Tech Options Keep Expanding For Agents

ACORD Advantage membership entitles agents and all employees at a location to 12 months of access to the ACORD Advantage services and products at a flat $129 fee.

Members had previously accessed services via the ACORD Web site, but ACORD said separating the program from the main site will "vastly improve" access. "Users will find that they can navigate more quickly through a simplified menu of options," ACORD noted. The primary reason for visits to the site is to "access and download ACORD Standard Forms for Property and Casualty and Life, Annuity and Health Insurance," the association added.

ACORD also demonstrated its newly-released ACORD Fillable Forms, which it said would "streamline the agent information workflow."

"We began more than 30 years ago with paper forms and then added downloadable static forms for members on our Web site," said Denise Garth, vice president, membership and development, for ACORD, based in Pearl River, N.Y. "This is yet another improvement, providing our members with increased options and capabilities, making their workflow even more efficient, and expanding their market opportunities."

Once members download and install the required ACORD Reader, they can view and enter forms data directly on their screens, ACORD explained. The completed form can then be e-mailed, faxed and printed. Additional features include on-screen pop-up instructions for all form fields, based on the ACORD Forms Instruction Guide. Users can also provide feedback on the forms directly to ACORD from within the forms.

o Access was also the key to an announcement by the Agents Council for Technology, which unveiled ACTtech, a new Web-based service that gives independent agents and brokers access to the latest real-time interface technology solutions available in the industry.

The service can be accessed by visiting the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America's Web site (www.independentagent.com) and clicking on the ACTtech link, said the Alexandria, Va.-based ACT.

"The site allows agents and brokers to research the real-time interface functionality of carriers and vendors and to obtain information about what companies are downloading," said ACT. "ACTtech allows users to get important updates on industry technology developments at one site."

"One of our favorite features is a customized report that allows agents to view exactly what their carriers are doing with respect to the agent's particular agency management system," added Linda Dodson, communications chair of ACT's Agency Company Communications Working Group.

o Meanwhile, Accenture and FileNet Corp. announced a new pen-based technology that enables field agents and other mobile workers to "electronically perform tasks that once required mounds of paperwork."

The technology, which uses commercially-available digital pens in conjunction with FileNet Enterprise Content Management (ECM) software, lets mobile workers such as agents to capture and transmit information to a central repository. At that point, it can be used in electronic business processes, "circumventing traditional paper-based systems that are time-consuming and error-prone," said Cost Mesa, Calif.-based FileNet.

The Digital Pen Connector software written by Accenture Technology Labs, the research and development arm of New York-based Accenture captures the pen strokes, translates them into usable data, and delivers the data to the FileNet ECM software. The FileNet ECM system then integrates the data in a central content repository for sharing and launches business processes as required, the company said.

"This technology allows a document to be converted to digital form at the point of origin," said Glover Ferguson, Accenture's chief scientist. "Once digitized, the content takes on new versatility, benefiting from a computer's ability to store, share and act upon content."

An Accenture spokesperson estimated the cost of the pen at $150. Costs for the FileNet software were not provided.

o Duck Creek Technologies Inc. announced immediate availability of the 1.7 version of its Example Platform, which provides carriers with "quick product development, Web deployment and a strategic platform for growth."

According to Bolivar, Mo.-based Duck Creek, new features in version 1.7 include Example Forms, which supports forms management.

Example Forms, said Doug Roller, CEO of Duck Creek, supports "the creation and generation of policy-related documents such as ACORD forms, proposals, worksheets and policy forms. Example Forms also simplifies integration with existing form systems and print servers, providing them with formatted XML data that can be easily consumed."

Pricing on the platform can range from $150,000 to $1 million, depending on what components are selected and what the buyer's volume is.

o InSystems announced InSystems Tracker 6.1, a compliance automation software product "that automates and accelerates the product development and regulatory compliance filing processes."

According to Markham, Ontario, Canada-based InSystems, the product features the first and only integration with the application programming interface to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners System for Electronic Rate and Form Filings (SERFF).

"Tracker 6.1 enables end-to-end automated electronic regulatory compliance filing processingfrom creation to delivery, accelerating product development and speeding time to market," the company noted.

InSystems declined to provide pricing information.

o Nomoreforms Inc., based in Boca Raton, Fla., announced Nomoreforms Version 5.0, which the company said streamlines documentation to provide "the ultimate paperless workflow solution that will benefit any insurance company, regardless of its size."

With the new software, carriers can submit unlimited appointments, terminations and producer database reports without having to pay a vendor's transaction fee, the company said. "The only fee paid is the fee charged to the NAIC or a state department of insurance," noted Nomoreforms.

Enhancements found in Version 5.0 of the software include J2EE functionality, XML formatting, real-time processing and XML standards to reduce formatting errors during data entry, the company said. The product also complies with NAIC batch standards and supports multiple resident licenses.

The product works by having paper forms digitized and entered into the Nomoreforms system, where they can be viewed and populated directly from any browser. Questions that may be asked repeatedly such as name and address need to be answered only once, with the system answering the same questions thereafter, the company explained. "The user can easily digitally sign the package of forms. All forms and their content are available 24/7 and are submitted to one or more secure destinations electronically via the Internet."

A company representative declined to provide pricing details.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, August 5, 2004. Copyright 2004 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.