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Debra Hoffman

Commercial lines agents: Online servicing works

By Debra Hoffman | Published January 25, 2012 | Posted in Education, Technology

Contractors, property managers and commercial accounts are some of the most profitable clients for insurance agents. But commercial lines clients can unintentionally overwhelm agency staff with day-to-day requests for certificates, auto IDs and other simple but time-intensive activities. The time used to process these tasks takes attention away from more critical service needs.

To assist our clients, our agency implemented an online portal where our clients can service themselves for certain needs. The product we use is CSR24®, from Artizan Internet Services. The portal is available on our Web site, and it’s linked to our mobile app.

We have seen this service significantly decrease the amount of time we spend issuing certificates. So we have more time for our advisory and more complex servicing activities. An added benefit: Client satisfaction. Our clients appreciate being able to access their policies and print certs and IDs when they need to. We feel the portal gives our clients another reason to remain loyal to us, since we understand the need for certain levels of self-service, and we provide the means to accomplish it.

We also use the portal to post commercial clients’ policies, if they wish. Many of our larger clients want to rely on an always-current electronic copy posted on their portal.

From our experience, we believe an online certificate tool is a valuable part of a commercial agency’s customer service plan. If you’re looking to add online service for your clients, here are a few tips we can offer:

-          Work with a provider that can integrate with your Applied Systems agency management system software. This will save time and keystrokes.

-          Look at all the features available. Don’t settle for a service that offers only cert processing. At our portal, clients can log in and view their policy information, request changes and issue their own certificates.

-          Be sure the portal is seamlessly connected to your agency Web site. That will ensure easy portal access for your clients.

What are your thoughts on providing online service? Do have any tips to add to my list? I would love to read your feedback in the comments section below.

Debra Hoffman, CIC is the IT manager at Watson Insurance in Gastonia, North Carolina.


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Mike Drakulich

Insurance market hardening?

By Mike Drakulich | Published January 5, 2012 | Posted in Industry News, Industry Trends

Independent agents have worked valiantly to minimize the impact of the soft market, streamlining operations and ramping up marketing and sales in hopes of at least treading water until conditions improve.

What industry analysts can’t seem to agree on is whether the industry is now in the midst of a recovery. And, if not now, when is it going to come?

Many in the industry think the worst is over. Chief financial officers from property and casualty insurers surveyed by Towers Watson in the Fall said they believed market prices had bottomed out and were beginning to turn upward. Many analysts agree.

Contributing to the upturn: Record losses from natural disasters. Crippling snowstorms, floods, massive tornadoes and drought accounted for 12 separate billion-dollar natural disasters in the United States alone, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  ISO and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America calculated losses in the first nine months of 2011 at $34.9 billion compared to $6.3 billion for the same period in 2010.

Some analysts say, however, that despite those losses and rising prices in certain types of coverage, insurers aren’t yet experiencing the leverage to increase prices broadly and thereby harden the market.

Chris Schaper, president of the Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd. unit of Montpelier Reinsurance Ltd., said to Reuters last month that the industry is still assessing, and that it could be another year before the market turns around. Some analysts say the global loss figure, estimated at about $100 billion for 2011, may need to top $150 billion before the market improves.

Are you seeing signs of improvement? Is the property and casualty insurance market improving now, or will it take more time? If time isn’t the issue, what will it take?

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Mike Drakulich

New target for hackers: your printer

By Mike Drakulich | Published December 15, 2011 | Posted in Technology

If you’ve been in the market for a new printer for your home office recently, you know how advanced they’ve become. They are so full of functionality they are practically computers themselves.

According to a recent study by Columbia University researchers and reported by msnbc.com, they may lack sufficient security to keep hackers at bay. Millions could be vulnerable to attack, the report stated, which can put consumers, businesses and even the government at risk.

According to the report, flaws in printer firmware could allow hackers to remotely control them, from within a network over the Internet. Once reprogrammed, hackers can use printers to attack networks, steal personal information and even cause physical damage.

The report cites Hewlett-Packard LaserJet models as being particularly vulnerable. Columbia researchers Salvatore Stolfo and Ang Cui discovered the Hewlett-Packard LaserJet printers they tested allowed updates remotely. When the researchers tested printers by sending print jobs infected with malicious code, they learned the printers checked to see if a software update was included but didn’t discriminate the update’s source, nor was a digital signature required to verify the update’s authenticity. So a hacker could instruct a printer to erase its operating software and install a new version.

If a printer is configured to accept print jobs from the Internet, the threat is even more insidious because it can be done from anywhere.  In a demonstration, Stolfo and Cui showed how infected code could instruct a printer to heat up its fuser until the paper inside turns brown and begins to smoke. The printer’s thermal switch automatically flipped and prevented a fire.

