The Clock Is Ticking On 'Real Time,' As Insurers Help Agents Get On Board

Campaign organizers said that in the two months since the launch, the Web site has drawn 17,000 distinct visits and 81,000 hits.

The most visited pages on the site are Vendor Real Time Links, Carrier Real Time Links and the Real Time Resources/Tool pages, the organizers said. The most downloaded document is the "Independent Agent's Real Time Implementation Guide"–a step-by-step outline for implementing real-time.

"Our goal is to double the number of real-time transactions in a year's time," Jeff Yates, executive director of the Agents Council for Technology and a campaign leader, said in a statement. "I think we're seeing a great start toward this goal."

As much as the program's success depends upon agents using the technological capabilities already at their disposal, it will be equally important for insurers to provide online access to the programs and the information agents need, he noted.

Carrier technology executives describe a Catch-22 situation where upper management will not approve the expenditures to build, expand and improve access systems until they see a greater demand from agents for such services, but producers and their support staff are not inclined to use real-time technology regularly until the carriers provide more such services.

"It's important that independent agents start using technology to become as efficient as they can be in their agencies," according to Brady Polansky, director of agency operations for the insurer Westfield Group in Westfield Center, Ohio. "It's a win-win-win for all participants."

While major players have committed to this campaign–such as ACT; AUGIE (the ACORD-User Groups Information Exchange); AMS Services; Applied Systems; Artizan Services; IVANS; the Professional Insurance Agents of New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut; and the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America–carriers interviewed for this article also expressed a determination to not only make the real-time process available to their agents but also to work hard to spread the word.

The following is a discussion with six technology executives about what their particular companies have made available to agencies in terms of real-time options, and what they are doing to educate agents. (A more comprehensive list of involved carriers is available at www.getrealtime.org/active/carrier.asp.)

o EMC Insurance Companies:

The Des Moines, Iowa-based EMC's system supports a range of real-time billing, policy and claim inquiries for both personal and commercial lines, according to Heather Boustead, lead applications system analyst, and Teresa Addy, business technical analyst.

Agencies can also receive quotes for personal lines auto and homeowners in real-time, they noted.

EMC agencies using Applied and AMS systems can already access a wide array of the carrier's information for policy inquiry and downloads, and access via other agency management systems is becoming available, they said.

EMC supports access to information for small-business accounts using real-time technology, but not for medium- and large-account business, Ms. Boustead noted.

Agents can also access a number of popular comparative rater systems, and depending on the rater, either be bridged to the EMC Web site for a quote or receive the quote directly from the rater, she stated.

She added that the company has been working diligently with these vendors to improve quoting accuracy–not just for agency convenience but to compete with other carriers.

On the education side, Ms. Boustead, Ms. Addy and Lisa Hamilton, director of corporate communications, said EMC sends representatives to industry trade shows, local user groups and agent offices to discuss what the carrier has made available to producers. EMC also links to the Real Time campaign Web site and conducts Web seminars on its capabilities.

There are newsletters and brochures to market real-time services and educate the agency force. Company sales representatives are schooled on real-time, so in their visits to an agency they can review with producers and support staff the technology offerings and benefits to their agency.

"Those who understand it are quicker to get their agencies using it," observed Ms. Boustead.

o The Hartford:

Utilizing real-time, agents can make billing and claim inquiries on both personal and small-commercial clients, noted Jim Rogers, director of agency interface and technology strategy for The Hartford.

They can access adjuster's claims notes and view policies in a PDF format, he said, adding that agents can also obtain quotes on personal auto, but it could require the re-keying of additional information.

Agents are just now beginning to have access to small-business capabilities, and "more is coming," Mr. Rogers promised.

"We see a lot of efficiency gained from our agents leveraging real-time," he observed, citing studies estimating that using real-time can cut a minute out of every transaction done over the Internet.

Another benefit of real-time is errors and omissions control, because the system keeps a diary of transactions that otherwise are not available, he said.

The Hartford's sales force joins in on agent association road shows to showcase the different transactions available using real-time technology, he said, noting that the company also pushes e-mail to agents informing them of the system's capabilities and benefits.

The company supports between 12 and 16 agency management systems, he added.

"There is no reason why an agent would have a carrier that doesn't support real-time offerings," he said. "It's just a question of whether they are using it."

o Ohio Casualty Group:

Depending upon the agency management system, agents using real-time have access to a whole host of capabilities with Ohio Casualty, observed Roger Barbe, assistant vice president of information systems business services for the Fairfield, Ohio-based carrier.

The capabilities range from billing inquiry and loss runs to claims and policy inquires. On personal lines, auto and homeowners coverage can be quoted and issued. For commercial lines, agents can obtain quotes for business owners' policies and workers' compensation, he noted.

Agents can obtain first notice of loss in real-time, he said.

In addition, AMS users have the ability to add endorsements–such as adding a vehicle to an auto policy–for both personal and commercial lines.

Depending upon the state, comparative raters are also available, he said.

Mr. Barbe stated that agencies have been quick to use real-time for inquiries but have been slower to use it for rating applications and issuance. He said this has as much to do with individual agency workflow as the applications individual companies offer.

"We work with independent agents," said Mr. Barbe. "It's not our position to dictate workflow to them. Multiple [workflows] means whatever method they choose, we provide a solution to that."

However, he added, the company is committed to promoting the benefits of real-time and is encouraging agents to utilize technology to its fullest.

o Progressive:

Progressive is committed to promoting real-time, according to Alvito Vaz, information technology director for the Mayfield Village, Ohio-based carrier, who noted that the company's external sales force is in constant contact with independent agents to promote the benefits of the technology.

The company also offers a tutorial on the subject on its ForAgentsOnly.com Web site.

Progressive supports the major agency management systems, but Mr. Vaz cautioned that the accuracy of the information depends very much on how well the bridging technology does its job.

However, most of the usage is for customer policy inquiry purposes. He said quotes can be obtained through the real-time system, but again, depending on the quality of the bridging technology, agents need to check accuracy.

A stumbling block to advancing real-time is the number of agents who don't use agency management systems at all, according to Mr. Vaz. These are primarily small agencies that simply don't see the need for having such a system, he explained.

Mr. Vaz, emphasizing this was a personal estimate, said that 40 percent of the independent agencies in the country do not have agency management systems–a number he called "significant."

"Agents will drive demand and help with the acceptance of the usage of this technology," said Mr. Vaz. "Other [carriers] will jump in as they see agents use it. As usage goes up, we will do more."

o The Travelers:

Dick Cuozzo, second vice president of personal insurance, said the St. Paul, Minn.-based Travelers is working to offer "as many functions as we can" to agents utilizing real-time. This includes inquiries, claims, policy information and billing on the personal lines side.

Travelers supports those agency management systems employing bridging technologies such as Transformation Station and Transact Now, he noted. The company is also working on developing real-time rating capabilities on the commercial end–something that will be more complicated, he said.

On the personal lines side, auto is almost complete and homeowners is halfway there in terms of real-time, he added.

Mr. Cuozzo noted that 99.9 percent of personal lines transactions are done electronically at Travelers, though most of that is currently through the carrier's proprietary system. Thus, moving to an electronic basis for transactions is not an issue with Travelers, but work still needs to be done on moving the industry to a single sign-on system, he noted.

Like others, Travelers has jumped into the Get Real Time campaign with Web links to the Travelers site for company-specific information, he noted. The carrier is also working with its staff of field trainers to bring the benefits of automation and real-time technology to their attention.

"Everyone wins with this thing," said Mr. Cuozzo. "Everyone winds up at the same place in terms of the information, and if they can get there easier, that's good for the industry and good for us."

o Westfield Group:

Brady Polansky, director of agency operations, underscored the company's commitment to real-time when he appeared at a news conference to discuss the topic during the IIABA's recent conference in Washington, D.C.

Speaking with National Underwriter, he said Westfield is doing a lot of training and discussion to promote real-time. Efforts are aimed at not only making agents aware of the technology's availability but also its benefits.

Last year, more than 3,000 agents participated in programs concerning the technology, and more than 1,100 had participated in training by Westfield by the end of May, he said.

"We know we are getting the word out," Mr. Polansky noted.

The training is not limited to agents, he added, but also includes customer service representatives. The most important aspect in training CSRs is to alert them to the time savings they can enjoy using real-time over accessing individual proprietary sites, he noted.

However, he observed, until more companies come on board, there will still be some reluctance on the part of CSRs to embrace it totally.

Currently, Westfield supports real-time inquiries and new-business processing on personal lines and commercial lines capabilities on loss runs and claims, he said.