Carriers are building and deploying agency self-service portals at a rapid clip. Almost daily a carrier press release hits my inbox with an announcement of new or improved hosted services. Agents like the ability to access billing status, claims status, policy detail and dec sheet information as well as get a quote or make a policy change — all through a browser window and all right now — without needing to call a carrier service desk, send a FAX, or do overnight upload. Traditional approaches take time and introduce additional links in the service chain, causing delay and frequently introducing errors.
Web-based self-service has many advantages for agents compared to traditional, more clumsy processes, but it has a dark side as well. Carrier portals force agents to work outside their management systems, disrupting workflow and also force agents to deal with a myriad of passwords, procedures, and page designs.
Agency/carrier interface, by way of SEMCI, was supposed to provide a link between agency and carrier systems, but only download has found large-scale acceptance. Were universal interface in place now as it was imagined 20 years ago, carrier Web sites for agents would be irrelevant. But universal interface isn’t a reality; instead, carrier Web sites are. So the practical issue for agents is how to use carrier self-service portals most effectively — and with the least disruption to normal, management system-centered workflows.
One approach to the problem is what I’ve called hybrid interface, a bridging between management systems and carrier Web sites. The idea is to use the management system as a hub and provide transparent linking into carrier sites at the right place to get the needed work done — handling signon automatically along the way — and when possible pre-filling forms on the carrier site with data from the management system.
AMS and ebix now offer versions of hybrid interface and Applied has announced a development initiative for carrier Web site bridging that will operate in parallel with their Transformation Station approach. So hybrid interface is finding acceptance with vendors, carriers, and agents.
SIS implements hybrid interface for inquiry
Already a successful veteran of download (with about 130 carriers certified) and a smattering of upload arrangements, Strategic Insurance Software (S.I.S.) early this year threw its hat into the hybrid interface ring via its WebLink offering. Three carriers are on board so far (State Auto, EMC, and Celina) and State Auto, the first implemented, is already seeing 5,000 transactions per month from the SIS SEMCI Partner agencies currently enabled for WebLink. SIS is actively working with five other carriers to enable their agents for WebLink as well.
Like other vendors, SIS is initially focusing on inquiry transactions (e.g., billing status) rather than data entry transactions (e.g., new business submission). According to Doug Allen, SIS Chief Operating Officer, the vendor will look at data transfer opportunities with the release of their new system next year.
SIS is extremely interested in encouraging carrier and agency WebLink participation. The vendor does not currently charge carriers or agents any fee for WebLink hook up and use. Allen reports that company-side implementation is fast and simple. The recent implementation with Celina took only two calendar weeks start to finish.
Though the technology is straightforward to implement and use and the price is right (free), SIS finds that getting through to agents remains a challenge, an issue reported to me by other vendors and carriers. Allen said that SIS has launched a multi faceted communication plan with Celina agents and will provide its materials to Celina for the carrier’s use as well — all in order to get the word out about the latest WebLink implementation
What it’s like to use
When all is said and done, Weblink is intended to act as a short cut; it does automatically some of the things agents would normally have to do in working with carrier Web sites. Let’s say a CSR gets a call from an insured who wants to know the billing status of a direct billed State Auto policy. The CSR would look up the insured in SEMCIPartner, find the right policy, then click on the State Auto icon.
At that point SEMCIPartner makes the connection with the State Auto agency portal, passing it the CSR’s logon ID and password, company and policy number, and function indicator. The State Auto site processes the signon and takes the CSR to the billing status screen for that policy. The CSR then answers the customer’s question and the transaction is completed — in a minute or less — in comparison with the five or more minutes it might take to call the carrier service desk or use the carrier agency portal without the WebLink shortcuts.
One could complain that even with WebLink the CSR is hampered by having to look at the carrier’s Web site instead of only at the SEMCIPartner screens. On the other hand, having WebLink is clearly better than not having it. WebLink saves the agency time and it saves the carrier time. WebLink is the best kind of technology improvement: miniscule cost and effort of implementation with immediate payoff for everyone involved.
Future
SIS is hard at work on the next generation of its management system, one designed to make it easy to take advantage of just about any interface arrangement that might present itself. SIS has worked with APT upload software for some years (APT was absorbed into IVANS almost three years ago and the APT upload package rewritten into WebSEMCI) and has good success with upload including new business and endorsements with carriers like Auto Owners, EMC, Grange, and State Auto. The vendor has considered Transformation Station, but so far has not seen the wide spread adoption by carriers to warrant this effort. Once its new system hits the street next year, Allen says SIS will be in a strong position to evaluate and participate in a variety of interface approaches, including unique arrangements with specific carriers.
During our conversation I asked Allen what he thought about the concept of hybrid management systems — that is, extending the idea of hybrid interface so that the agent’s system stores only data that can’t be retrieved when needed from elsewhere, such as from a company Web site. Because data is stored only once and used by all interested parties, interface really isn’t necessary. Allen said he could see management systems evolving in that direction, though carriers aren’t yet capable of supplying the remote data and services that agents need. And even when they are, it’s crucial that agents continue to hold the minimal data they need for marketing and high-level service.
I also asked Allen about his agents’ level of interest in offering customer self-service through their agency Web sites. His answer: not much. It’s just not something SIS agents seem to be talking about today, though we recognize this functionality will some day be a requirement.
With WebLink proven, free, and simple to implement, carriers with SIS agents
would do well to signup with the vendor — for their benefit and the
benefit of their agents.
© Copyright 2003 by Sound Internet Strategy. All rights reserved
Allen reports that company-side implementation is fast and simple. The recent implementation with Celina took only two calendar weeks start to finish.
SIS is hard at work on the next generation of its management system, one designed to make it easy to take advantage of just about any interface arrangement that might present itself.