Anti-virus software isn’t capable of scanning or fixing a printer’s software that runs on embedded chips, the msnbc.com report stated. Tim Sander, Applied Systems‘ vice president of cloud services, said it’s best to not expose devices, no matter how safe they may seem, to a public network like the Internet. “Externally exposed devices should be carefully evaluated and controlled through firewalls and other protective measures,” he said. “The requirement to have them external should be reviewed regularly.”

Hewlett-Packard said this week they are still reviewing the details of the study but dispute the security issue is widespread. A company spokesperson said newer printers do require digital signatures with firmware  upgrades and have so since 2009.

To read more about this issue, click here.

What kind of printers do you have in your office? Have you had any issues with your printer in which you suspect it was infected somehow? If so, how did you resolve them?
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Mike Drakulich

Should insurance companies snoop in social media?

By Mike Drakulich | Published December 1, 2011 | Posted in Industry News, Industry Trends, Technology

How long has it been since you checked your Facebook page to see who’s commented on your last post? A few minutes? A couple of hours? Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and now Google+ have become indispensible tools for communicating personally and professionally.

In the business arena, the insurance industry has embraced social media in getting the word out about products and services. But insurance companies have used social media for even more. They gather data from such sites to investigate claims and fraud. And they may begin to do so for underwriting.

Craig Beattie, an analyst for Celent, the research and consulting firm, said it’s now common for insurance companies to use social media for investigating dubious claims. Scouring individual pages may not be the quickest method of investigation. But companies are doing it nonetheless, he said, and are developing tools to conduct searches more efficiently.

And it’s legal for them to do it. Celent recently released results of a study titled, “Using Social Data in Claims and Underwriting : Creating a Social Risk Profile,” which delves into how insurance companies are using social media data and how consumers and regulators are likely to respond.

If you use Facebook et al, you might not realize what you have consented to in the terms and conditions of the sites’ privacy policies. Essentially, you might be waiving your privacy rights. So as soon as you post a status or photos, it all can be used against you–legally–if there is a claim to be investigated.

But when companies talk about mining data from social networks for underwriting, they’re likely to come under scrutiny for ethical and possibly legal reasons. How much data is a company really getting? Is it quality data and can it really be used for assessing risk and developing pricing? Is it going too far? Beattie said he hasn’t found any insurance companies who do it . . . yet.

What is your opinion? Should companies use social networks for underwriting and/or investigating fraud? Tell us in the comment section below!

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Mike Drakulich

Early snowstorm is reminder of online advantages

By Mike Drakulich | Published November 14, 2011 | Posted in Industry News, Technology

Steven Brown, president of Hoffman Brown Co. in Sherman Oaks, Calif., doesn’t get snow his way. But he had a personal connection to the early snowstorm that blanketed six eastern states with up to two feet of snow late last month. For Brown, the storm served as a powerful reminder of how businesses can be hamstrung by natural disasters.

Brown talked with Michael P. Voelker of Property Casualty 360, a National Underwriter website, for the magazine’s November 14 issue about Hoffman Brown’s migration in early 2010 from a legacy agency management system to Applied Systems EpicOnline. This year’s early snowstorm underscored many of the reasons Brown went to the cloud with his agency management software.

“My daughter is in college on the East Coast,” Brown said. “Listening to her talk firsthand about how [the storm] impacted her and the businesses in the area confirmed how important it is that we take the right [preparations] in our company in terms of accessibility and disaster recovery.”

While snow had never been an issue for Hoffman Brown, the agency had been affected by three earthquakes that damaged highways and prevented access to the office. Now, he values EpicOnline because he and his staff have access to the system wherever there is an Internet connection.

Read all of Brown’s interview and the entire article. Have you made the switch to an online version of your agency management system? How has the change benefitted you and your business? If you haven’t made the switch, what is holding you back? Tell us in the comment section below!


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Mike Drakulich

Applied Systems CEO signals global direction

By Mike Drakulich | Published November 2, 2011 | Posted in Events, Industry News, Technology

What lies ahead for Applied Systems users and agency technology in general? Three weeks after taking the helm as Applied Systems chief executive officer, Reid French talked with Insurance Journal‘s Andy Simpson about the role he thinks Applied Systems will play in the agency and brokerage of the future.

He also talked about the choices agents are making in today’s environment of increasing mobility and heightened consumer expectations.

What about expanding Applied Systems’ user base beyond the borders of the United States and Canada? Based on French’s long-term vision for the company and the value-add services Applied Systems will continue to deliver, the CEO anticipates eventual growth opportunities in more Commonwealth countries.

