Who's Buying What

Recent deals for technology software and services

PROGRESSIVE USES IVANS TO CREATE SIGN-ON FOR AGENTS

IVANS, a Stamford, Conn., provider of corporate connectivity solutions and services, worked with Cleveland-based personal lines P&C giant Progressive Casualty Insurance Co. to implement agent-enabled, single sign-on (SSO) technology through IVANS Transformation Station that's designed to make it easier for agents to quote and service their policies, and streamline their workflow. Once Progressive's agents update their real-time account via their agency management system and register at Progressive's Web site, ForAgentsOnly.com (FAO), they will no longer have to enter their user ID and password when bridging over to the FAO Web site, according to IVANS.

By utilizing this technology, Progressive now updates the agents' credentials within Transformation Station on the agent's behalf. As a result, any time the agent changes his password on Progressive's FAO Web site, Transformation Station is automatically updated, thereby enabling a secure, single sign-on to both Transformation Station and the FAO Web site, and faster access to their policy data.

SSO technology enables a user to log-in once and gain access to multiple software systems without being prompted to log-in again. This technology is designed to eliminate having to manage the overwhelming number of different log-on IDs and passwords with which agents are faced when accessing multiple carrier Web sites on a daily basis. As a result, Progressive says agents are able to take real-time technology to the next level, and further accelerate the insurance transaction process for themselves and their clients.

IVANS system specialists worked with Progressive to migrate its agents using Transformation Station to the new agent workflow over three months. Future phases are planned as more agents continue to adopt real-time technology.

"We worked with IVANS to go beyond the status quo and implement this new technology, because we knew it would improve our agents' workflows and make it easier for them to do business with us," says Alvito Vaz, director of Internet agent systems at Progressive Insurance.

Progressive also works with IVANS to give its agents the choice to use IVANS Download, which synchronizes the policy information that resides on Progressive's system with the agency system by updating or loading data onto the agency's system electronically. Using ACORD standards, IVANS Download enables Progressive to deliver personal lines to its agents across a variety of agency management systems.

By offering this option, Progressive is helping its agents streamline their workflow through one standard process, reduce the need for paper through electronic transmissions, save time by eliminating the re-keying of data and make it easier for them to focus on selling new business rather than focusing on policy administration.

RESPONSIVE AUTO EMPLOYS STG INSURANCE SUITE

MajescoMastek, the Edison, N.J., U.S. subsidiary of global technology solutions provider Mastek, reports that the STG Insurance Suite, in its ready-to-deploy application service provider (ASP) model, has gone live for The Responsive Auto Insurance Co., Fort Lauderdale, and will facilitate processing of the carrier's personal auto business in the state of Florida.

Established in 2007 as a regional carrier providing non-standard personal automobile insurance, The Responsive was looking for a comprehensive administration system that would give them a competitive advantage over other auto insurers. Since The Responsive's independent agents handle their own administrative functions, the company also needed a user-friendly system with efficient back-office processes. The company determined that the STG Insurance Suite's point-of-sale, claims, policy administration, billing and accounts receivable solution met those criteria.

According to The Responsive's president and co-founder, Victor Arocho, "We were looking for a vendor that understood the P&C domain as well as we do. The STG Insurance Suite was our solution of choice because it was industry time-tested and approved, met all our system and business criteria by offering very robust and efficient options, and was extremely cost effective. In short, it was everything we were looking for in a system."

FIDELITY NATIONAL TO OFFER SCENE EXCHANGE FOR CLAIMS

Jacksonville, Fla.-based Fidelity National Property & Casualty Insurance Group will offer SceneExchange, a Web portal that lets insureds choose an autobody shop for convenient, high-quality repair of their damaged vehicle.

A nationwide provider of a broad range of personal insurance products, Fidelity National's claims representatives will give its customers the option to use SceneExchange. If the customer chooses it, an independent appraiser will promptly inspect the damaged vehicle and upload the estimate and digital photographs to SceneExchange.

SceneExchange then alerts participating local body shops, which view the appraisal and compete for the business based on turnaround time and service. The vehicle owner goes online to review the shops' proposals and information about their training and warranty policies, and check ratings from other SceneExchange customers who've used the shop.

The portal, from Scene Genesis, Pittsford, N.Y., will initially be available customers in Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and New Jersey. More states will be added over the next several months. Fidelity National is a nationwide provider of personal insurance and is the seventh insurance carrier to offer SceneExchange to its customers.

GLATFELTER INSURANCE PICKS SIRCON FOR LICENSING AND COMPLIANCE SUPPORT

Glatfelter Insurance Group, York, Pa., will use Compliance Express and Producer Manager from Okemos, Mich.-based Sircon Corp. to manage producer licensing, compliance, continuing education and on-boarding processes among its insurance-broker network.

Compliance Express is designed to help businesses manage compliance aspects of the producer lifecycle, automating the process of licensing, appointing, renewals, continuing education tracking, name and address changes and more.

