More and more agencies are considering an electronic filing or paperless workflow model. Numerous options are available to implement such a model. Most agency management systems have a file-attachment capability, and full-fledged document management systems are also growing in number. (See “Delving Into Document Imaging” on page 53.)

A pair of similar programs, PaperPort and OmniForm (both available at www.scansoft.com), represent something of an in-between option for going from paper to electronic filing. I don't recommend either as a document management system, but with their recent upgrades, they can provide significant benefits to an agency. Using the newest versions of these programs might be a good first step for an agency that wants to help employees become comfortable with handling documents electronically.

Many PaperPort users might still be using Version 7 because they felt Version 8 wasn't worth the upgrade cost. But Version 9 Pro Office definitely is. Its most important new feature is the ability to work natively with PDF files. When you install the program, it installs a printer driver that creates a “virtual printer” on your machine. From any program you're using-Microsoft Word, Excel or your agency management system, for example-you can choose that printer and create a PDF file version of a document. This saves you the trouble of printing a paper copy of it and scanning it back into your system as a PDF file. With a PDF document icon highlighted, you can click once on an Outlook icon within the program, and a message box with your PDF file attached will pop up, ready to be addressed and sent.

Another cool advance is the ability to drag-and-drop several documents into one file. I may have numerous PDF files stored in a folder-something from my agency management system, a Microsoft Word document and a scanned photo, for instance. I can drag all these file icons and drop them into a single document, such as an application to a carrier. You can create the same document with a full-blown version of Adobe Acrobat, but PaperPort offers a faster and easier process. Of course, sometimes you will want to create and send such documents from within your agency management system instead, since that method records what you send as an activity.

The ability to “point” the virtual printer toward a network drive is another benefit. Say you're visiting a carrier Web site and see information you'd like all your employees to have. You can print the page as a PDF file and save it to a network folder, where everyone can access it. As always, the form typer remains one of the program's most useful features. After scanning documents into your computer, you can use the program to create fillable fields on the scanned forms. You can also create and remove fields.

OmniForm has even more useful features. It uses optical character recognition (OCR) and logical form recognition (LCR) to convert a scanned document into an editable, electronic equivalent of the paper form. Where PaperPort merely creates fillable fields with blank spaces, OmniForm also creates a database and links fillable fields to the database. In addition to fillable text fields, the program lets you create yes/no check boxes. The forms you create can be posted on a Web site, and with a little bit of programming you can enable clients to fill out online forms that automatically fill a database and perform such tasks as creating certificates.

Here's an example of how these features helped me once. One of our clients, an apartment management firm, called us in a panic, needing flood insurance on 58 apartment units at one location. This meant we needed to complete 58 flood insurance applications. We scanned a hard copy of the flood app into our online folder. We filled out one form with the information that was common to all the units, easily duplicated it to make 58 copies, and keyed in the information that was different about each unit. The program also does calculations, so for each unit I just multiplied the coverage field by the rate field and put the total in the premium field.

Doubling up

The University of Utah recently studied workers using two computer monitors on their desks and found a productivity gain of approximately 35%, as well as a 20% reduction in errors. The next hardware upgrade any agency makes should be to implement this dual-monitor system. Using dual monitors allows employees to view two full-sized documents side-by-side, without using the “alt-tab” keystroke to shift back and forth between documents or programs. I am convinced that an agency will not be able to create a paperless workflow culture without a dual-monitor system that makes it easier to work with documents on-screen.

Fortunately, setting this up is as easy as it is inexpensive. I recommend flat-panel, 15-inch screens, which should cost around $350 each, as a complement to the usual 17- or 19-inch monitors on most desktops. The really low-cost way to connect the second screen is to scavenge the video cards from any old computers you have in storage. You don't need to be an IT expert to add the extra card to an empty slot in your current PC. If you're starting from scratch, you can purchase video cards with multiple ports. Either way, you plug the second monitor into the port and you're almost done. A few clicks into your “Display Properties” folder is all that's needed to be up and running. This setup will work with Windows 95 or 98, but it works much better if you upgrade to Windows 2000 or XP.

I have never seen anyone who did not like using two monitors. An application open in one screen can be dragged over to the second screen, allowing someone to compare policies, write e-mails using information from a different document, or do any other side-by-side comparison of information.

A beacon of hope

The “naysayer” I mentioned at the beginning of this article may be right if he believes the idea of having producers connect to a carrier Web site through high-speed DSL won't last long-but not for the reason he thinks. If this work model disappears, it will not be because it didn't work, but because something even newer worked better. High-speed, wireless Internet connections are becoming common in such venues as Starbucks stores and airport lounges. (Many hotels provide “wired” high-speed connections too.) The current wi-fi protocols usually require a user to be within 300 feet of an antenna. A new protocol on the horizon-the 802.16 standard-will deliver a high-speed connection with a range of 30 miles. When cell-phone service providers begin to merge with wi-fi networks (a natural progression, in my view), every cell phone tower in America will also provide wireless, high-speed Internet access. This will make it easier for producers to do exactly what they're supposed to be doing-meet clients face-to-face in the field-yet still remain connected to the office.

