AUGIE Real-Time Study

Real-Time StudySummer 2006

A Glimpse into Differences betweenManual and Real-Time Inquiry and

Transaction Processing

IntroductionA small group of volunteers came together under the direction of the AUGIE (ACORD-UserGroups Information Exchange) Leaders Council to answer the question: “Is real-time reallyworth the time?” The driving force behind the question was the belief that real-time functionalitymight play an integral role in boosting ease of doing business. The importance of ease of doingbusiness was validated in the AUGIE Agency Technology Survey, a much larger initiative thatalso took place in the first part of 2006.

The volunteers – pairs of delegates from a half-dozen or so agency management system user groups– mapped out a plan, zeroing in on two key areas: inquiry and policy transactions. Inquiry includ-ed the processes of accessing billing, coverage, claim and loss information, as well as Web logins.Transactions included new business quoting, as well as endorsement, renewal, rewrite or cancella-tion processing. The group designed study questions and created a detailed spreadsheet to guidethe data gathering process.

The group recruited agencies to take part in the single-purpose study. For several weeks, staff members in participating agencies tracked the time it took to complete a variety of transactions, from a simple billing inquiry to more complex new business and endorse-

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AUGIE Real-Time Summary 2006© 2006 ACORD Corporation – All Rights Reserved

AUGIE – ACORD User Group Information Exchange Updated 10/3/06

ment processing. Participants worked in agencies using various management systems from differentvendors.

During the study, participants tracked how long ittook to perform manual tasks with each carrier –using paper files and faxes, phone or manually log-ging in to a carrier website. They then tracked thesame transactions in real-time, either through theagency management system, using a comparativerater integrated with the management system, or viaa standalone comparative rater.

Findings and lessons learnedBy the ACORD Conference in May, the group presented the Leaders Council a compilation ofagent experiences that showed real-time is worth thetime. Findings from the initial study indicate agen-cies save time by using real-time inquiry

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AUGIE Real-Time Summary 2006© 2006 ACORD Corporation – All Rights ReservedAUGIE – ACORD User Group Information Exchange Updated 10/3/06

Working group volunteers reached

out to get others involved in the

real-time tracking. ASCnet’s Lisa

Parry Becker, for instance, convinced

a carrier she represents to invite its

agents to get involved in the effort.

Linda Rollings hosted an online

meeting to explain the project to

fellow AMS User Group members and

get them excited about taking part.

Such efforts highlight the value of

volunteers and demonstrate how

taking extra initiative can yield

positive results.

Involved volunteers

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and policy transactions. That’s true even if only a few carriers – or just one – offer the functional-ity. The easiest agency tasks were made simpler. And more complex tasks were completed in a frac-tion of the time.

When compared to the agency’s own internal benchmarks for manual processing, real-time inquiryoften reduced processing time by 25 percent to 75 percent. Many agencies saw times drop from minutes to seconds. For instance, where a billing inquiry made using a proprietary carrier website tooka minute and 45 seconds, in real-time it took 35 seconds.

Billing and policy inquiry were most commonly tracked. And claims inquiry demonstrated some of

‘The fact that a small, focused group created a study,

recruited participants and delivered results in less than

three months is a credit to the user group participants and

the agents who volunteered to take part, regardless of what

biases they held when they entered into the venture.’

— Keith Savino, agency principal and ACORD board member

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Manual Phone Website Real-Time via Management System

30:00

10:00

6:20

15:00

1:10

10:00

1:10:15

Personal Lines Claims Inquiry

Personal Lines First Notice of Loss

Min

ute

s

Agency 1

(Time does not include collecting infoand documenting loss in client file.)

the best time savings. For instance, claimsinquiry by phone often took between eightand ten minutes. The same transactiondone via carrier website took between 70and 90 seconds.

Using real-time transaction processing toeliminate redundant data entry at multiplewebsites, other software or forms, agentscut the time required to rate policies from anhour to just 15 minutes, using their man-agement system. This can add up to hun-dreds of hours and thousands of dollars insavings each year.

Two somewhat intuitive facts were con-firmed regarding time, money and staff. Thefirst: time is money. CSRs need time and areattracted to anything that offers time sav-ings. However, they may be slow to changeuntil the agency proves the time-savings.

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0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

Min

ute

s

Agency 2

1. Includes use of dual monitors by most reps.2. Includes significantly below-average time reported by rep who “memorized all the prompts” in the automated menu.3. Excludes results from one rep who “forgot how to use the website.”

Agencies encouraged participation in different

ways. For instance, one ran a four-week con-

test, offering a free lunch to the person who

completed the most real-time inquiries each

week. According to the principal, the contest

boosted real-time transactions. Before the

contest kicked off, one individual had consis-

tently ranked as the highest producer of real-

time transactions. Once the contest started,

though, others came on board, and a different

individual won a free lunch each week.

Fast food

Second, principals who focus on revenue tend to prefer comparative rating and real-time transac-tions – whether they start at a comparative rater or in the management system. As the AUGIE sur-vey indicated, real-time can help agencies provide quotes and rates from multiple carriers, whichcan allow these agencies to maintain their independence. This lets them serve clients and carriersbetter and, in doing so, boost revenue and profits. Duplicate entry may not be at the forefront intheir thinking, but they recognize the benefits of improving retention, staying competitive, offeringmultiple carrier and/or coverage options to clients and keeping producers happy.

