Independent insurance distributors in seven western states now can get accurate Safeco auto and home insurance quotes without leaving their EZLynx Web portal at www.ezlynx.com. 

This is "real-time" quoting capability addresses a typical problem for agents, according to Seattle-based Safeco. Without real-time quoting, agents type customer information into comparative rating systems and then bridge to each carrier Web site to complete questions unique to each company's application process.  But EZLynx, the real-time rating system created by Webcetera, Flower Mound, Texas , removes the bridging step, cutting independent distributors' work time by as much as half. 

"Safeco is on a mission to uncomplicate insurance sales for independent distributors," says Anne Randall, vice president of automation for Safeco Personal Insurance.  "EZLynx can be a very powerful solution for agents and brokers."  

The real-time quoting capability, which distinguishes EZLynx from other comparative raters, comes from melding a highly adaptable Java servlets-based solution with the Safeco Now single-platform sales tool.  Safeco Now, which offers online quoting and binding of seven major lines of insurance and surety bonds, uses XML language on a .Net platform.  

EZLynx is available in Arizona , California , Colorado , Nevada , Oregon , Texas and Washington .  More states are expected to launch by year end.

Source: Safeco