Real Time Dream

We are surrounded by sophisticated technology at prices that seemed impossible a few years ago. Yet, the majority of property and casualty insurers continue to operate expensive and outmoded legacy-type computer systems.

Internet-based technologies, combined with computer telephony integration (CTI), have opened up new doors in both time and cost savings for financial service providers through both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) initiatives. In a field such as p&c insurance, which requires a close working relationship between underwriters and brokers, one would think that the benefits of “real time” interaction would be obvious, and therefore a priority objective to attain.

The broker sector stands to be a major benefactor of state of the art network technology. Consumers prefer dealing with brokers for various reasons, according to a survey carried out by Pollara. However, from a marketing and sales aspect, the broker route has some serious limitations. Today’s technology clears most of the hurdles.

The major advantage enjoyed by direct writers is their ability to service the advertising response using toll free numbers and sophisticated call centers, which the current broker-based model simply can not provide. Typically the direct seller call center uses CTI to link the call center to the computer system, giving agents direct access to the features and functions required to generate policies and process changes. At this time the broker community is limited to outdated upload and download communication with the underwriters’ batch processing systems, where valid data transfers can take days rather than seconds.

Internet-based application networks with sophisticated virtual call center technology would provide the best of all worlds. Fortunately, recent developments in CTI and advanced network technology have made this possible.

For most customers, there is a giant leap to go from personally dealing with a broker, to using faceless Internet services. One way to bridge this gap is to implement Internet-based voice and video features on the web application, creating a comfortable customer migration path. In virtually every insurance company today, call center systems and Internet services are completely isolated from each other. Bearing in mind the interdependence of company and broker, the technology currently employed by the broker can become a sizeable obstacle. Typically, this technology has been developed over the years as a separate entity by small groups of vendors without regard to the big picture. Most broker systems are “closed” and cannot be economically upgraded to provide the functionality required in a state of the art network environment. While most insurance companies suffer from the intransigence typical of legacy systems communicating at the application level, much work is being done to get around these obstacles.

Standards, though important, are of much less concern to effective communications given the functionality of state of the art software, especially enhanced versions of XML and industry specific networks enabling real time B2B functionality, which when mated to B2C real time operations, provides a versatile electronic equivalent of the current broker-based model capable of completing transactions in seconds.

For a number of years now, the industry has been kicking the tires of “point of sale” (POS) capability. With current technology, the insurance industry version would utilise the industry specific network’s inherent transform features to submit data entered by the broker to any of the participating insurance companies, in real time, for the purpose of obtaining quotes and to subsequently issue binding documents – even complete policies – to the customer. But, before an effective POS system can be implemented within the insurance industry, there is the need for much closer cooperation between companies, brokers, technology vendors and industry associations, and an even greater need for co-ordinated direction from within the industry. Once there is some form of consensus between the parties, the task of actually building a C2B/B2B countrywide POS capability is not that daunting. It is achievable using industry standard technology, which, while unique in its application, would not require any basic ‘structural’ changes, avoiding the major technical risk factors. Such a system would become a ‘virtual direct operation’, enabling customers to interact with brokers, and brokers to interact with any of the underwriter systems as though they were a direct agent.

The Wired World welcomes your feedback. Contact us, via E-mail at <vspencer@corporate.southam.ca”>b>vspencer@corporate.southam.ca