And will Applied Systems stay true to its history of growth through product development, or does last year’s purchase of Artizan Internet Services signal a new acquisition trend?

“Good software companies, ultimately, are both innovative and acquisitive,” French said. “I hope you will find if we fast forward five years that Applied was successful in doing both.”

Hear more of French’s vision in the full podcast interview:

 

What are your thoughts on what agents and carriers will expect of technology as they run their businesses in the future? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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Sheryl Feminis

Healthy indicators for 2012?

By Sheryl Feminis | Published October 28, 2011 | Posted in Industry News, Industry Trends

Just as economic gloom threatens to spill into another year, there are glimmers of hope.

According to the just-released update to the current Best Practices Study published by the Big I and Reagan Consulting:

  • Top-performing agencies have grown and maintained steady levels of profitability in 2011.
  • Smaller agencies reported flat growth when compared to 2010 results, while larger agencies reported improvement.

Study participants say they made progress by focusing on total account development, increasing advertising and/or marketing, and employing producer development strategies. They also benefited from new cost-cutting measures.

Further, a Novarica survey of 132 technology department heads at P&C and life/annuities carriers shows that most insurance companies plan to increase their IT spending budgets in 2012. On average, small P&C carriers (less than $100 million in premium) plan the highest IT budgets as a percentage of premium.

“U.S. Insurer IT Budgets and Projects for 2012,” a report on the survey, says consumer expectations are driving many insurance company priorities. Like agencies, insurance companies will continue to trim expenses. But, the survey shows, those companies know they must invest in IT-enabled capabilities because they are driven by increased consumer demand for communications, business intelligence and speed to market.

Do you see signs of a healthier insurance market in 2012?

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Mike Drakulich

Going big, going cloud

By Mike Drakulich | Published October 21, 2011 | Posted in Industry News, Technology

The pace of technological innovation is extremely fast. It’s not good enough for tech companies to just keep pace. They have to anticipate so they can be a step ahead.  

It’s important for Applied Systems to follow this precept. As your technology partner, we must remain reliable for you so you can do the same for your customers.

This year, we have invested heavily in our technology and continue to do so through the end of the calendar year. Tim Sander, Applied Systems’ vice president of Cloud Services sheds a little light on what we’ve done to ensure customers continue to receive great service.

And since being able to store documents and files electronically is so important, this year we have also purchased 100TB worth of additional storage space. And before the end of the calendar year, we’ll have more, including:

  • 50 TB of high performance/high availability storage for management system databases.
  • 130 TB of additional file storage for non-database storage such as e-mails, documents and images.

Applied Systems’ IT staff keeps an eye out for the best technology to benefit our customers. Before the company makes an investment, though, you can be sure it has been evaluated thoroughly.

Have you had a good experience with Applied Systems? We’d love to hear about it. And what are your thoughts on the cloud? Have you made the switch? If not, what’s preventing you? Tell us in the comment section below!

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Kathie Cox

Coming soon: My Applied Idea

By Kathie Cox | Published October 18, 2011 | Posted in Education, Technology

As announced at TENCon, Applied Systems Product Management will soon be launching the My Applied Idea Site – designed to facilitate direct conversation between our clients and members of Product Management.  This site is not a replacement for PMRs, ASCnet Communities, ASCnet PAC, Applied Systems blogs – or any other social site – but rather it is an opportunity to augment the touch points for providing feedback as it relates specifically to innovative ideas at both the product and industry level.

Goals for the site include:

  • Proposed feature review/discussion
  • Industry trends analysis and discussion
  • Innovative brainstorming

Members of Product Management will regularly monitor the site, which will focus specifically on gathering the feedback necessary to support future product direction. If proposed posts fall outside the scope of My Applied Idea, site monitors will suggest that those comments be directed to another site as appropriate so that all input is accommodated.  We encourage users to engage in all opportunities to connect.

We are excited to  introduce this new avenue of communication and interaction, and we look forward to  sharing  GREAT ideas!!  We’ll update you as soon as the site is up and running.

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Greg Shiple

Lean on us in Customer Support

By Greg Shiple | Published October 14, 2011 | Posted in Industry News, Industry Trends, Technology

If something is important to you and your business, it’s important to us at Applied Systems. We’re always trying to improve on our overall performance and customer satisfaction.

Many of our clients regularly e-mail and call to commend our Support specialists, and that’s very gratifying for all of us. We appreciate your business, and we strive to provide the support you need to keep your business successful. But we want to get even better. We’re committed to making 2012 an even better year.

Have you had a good experience with our support team? Give us a shout and let us know about it in the comment section below.

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