For years now, the insurance industry has talked about how single-entry, multiple-company interface (SEMCI) will be the solution to inefficient agency workflows. Weve contemplated just how dramatically it will change workflows and how it will save effort and preserve profits.
But after years of hope and hype, many who saw the future of SEMCI years ago are now asking, Where is it? Speaking from the perspective of a carrier whos been at the forefront of automation development, I can tell you its been more of an evolution than an overnight sensation, but SEMCI technology is here.
The first notable SEMCI achievement for Travelers agents happened almost three years ago, with a successful real-time, round-trip quote-to-issue session between an Applied 6.0 agency management system and Travelers small commercial rate, quote, and issuance system. Travelers also performed a similar transaction with an AMS agency management system.
With SEMCI technology, agents are able to key in new policy information once, choose the carriers they want to quote, and receive real-time, bindable quotes back from the carriersall through Applieds agency management system. IVANS Transformation Station acts as a gatekeeper and interpreter between the agency management system and a multitude of carriers systems, enabling SEMCI. It receives data from different agency management systems or third parties and translates it into the universal language of ACORD AL3, or XML, which can then be understood by the carriers mainframes. Using Applied Systems WARP technology to link the parties in an insurance transaction under one communication infrastructure, it eliminates the need for carriers and vendors to build multiple platforms to exchange information with each other. It offers the capability to do real-time transactions based on the ACORD XML standards and further streamlines the communication and agency workflow advancements begun with SEMCI. And that translates into better customer service, improved agency efficiency, and cost savings.
Agents can not only rate policies, but also request loss runs and make inquiries on policies, billing, or claims. The agency can obtain all the information it needs from its own agency management system through one consistent workflow across all carriers. No more multiple log-ins, no more wrestling with various proprietary systems. The time savings can be astronomical. A recent study conducted by Applied Systems Client network (ASCnet) on business flow for new business and policy service found that it took just seven minutes to get three comparative quotes on a BOP policy using Transformation Station versus 64 minutes going through three carrier proprietary sites to quote the same policies.
Travelers progress on SEMCI technology crosses multiple business lines. In addition to the achievements for small commercial insurance, Travelers has demonstrated the transmission of large and mid-sized account submission information using SEMCI technology with increased speed, improved quality, and a streamlined communication process.
SEMCI technology is one of several automation solutions Travelers makes available to independent agents. Travelers company system, Issue Express Net, is a browser-based real-time quote, rate, and issuance system that integrates with the SEMCI technology. Policies quoted through the SEMCI process can be issued through Issue Express Net without redundant keying. For those agencies that seek customer service options, Travelers offers a service center that functions as an extension of an agencys service operations, offering a variety of levels of participation. Agencies can interface with the service center directly through Issue Express Net. Travelers also offers capabilities such as electronic policy view to help relieve agencies from the task of searching through paper policies for information. Travelers provides agencies with a suite of automation and service options enabling agencies to choose whichever technologies best meet the needs of their particular offices.
At Travelers, we continue to maximize use of all of the technologies currently available to us to improve the workflows for our agency partners. In particular, the road to SEMCI is a road we must pave today in order to provide the most effective, efficient, and profitable tools for our agents tomorrow. We have committed time, money, and resources toward this slow and steady development process. We are dedicated to providing independent agents with the tools they need to meet their business objectives in the midst of this tough environment of narrowing margins, complex automation issues, and burgeoning service demands.
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