It's an exciting time for insurance carriers and related companies eager to innovate and advance their technologies and solutions. A 2014 Morgan Stanley industry report cited the P&C insurance sector as the lowest performing of all major industries for customer engagement, just slightly below energy companies. For an industry historically focused on customer care, many Homeowners' insurance providers are failing to fully engage their policyholders, especially during critical junctures like claim filings. What solutions can insurance companies use to effectively engage today's homeowner?

One solution involves leveraging technology more effectively to improve the quality of interactions with policyholders. Broadly, there are two primary areas where property insurance technology exists today: 1) aerial measurements and imagery and 2) estimating and replacement cost calculation (RCC) software. 

Believe it or not, the majority of property inspections are still conducted via pencil, graph paper and digital camera. This "analog" process leads to multiple challenges:

• Lack of a standard, consistent inspection process and consistent documentation output
• Limited transparency or collaboration potential
• Reliance on the inspector's skill set and an inability to scale resources.

As pressure to innovate mounts, many organizations conducting P&C related property inspections will increasingly move to a digital environment. Not only has the mobile tech world exploded, providing increasingly affordable and effective devices (phones and tablets), but digital inspection platforms enable strategic value for everyone, from agents to adjusters to restoration service providers. That value includes the following: