? A telephone call to the company

? A visit to a proprietary carrier Web site

? Single entry, multiple-company interface, or single-entry, multiple-company interface (SEMCI), enabled by IVANS Transformation Station, an Internet data exchange that provides real-time communications between agents and carriers.

For a new business owner's policy rating and issuance, the study said, customer service representatives took seven minutes from start to finish to get three comparative quotes via Transformation Station.

It took them 64 minutes using three carrier Web sites, said ASCnet. These figures do not include entry time of seven minutes in each management system.

Newer technology also proved most time-efficient for billing inquiries, the study noted. Transformation Station took two minutes; a phone call eight minutes; and a carrier's Web site nine minutes.

The study also highlighted difficult-to-measure costs to agents and their companies in explaining problems to customers and working out regulatory issues.

The report underscored the inefficiency inherit in existing systems and defines the advantages new technology brings, said the group.

Companies are in a position, even with their proprietary technology, to easily adopt SEMCI and Cincinnati-based IVANS Transformation Station, said the group.

Applied Systems alone estimates that it has 80,000 desktops ready with the new technology, representing an estimated $40 billion in premium.

ASCnet is preparing a full report on the time study. More information is available at www.SEMCI.org.