Ms. Barrett added that AMS, as well as agents, can play a role in restoring agents' confidence in the technology. “AMS has to help us get through those carrier issues–the proprietary workflows,” she said. “And as agents, we need to embrace [new AMS] technology. [AMS is] ready for prime time, but as an agent, I'm still going to have problems internally.”

Yet another obstacle, according to Ms. Barrett, is that “some carriers are reluctant to work with us. When we have to do something special just for [the insurer], there has to be a better way.

“Insurers just get a mindset of how they want to do systems and they forget what it's like on the other side,” she continued. “I don't think the carrier operational people and the carrier technology people talk to each other.”

Agents, according to Ms. Barrett, need to take responsibility by using the technology AMS is providing. “We have to get in there and refine it,” she asserted. “We have to help them. This has to be a collaborative effort.”

Ms. Barrett also said the AMS Users' Group has not given up on the Holy Grail of insurance technology–SEMCI. “In some ways, [single-entry, multiple-company interface] is already a reality–it's just coming to us in a different way,” through technologies such as AMS' TransactNow, a software product that enables communications among carriers, agents and AMS agency management system users.

“I don't think the industry should give up on SEMCI or real-time transactions,” she said. “I want to have all the information from the carrier at my fingertips, but in some cases, the carriers won't let me have the information.”

For example, she said, some carriers will not provide a loss run electronically to agents. “Having to know the idiosyncrasies of each [carrier] is a lot to know,” she noted. “It has to be simpler.”

Ms. Barrett said her goal for this year as president of AMSUG is to encourage agents “to embrace the technology that is available to them today. If we use what we have today, the carriers are more apt to spend money and discover what we actually need. That will help the collaborative effort.”

She added that education will be the user group's primary tool in trying to persuade agents to get on board with AMS technologies.

Asked what she would like to convey to carriers, Ms. Barrett said: “Expand what is available to us. The things I do most are endorsements, but [carriers are] too busy focusing on new business offerings. Endorsements are the number-one transaction in an agency and they need to be automated.”

Ms. Barrett noted that AMS needs to work on enabling such automation as well. “They're doing it, but it's never fast enough,” she concluded.