 or more recent operating system is required.

"On an almost daily basis, we're expanding our use of IVANS Transformation Station to provide real-time activity," said Wayne Pardue, chief sales and marketing officer. "We have more than 30 carriers currently participating, and we have between five and 10 carriers we expect to add soon."

Pardue said a new feature of the system, "Web edits," ensures that an agency submits all the information a carrier wants for an app. "For each particular carrier, we've programmed the specific information they look for," he explained. "If an agency submits a standard ACORD application for a homeowners policy, for instance, and the carrier in question requires additional information beyond that on the form, a message will pop up in the system, asking the agent to add that information."

Another new feature Pardue described is the "alerts" function, which highlights certain information sent from carriers. "As an example, a carrier might send an agency a notice in the mail, stating that a client's auto policy will be cancelled in 10 days for nonpayment of premium," he said. "Using alerts, a carrier can send that notice electronically. It will register as an activity in the agency management system, allowing agents to notice it almost immediately, rather than in two to three days."

In addition to those enhancements, Pardue said, the company releases new features on a monthly basis to all current system users. "We don't like to wait a year to add features to our system, so we have a "feature of the month," he said. "We send faxes to our users once a week, and once a month the fax describes our newest feature. Our users can visit our Web portal and download the new feature for free."

Pardue said Applied has used feedback from its current clients to develop enhancements to the system geared toward workflow and productivity. "For example, a recent new feature was the ability to reassign client files to CSRs according to several criteria," he said. "If accounts are distributed alphabetically, you can run a report to analyze the work load for each CSR and reassign the accounts more evenly."

Applied also offers its management systems in a format that can be used on a PDA. Pocket TAM and Pocket Windows are sold separately from the larger systems, on a seat-license basis, and run on the Microsoft CE device. Agents can download client files from the main system, work on the accounts on the hand-held device and synchronize the account later with the main system.

DORIS (www.dorissystems.com)

Increasing the number of real-time transactions agents can perform on their systems and enhancing their ability to make attachments to customer files has been the focus at DORIS, according to Michael Mansperger, vice president and chief information officer.

"Clients using the Agent's Choice, the desktop version of our management system, have always responded positively to the ability to add a variety of attachments to client files," he said. "We've recently added that ability to the online, ASP version-FILESERVERonline-through the use of a small application we call "the messenger."

Mansperger explained that DORIS sends the messenger application to agencies through the Internet. When an agent has an item to attach to a file, he or she simply drags and drops the file into the messenger icon on the desktop. The messenger automatically sends the file to the ASP server. The next time the agent logs in to the ASP, an icon tells him that he has one or more items waiting to be attached to a particular client's file. The messenger application automatically logs in whenever the agency computer is turned on.

For both versions of the system, Mansperger said, increased security has brought greater real-time interface possibilities. "Previously, we have had what you would call 'agency-level security' when agencies used real-time interface with carriers," he said. "That meant that carriers who allowed real-time interface through our systems and the IVANS Transformation Station could tell which agencies were logged on, but not which individual employees. Several carriers wanted that second ability. We now provide the ability for carriers to see who is using the system at an individual user level. As a result, more carriers are willing to participate in real-time interface with us."

Mansperger added that DORIS has enabled more real-time work by creating its own "Bridge-It" function for smaller carriers. "Many agents who use our system represent one or two large national carriers but also many smaller carriers," he stated. "Unlike larger carriers, many smaller carriers have not yet signed on to participate with Transformation Station. Our Bridge-It function enables our users to have many of the same real-time policy inquiries with smaller carriers that they have through Transformation Station with large carriers."

Because functions enabled with both Transformation Station or Bridge-It occur at the same place on an agent's screen, Mansperger said, agents don't have to select either technology to enable a particular transaction. Either will log in an agent's user ID and password, navigate to the correct part of a carrier's Web site and submit the necessary information to perform a chosen policy inquiry. Mansperger said any Windows computer with a Pentium III or higher chip can operate with either version of the system.

GBS (www.gbsinc.com)

Just over six months ago, GBS released Agency Expert, the first online version of its Agency Expert for Windows agency management system. Jeff Seale, vice president of sales and marketing, says it is especially well-suited for two types of clients. "The new version could obviously benefit small operations that lack the IT capacity to install and maintain an agency management system in-house," Seale said. "It can also be useful for larger operations that operate out of multiple locations and want the ability to access a central database from those locations."

While many online systems are hosted by third-party application service providers (ASPs), Seale said, GBS developed its newest offering differently. "When an agency uses the online version of our system, we create and host the agency database-and the system itself-completely on secure servers at our location," he said. "We give clients a free copy of Windows Terminal Services, a remote-access tool that allows them to connect to the system through an Internet connection and access their database. This has allowed us to create a version of the system that has every capability of the desktop version, while keeping the cost relatively low for users."

