Chase claims incorporating the product's e-commerce functionality and Web interfaces will allow any company to "assert their market presence."

Another CRM?

G2X's (www.g2x.com) brand of CRM is bit different: It's focusing on case and relationship management-CRM on steroids, if you will.

Its product, Agility:Insurance, was designed to provide a centralized point of access for all relationship and case information throughout a carrier's workflow. The company claims this brand of data stewarding shortens the quoting cycle, improves flow of information, and reduces costs of data gathering.

Agility:Insurance collects, analyzes, and sorts customer and data and integrates them into one interface. This includes users such as clients, producers, underwriters; compliance issues such as contracting and licensing; and products such as correspondence, case requirements, and billing.

This 'all in one place' thinking led to development of a single point of entry for internal users, and centralized reporting capabilities including preliminary, pending, paid, activity, and productivity.

"The insurance industry is being reshaped by regulatory changes, new competitors, and heightened consumer awareness," said G2X president Wayne Kaplan. "Now more than ever, providers are looking for a solution that helps to streamline internal new processes and provide better service to producers.

ACORD finalizes XML spec (finally)

ACORD has released the first complete version of its XML standards for P&C and surety.

Born from contributions of carriers, brokers, agents, and tech developers, the specification version 1.0-described by ACORD (www.acord.org) as broad and comprehensive-is geared to provide an impressive solution for industry e-business messages.

Tana Sabatino, ACORD's assistant vice president of standards, said the decision to develop XML standards for P&C was made in May 1999; six specification drafts were drawn up soon after.

"The need to share information in these industries is essential," she explained.

Sabatino said the XML standards 1.0 replace AL3-the current EDI standard. She cited inflexibilities such as multiple version maintenance and incompatible company-specific extension support issues as strong reasons behind leveling the playing field.

"Everyone had to have the same version of EDI to communicate," she said. "There's always a need within a standard to add unique information. With XML it is possible to do that and still be able to communicate."

Sabatino believes the new XML specs are open enough that everyone will find the layout and structure agreeable. But how long will the companies be able to hop, skip, jump, and hold hands? ACORD guarantees 12 to 18 months of stability, with no new specs developed during that time; they would hate to tinker with backward compatibility.

But there's a hidden agenda-sort of. According to Sabatino, during that year to year-and-a-half time frame, ACORD will be laying groundwork for eMerge, one set of standards for the entire insurance industry-a sponge saturated with specifications from the organization's other industry XML standards.

ACORD is working with other companies to develop external global frameworks for eMerge, including the ebXML consortium (www.ebxml.org), Microsoft (www.microsoft.com), and IBM (www.ibm.com).

Rackley Web-enables rating solution

Rackley Systems (www.rackley.com) took its rating engine solution and, in tune with many tech companies, migrated it to the Web.

The Web-enabled engines will be available to all major commercial lines of business, and can be used with proprietary interfaces, external browsers, desktop systems, or the Rackley interface.

And, like many developers, Rackley is trying to shoehorn in as much XML as possible. Information is sent and received using it, and rating results are returned in that format, too. Data validation can be carried out in XML or HTML for additional input.

Rackley also wants the product to be used to generate real-time quotes over the Web, and usher legacy-dependent organizations to the Internet market.

Input 1 releases online inquiry tool

When it comes to making policy information available to anyone who needs it, Input1 thinks its new Policies in View solution (www.policies-in-view.com) has it all.

Company president and CEO Todd Greenbaum described it as scalable, and with "an integration process as simple as can be." But Policies in View online looks like a new venue for a company that specializes in TPA and software billing for insurance and premium finance.

The Web-based inquiry tool has several viewing options, including reports and graphing, and features online payment services. "It reports sales, new business, and new product information by salesman, territory, and more," Greenbaum said. "And with e-payment, the broker or insured can view accounts, check status and payments received, and the insured can opt to pay over the Web by e-check or credit card."

On the back end, Policies in View uses a proprietary system of payment processing for checks; it uses a merchant account to handle credit processes. Greenbaum said that all transactions are protected by SSL encryption.

Companies upload data daily to the solution via FTP, and ProcessClaims populates and customizes the client's site based on those data. Clients can also license the source code. Greenbaum explained that the app can be integrated easily because it outputs data to a flat ASCII file.

ProcessClaims offers training over the Web, or for larger installs, will provide one to three days of onsite training.

Insurity launches two commercial P&C products

Insurity (www.insurity.com) released Commercial Intellisys and Producer Intellisys for P&C. The former, an integrated and fully automated solution for the Internet, Windows, or DOS, features customizable questions, scoring rules, and programming-free messages. With it, underwriters can review information before requesting additional verification.

Producer extends Commercial's features, with agent-specific underwriting, variations on comparative rating, 24/7 quote turnaround, and reporting and inquiries on claims or policy inquiries.