Producer Manager serves as the backbone for connecting producer on-boarding with compliance management for a comprehensive end-to-end solution. It also enables a high degree of automation and synchronization between companies, firms and state regulators.

"Glatfelter Insurance Group's selection of Sircon's technology exemplifies our commitment to making Glatfelter the marketing organization that's easiest for producers to do business with," says Michael Conway, Glatfelter Insurance Group VP. "Sircon shares that philosophy by allowing us to offer our producers solutions that eliminate paper from the license compliance and on-boarding processes so they can focus on servicing existing clients better and bringing on new clients faster."

Sircon's depth of regulatory relationships with state regulators also was a critical factor in the insurer's selection process, adds Conway.

MENDOTA SIGNS INNOVATION AUTO FOR BODY SHOP NETWORK MANAGEMENT

Property/casualty insurer Mendota Insurance, Eagan, Minn., will use customized claims services from Innovation Group's Innovation Auto division, a Newton, Mass., global provider of accident management services, the companies report.

"Mendota is always seeking ways to improve our customers' repair experience, while driving key performance indicators such as LAE and cycle time to more favorable levels," says Brian Ebent, managing director of claims at Mendota Insurance. "Innovation Auto's nationwide network fits our key policyholder regions very well, and the adjuster portal integrates cleanly into our workflow. We appreciate the fact that Innovation was able to quickly develop a customized program specifically tailored to Mendota's non-standard auto insurance needs."

Mendota joins Innovation Auto's growing client base of 40-plus carriers, third-party administrators, farm bureaus and Fortune 1000 fleet organizations.

SAAS MANAGEMENT REPORTING, ANALYSIS

American Auto Guardian Inc., (AAGI) an administrator of vehicle service contracts and other aftermarket products for auto dealers throughout North America based in Arlington Heights, Ill., has elected to use Columbus, Ohio-based iPartners' Insurance Scorecard for management reporting and analysis. Providing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) enterprise reporting/analysis and business intelligence solutions, iPartners will help AAGI monitor its loss experience, among other issues. AAGI COO Jim Devers says the Scorecard, a SaaS business intelligence (BI) application, will provide the information needed to focus on improvements in monitoring AAGI's loss experience, and to enhance profitability for both dealers and insurers.

"The Scorecard allows us to look more closely at the business we are doing with individual dealers and agents," he says. "We can measure performance against set targets set, spot trends and respond to effectively and address problems we see."

Devers says the Scorecard delivers five times more information than the firm previously had available. "I have attempted this kind of data migration in the past, and iPartners experience and insurance knowledge resulted in an outstanding job," he says. "The ability to put a solution in place with no start-up software costs really made sense for our organization."

INSURITY'S POLICY DECISIONS FOR PERSONAL LINES POWERS FARMERS FASTQUOTE

Insurity, a LexisNexis company based in Hartford, Conn., and a provider of software and services to the property/casualty insurance industry, announced that Los Angeles-based Farmers Group Inc. has implemented its Policy Decisions for Personal Lines - an insurance policy processing solution - to power the company's online quote service, Farmers FastQuote.

With Farmers FastQuote, the company says clients and prospects are able receive online quotes for auto, home and term life insurance in less than five minutes.

Farmers FastQuote captures key quote information that is routed seamlessly into Farmers back-end systems and delivers it to either the customer's current agent, or the Farmers agent nearest the prospect, for subsequent follow-up. Agents receive leads instantly. enabling them to contact customers in real time, according to Insurity.

"Insurity's Personal Lines platform enabled us to upgrade the quality and richness of the online consumer quoting experience, while still meeting aggressive speed-to-market requirements," says Bill Bowman, Farmers VP, Personal Lines Marketing. "We are very pleased with the look, feel and function of the finished product."

ASSURITY SELECTS FISERV'S LIFE PORTRAITS ES ILLUSTRATION SOLUTION

Fiserv Insurance Solutions, a provider of technology, professional services and strategic sourcing options for the insurance industry, reports that Assurity Life Insurance Co. has selected Life Portraits ES for sales illustrations.

Assurity, which is headquartered in Lincoln, Neb., focuses on life, disability income, critical illness, long-term care and hospital indemnity insurance, annuities and retirement plans for individuals and small businesses.

Life Portraits ES is designed to provide life insurance agents with access to mission-critical business processes for policy placement in an electronic environment. The solution provides platform, location and time-independent access to business processes, enabling clients to sell, transact and place business with greater accuracy and in less time. Its open architecture allows for flexibility as the market changes, Fiserv says.

"Assurity Life Insurance has an immediate need for a system to support a complex product with a rapid time-to-market," says Dennis Pfiffner, SVP - life operations for Life Portraits ES at Fiserv, Columbia, S.C. "With the proven stability and reliability of Life Portraits ES, we are pleased that Assurity not only selected us to fulfill that need but to support their other products, gradually adding all of their individual life and health products in phases. A seasoned insurance and technology staff supports our feature-rich and robust LPES Life illustration product, and their experience and expertise will be leveraged to craft innovative solutions that will help Assurity achieve greater success in the marketplace."

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