Seale said GBS has also upgraded nearly every function of its in-house system, and the enhancements are reflected in the online version as well. The upgrades include fuller synchronization with QuickBooks and with Palm technology, and upgrades in the commissions function. More carriers are available for carrier downloads too.

The in-house version of the system runs on any computer using Windows 95 or a more recent operating system. The online version will function with a dial-up Internet connection, but Seale said users will get better performance from using a DSL or cable-modem connection. "This is one of the advantages of the way we structured the online system," he explained. "Because Windows Terminal Services, and not the Internet itself, is the vehicle we're using to operate the system, it will perform satisfactorily with just a dial-up connection."

The cost for the online version is $50 per user, per month, Seale said, with no extra fee for using the system at multiple locations. The price of the in-house version ranges from $495 to $795 for the base system, he said, and the average price after extra modules have been purchased is $1,083. Annual updates to the desktop version are available for $250.

InStar (www.instarcorp.com)

Enabling real-time policy inquiries through IVANS Transformation Station is one of several significant enhancements to Orion SR-8, the latest version of InStar's agency management system.

"We're focused on helping agencies improve their workflow and productivity, and real-time policy inquiries do that," said Tom Hatcher, InStar's vice president. "We have six different inquiries as part of our initial release of this feature, and we're focused on adding more. This allows users to get real-time responses with just a couple of clicks of the mouse, while a customer is still on the phone."

Hatcher said other notable enhancements are the addition of commercial-lines download abilities and two-way rating integration for personal lines. "We've had personal-lines download for several years, and we realize that expanding commercial-lines functions is a focus of several industry groups," Hatcher said. "We've built many of the company-unique codes into this function, eliminating the setup work for our users." The two-way rating integration means that users can export client data into an "outside" rating system and then import the rating information back into the agency management system.

As with the previous version, Hatcher said, InStar continues building on the system's ability to integrate with programs that help users create and print or send a variety of documents. New this year is InStar's own PDF writer, created within SR-8. Hatcher said this feature allows users to create PDFs of such documents as ACORD applications or certificates without having to leave the system to use a product like Adobe Acrobat. The system also features enhanced integration with Microsoft Word, which allows users to merge data from the system into insurance summaries or letters to clients.

In the next three months, Hatcher said, InStar plans to add new policy inquiries through Transformation Station and to implement XML to increase the system's ability to interface with other Web sites and third-party vendors.

Hatcher said that Orion SR-8 is available as both an in-house system or as an ASP. System requirements include the Windows 2000 operating system or a more recent version. ASP users must have a high-speed Internet connection.

QuickQuote, Inc. (www.quickfile.net)

QuickQuote has just released the "Enterprise Edition" of QuickFile, its agency management system. The new program is a client-server version that allows users to store their database on secure servers hosted by QuickQuote, and to access the database from multiple offices or any Internet-connected computer with QuickFile installed.

"The Enterprise Edition is intended for larger agencies with multiple offices or for producers who need access to their agency data from outside the office," said Erik Finstad, regional director of sales.

According to Finstad, the new system is not a Web-based or ASP-hosted program. "Unlike a Web-based system, the QuickFile program itself still resides locally on each computer," he explained. "The difference from our standard version is that we host the database, and agents have real-time access to our servers, rather than needing to build and maintain their own servers and network."

Finstad said QuickFile has also started the jump into carrier downloads, for both personal and commercial lines, with significant enhancements scheduled for the near future. "Using IVANS' Transfer Manager, we are adding company downloads for any carrier that uses the standard ACORD AL3 format, as well as with several carriers that do not use the IVANS interface," he stated. "The next major project we will undertake is the integration of the system with IVANS Transformation Station, to allow queries and add upload capabilities."

The standard version of QuickFile, Finstad said, stores client and pros-pect information and policy details. It includes a document scanning and imaging section, built-in ACORD forms, production reports and marketing tools. Finstad added that the system also enables commission reconciliation and policy renewals, and permits e-mailing and faxing of forms and notices to clients and carriers, as well as exporting of financial data to QuickBooks, a popular accounting program.

Finstad said that in Florida and Texas, QuickQuote also provides a comparative rating program that integrates with their agency management system, and in California and Arizona the system integrates with WinFSC a popular third-party comparative rating product.