ProcessClaims to use Web services for auto claims

If ProcessClaims (www.processclaims.com) CIO David Boden's plan is successful, all the parties involved with the collision repair process will be able to quickly and seamlessly integrate their business and technology processes.

Boden has been working with Microsoft at its Microsoft Technology Center in Silicon Valley. His goal is to move his company's collision repair industry solution to a Web services format using Microsoft's .NET framework.

According to Boden, the Gates dynasty has provided him with the brains (an associate from Microsoft Consulting Services) and the brawn (a fleet of up-to-date hardware and software pre-configured for his flavor of developing and testing). The consultant is helping Boden move across the board, from ASP to SQL Server 7 to .NET.

In the end, the Web services for collision solution will allow involved trading partners (e.g., body shops, parts warehouses, glass manufacturers) take advantage of the solution's features via XML without using ProcessClaims's Web front end directly. A workflow example: the insurance company takes claims data-from accident to damage appraisal-and sends it to the body shop. ProcessClaims provides a communication forum between any systems so the carrier can connect and communicate directly through the ProcessClaims app that manages the data in between.

Boden calls it platform independence.

"With the Web services, companies will use their systems and then send the data to our back end without having to use a front-end interface," Boden explained. "That way, different front ends can enjoy all the capabilities."

Boden said the ProcessClaims site uses SSL encryption, and the back end is protected by a propriety solution so "companies see only what they need to."

Mitchell, AT&T speed up wireless claims

Mitchell International (www.mitchell.com) is using Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) technology and working with AT&T Wireless (www.attwireless.com) and its General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) to bring its wireless transmission speeds to 100 Kbps. Claims adjusters can now send Mitchell UltraMate estimates, digital images, ValueMate data, and other files directly to Mitchell's e-Claim Manager solution.

Thomas Julius, Mitchell Wireless's senior product manager, said file transmission takes seconds; the entire transfer takes place in the background, allowing mobile workers to respond to their next assignments.

SunGard updates Finpack

SunGard Insurance Systems (www.sungard.com) has updated an existing solution, launched a new product, and deployed yet another in Africa.

The company's Finpack-a financial needs analysis and estate planning tool-was rechristened as version 6.0 when new features were added and existing functions overhauled. Included are updated tax law exemptions, asset allocation analysis with new classes, and minimum distribution plans for retirement plan analysis.
SunGard Insurance Systems' senior vice president Howard Stern said the company is aggressively moving Finpack's functionality to the Web, where SunGard will host the product as an ASP.

The Versatile Illustration Partner (VIP) is SunGard's latest desktop-to-Internet system. Stern said it's a multi-tiered consolidation of illustration systems that separates inputs from business code and logic and the presentation layer. On the front end, it reads information from CRM solutions, and distributes information from illustrations to home office admin systems in a user-specified file format on the back end.

Stern explained that SunGard could become a strategic partner with its clients, licensing authoring tools so companies can design their own input and presentation screens-and do so via a friendly interface.

IASA to sponsor TechDEC conference

IASA, one of the most influential organizations in the insurance technology field, announced that it will sponsor The National Underwriter Company's TechDEC-the Technology Decisions Exposition and Conference-by adding a life insurance track to the show. TechDEC is being held in Tampa, Fla., October 8 and 9.

Presented by Technology Decisions magazine, TechDEC will offer insurance company CEOs, CIOs, IT managers, and other decision makers insight and expertise into the questions and problems faced by carriers trying to implement the technologies of the 21st century.

"TechDEC 2001 is a great opportunity to begin transforming [our] visions, for both our membership and our organization, into reality," said Jim Schmidt, president of IASA. "We believe that the combination of the trade show, technology demonstrations, and educational sessions will serve our member companies."
Information about TechDEC, including registration, is available at www.tech-dec.com.

Prudential helps advisors target affluent clients

Affluent clients choose independent advisors, according to Prudential (www.prudential.com), which is why the company designed the PrudentialXpress Internet platform for independent financial services distributors. It wants to help the folks in the trenches sells insurance in new markets.

The Web-based B2B entity is a suite of sales tools and processes that Prudential hopes will make foie gras out of the sometimes ugly duckling that is the current business model. Gordon J. Wilson, a senior vice president in Prudential's U.S. Consumer Group, said, "Industry trends show that affluent clients are increasingly choosing independent advisors to purchase financial services products. To earn the endorsement of independent distributors, we recognized the need to broaden our customer target market beyond our traditional super-affluent, specialized-risk niche."

So now it's targeting affluent, younger, clean-risk clients.

Even $1,000 Mont Blanc pens won't be touching the paperwork, thanks to PrudentialExpress's all-electronic format. And users submit an XpressApp (which gathers information directly from client), further simplifying the advisor's workflow. And according to Prudential vice president Erik Raper, in most cases a single signature is all that's needed to get the underwriting ball rolling.

For the wealthy client or potentially wealthy advisor comes the function-rich application: online access to illustrations, new business status, underwriting rating, licensing data, business forms, and marketing materials.