Back it up

Since (hopefully) your producers are out of the office much of the time, they may be doing a lot of work on laptop computers. I'm routinely on the road for a week or more at a time, during which I may write several articles, answer numerous e-mails and do other work on my laptop. I started bringing CDs with me, but burning CDs as a way of making a backup copy of my work takes a long time.

A couple of still rather new services-LiveVault and EVault-are among the growing number of attractive options for backing up agency data, both from the road and from the agency office. For a monthly or annual fee based on the amount of data being backed up, agencies access the backup service over the Internet and begin the backup with a few clicks of a mouse.

These services offer two great benefits. First, the data is backed up and housed at a location more secure than any insurance agency office I've ever visited. Also, both services are continuous, “delta” backups. The first run may take 18 to 24 hours, as all the agency data is backed up. After that, the backup incorporates only the changes in data. This is different from a traditional tape backup, which records all agency data each time. It's also different from the usual incremental backup, which backs up every changed file. For example, a CSR may enter a change into one of 1,000 records in a database file. Many incremental backups would backup the entire file-all 1,000 records. A delta backup worries only about the record that was changed, and thus is much faster.

Bag of goodies

Several other items that offer less dramatic benefits can still be useful to insurance agencies:

?USB Key: Moore's Law-roughly translated, that computing power would double every couple of years-seems to have had the USB key in mind. Smaller than a car key, this storage device replaces the need for a floppy disk. The most expensive one I've seen can hold two gigabytes of information. For about $100 you can get one that holds 512MB. As its name implies, the item fits into a USB port on your computer. Besides giving you an easy way to transfer items from one computer to another, the USB key can serve as a limited, temporary backup solution if you don't have access to an online backup service.

?Password managers: It seems that insurance carriers and other businesses are so concerned about the security of their online transactions that we've actually created a less-secure situation. With so many user IDs and passwords to remember, agency employees are covering their desktop monitors with sticky notes that leave the passwords out for anyone to see. (We've all seen cartoons or humorous pictures of this). There are several programs that will remember your IDs and passwords for you. I've been experimenting with a recent release from Symantec System Works, which is one of several such programs. Typically, these programs note the first time you enter a new ID and password on screen and ask if you would like the password remembered. If you answer affirmatively, the program automatically enters the password for you from that point on.

?Web site services: Several services provided through Web sites may be of some use for any business, not just insurance agencies.
-E-fax offers a relatively inexpensive way to receive inbound faxes electronically. The service costs $10 a month, for which you receive a fax number that routes incoming faxes to you as e-mail attachments.
-Paperless PO Box provides a physical P.O. box address in California. Mail received at the box is scanned and e-mailed to you daily. I know an agent for whom this has proved quite handy. He winters in Florida but keeps working, and having the P.O. box smoothes over problems of getting timely mail when he changes locations.
-Zairmail lowers the cost of bulk mailings. This might be of benefit, for instance, when agencies mail their privacy policy once a year to their entire customer base. You send your text and address list to the service, and they merge, print and mail. A postcard with a four-color front and a black-and-white back can be printed and mailed for just 79 cents per item. A one-sided letter sent in a window envelope is 49 cents per piece. Overall, this is less than what it would cost most agencies to produce and mail the items in-house.
-Lawroom.com provides human resource answers and research topics online for a flat annual fee of $300. Under the ACORD Advantage program (with which I've worked), you can receive weekly HR updates and “snapshots” at no additional cost.

?Voice recognition software: For several years I haven't been willing to discuss this technology because it didn't seem reliable enough. But now it's becoming noticeably better. Recently, I've begun using Dragon Naturally Speaking, Version 7 Preferred. The program is a memory and resource hog, so it's usually best to shut down all programs and re-boot your computer before using it. It also seems to work better if you purchase a more expensive microphone than the one that comes with the program (though I've gotten good results with it). The program costs approximately $250. It works with a variety of other programs, not just Microsoft Word. You can even use it to dictate e-mails in Outlook.

As I said at the beginning of this article, getting the most benefit from technology means identifying a problem you need to solve before you buy a new “toy.” Once you have identified some problems that might be solved with a new item, have it checked out. Designate someone who's free to experiment with several options and determine what works best. (It's a good idea to provide funds for this purpose in your annual budget.) A good way to start might be to pick just one item from the above list and concentrate on integrating it into your agency operations. If you do your homework before making the acquisition, you'll find your investment in cool tools, gadgets and gizmos will pay off in a serious way.