The standard in-house version of QuickFile sells for $599 per year per office, Finstad said, with discounts available for multiple offices. The in-house system with carrier downloads is $899 annually per office. The Enterprise Edition starts at $749 yearly per office, which Finstad said includes licenses for five users. With company downloads, it sells for $999 per office per year. Finstad said that either version of the system works with any Windows operating system from Windows 98 through Windows XP. He said that a high-speed Internet connection is desirable for the Enterprise Edition.

Strategic Insurance Software (www.sisware.com)

"What can we do now, to minimize the impact of things that we know are going to happen three or four years down the road?" According to Doug Allen, COO of Strategic Insurance Software, this question is largely what has driven work on the next generation of SEMCI Partner, SIS's agency management system. The current version 6.0 has been adopted by 95% of SEMCI Partner users, Allen said. He estimated that beta testing for the next generation of Partner should begin in the third quarter of 2004, with production possibly beginning by the end of the year.

With version 6.0, which has been available for approximately one year, SIS introduced SIS WebLink, a feature that provides real-time policy inquiries at carrier Web sites. The next generation of the agency management system, which Allen says has not been named yet, will provide real-time policy rating with carriers that make the function available.

Allen said a great deal of work on the new product's architecture has focused on the .Net platform and ensuring the system can adapt to changing data standards. "Embracing the .Net framework will allow the system to work with new software components in the future, without either carriers or our users needing to do much work," he said. "Our new version will be able to use data sent in the AL3 format, but it will also be able to use data sent in an XML format, which is becoming the new standard. We don't want agents to have to worry about problems with changing standards." Allen said that since Miscrosoft is going to support the .Net framework back to its Windows 98 operating system, that will be the baseline requirement for agencies to use the new version of SEMCI Partner. (The current version is supported back to Windows 95.)

By using the .Net platform and SQL server technology, the new system also will support accounting and other transactions from branch offices via the Internet, according to Yang Bai, its architect. He added that the technology also would allow SIS to offer the system as an ASP model.

Allen said one benefit that has come out of work on the new system has been the development of SIS Print Service. It will be built into the next generation of Partner, he said, but is available now as a stand-alone product for insurers to license. It takes P&C data agents have entered at a carrier's Web site and converts it into a completed ACORD form in a PDF format. Agents can then print out the forms for customers' signatures. Allen said the Print Service also can accommodate customized pages that some carriers add to standard ACORD apps.

Allen said the next generation of the Partner system will include an improved document management capability, and will give agents faster access to any information in their systems. "This is where the technical side-our system architecture-really meets the business side of things," he said. "Our goal is that regardless of where an agent is in the system, it will take no more than three clicks to get to the lowest level of detail needed for a particular client."

XDimensional Technologies (www.xdti.com)

In the past year, XDimensional Technologies has placed a lot of emphasis on enabling its Nexsure agency management system to link with insurance companies' Web sites. So far, arrangements have been made with about a dozen insurers, according to Bill Hunt, XDimensional's executive vice president for sales and marketing, and 20 more carriers are expected to be on board soon.

With these relationships in place, Nexsure users can link directly to insurance companies' Web sites without exiting their agency management systems. When a user clicks on a policy number (the passwords are in the "background" and don't have to be entered), the system automatically opens up the carrier's agent portal, where the user can access whatever information the insurer provides at its site and perform any transaction it allows.

"In some cases, we have the ability to import or export vehicle schedules," Hunt said, adding that such export/ important functionality is being sought with other insurers and for other types of data.

"Our goal is to enable users to do anything they want without leaving Nexsure," he said. He stressed that neither agents nor insurers are being charged for the increased functionality. "I guess the key point is that the product is the product, and everything is inclusive," he said. The Nexsure system was introduced about two years ago. The product, available only as a hosted system, operates on the Microsoft .Net platform and has an XML-based open architecture. The technology allows users to access their programs and data from any location, using any Web-connected device, and also enables the system to easily accommodate additional users and locations.

The system was designed to enable users to manage their life, health and employee benefits business, as well as their property-casualty books. In the past year, responding to feedback from clients, the vendor also added the capability to handle specialty lines like aviation insurance, Hunt said. "It's not like you have a database sticking off to the side and have to integrate it somehow," he said. Other new features, he added, include ad hoc reporting against all data, a certificate renewal program that completes the job in seconds, and an interrupt/suspend feature that "remembers" where a user was and keeps multiple workflows open.

In a move to enhance the security and reliability of the Nexsure system, XDimensional Technologies, which maintains its primary data center in Brea, Calif., created a mirrored site earlier this year in Phoenix. Software at the site replicates data and transactions "virtually instantaneously," Hunt said.

In another development, efforts are under way to create a users group for the Nexsure system, Hunt said. In August, XDimensional Technologies will again be a sponsor of the Greater Hartford Open, he said, and a meeting of the new users group is planned in connection with that event.