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‘During the study, we learned that benefits of real-time are

coming more quickly than many thought. You don’t need to wait

until all carriers flip on the switch. The payback is here and now.’

— Lisa Parry Becker, agency principal and ASCnet interface committee chair

Agency 3

Personal Lines Billing Inquiry

Personal Lines Policy Inquiry

Personal Lines Claims Inquiry

Commercial Lines Billing Inquiry

Commercial Lines Policy Inquiry

Commercial Lines Claims Inquiry

Commercial Lines Loss Runs

Manual Phone Website Real-Time via Management System

Time spent on each task (hours:mins:secs)

— 1:25 1:45 0:35

5:00 — 1:15 0:40

1:15 1:00 2:30 1:40

— 1:45 1:25 0:35

4:00 — 1:15 0:40

1:15 3:00:00 2:30 1:40

— — 2:30 1:40

Going forwardThe AUGIE Real-Time Study Group isbuilding on data that showed real-time is,indeed, a significant contributor to ease of doing business. Study results led the group to make time tracking an ongoingprocess and create an online timer to letagents contribute their own data quickly,easily and consistently. The timer isdesigned to gather and deliver data foragency use. It can be used over time to con-tinue to build support for real-time transac-tions and can boost agency profits.

Beyond using the timer, agency principalsshould run and monitor usage reports, work-ing group members say. They should talk toCSRs and learn how much time it takes toprocess work. They should educate staff andpartners, contact carriers and advocate for

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In one agency, a CSR who is viewed by many

as the most automated individual in the

office told the princi-

pal that real-time did

not work. As others

showed it did, indeed,

work, the individual

admitted thinking she

could process work as

fast as real-time, until

she was proven

wrong. Within a mat-

ter of weeks, the CSR became a top real-time

user within the agency. “We’re slowly but

surely converting,” the agency principal said.

“It doesn’t happen overnight.”

Making converts

real-time, and troubleshoot as necessary. It’s important to use the AUGIE timer, the group adds. Asmore agencies contribute data, opportunities to deliver results segmented by agency size will becomepossible.

AUGIE sees a number of opportunities to increase understanding of real-time and its benefits. Forinstance, carriers can bolster communication with their agents, letting them know the value they placeon real-time, and then share data to drive increased usage. Plus, they can communicate with their ownmarketing reps the role of real-time and the importance of AUGIE’s tools. Vendors, likewise, can driveincreased real-time adoption by reporting usage numbers more broadly and consistently and encourag-ing agents to use real-time and the tools AUGIE created to help agencies understand the benefits.Agencies can quickly find out what carriers offer by visiting ACT’s acttech.org website.

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AUGIE offers resources designed to help agencies

realize the benefits of real-time interfaces, download

and more. They include:

• AUGIE Workflow Timer

• Productive Agency Visits Guide

• Commercial Lines Download Agency Start-Up

Guide

• AUGIE Cost Savings Calculator

- Real-Time Savings

- Download Savings

• Technology Survey results

• Videos on agency technology and workflow issues.

Access these via www.acordadvantage.com/augie or your user group or association. New tools are

being developed continually, so check back often.

The right tools for the job

‘With the new AUGIE Timer, we envision having hundreds

of responses from agency professionals in the not-too-distant

future. That will send a powerful message.’

— Ron Binning, agency principal and president of NASPA,

the user group for SIS (Strategic Insurance Software)

Ongoing education and promotion are planned and will focus on top-down and bottom-up buy-in. Efforts will showcase the potential financial and other benefits real-time offers and will incorporate internal agency training and workflows, carrier education, marketing rep educationand best practices.

ConclusionThe future of real-time technology is not just about billing inquiry, working group members say.The whole notion of real-time functionality incorporates potential that has yet to be realized. Inaddition to inquiry and existing transactions, the far-reaching “future” of real-time includes sup-porting clients in a 24-7-365 environment – something that customers will increasingly demandand something that independent agents and their carriers will need to deliver.

The initial study is only the beginning. As more data are collected, this study will be updated. Youcan help by using the AUGIE Workflow Timer and Real-Time Calculator Worksheet. E-mail yourexperiences to [email protected].

AUGIE – a collaborative initiative of agency management system users and their business partners– welcomes further industry participation. Groups can start by broadly disseminating informationin this report and encouraging agents and their staff to take part in ongoing tracking and other initiatives. For more information, contact Cal Durland at [email protected].

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www.acordadvantage.org/augie

Agents volunteering on the AUGIEReal-Time Study Group include:

• Donna Abramson, Western Financial Group

• Chris Ball, InSource

• Kay Barrett, IMA Financial Group

• Ron Binning, Binning & Dickens Insurance

• Beverly Coats, Colton, Downey & Hubbard Insurance Agency

• Jerry Fox, James M. King & Associates

• Lisa Goth, Charles P. Leach Agency

• William Mitchell, Mitchell Insurance

• Kimberly Nevinger, P. W. Wood & Son

• Lisa Parry Becker, William B. Parry & Son

• Jon Samel, Samel Insurance

• Keith Savino, WRG Group

• Virginia Vaughn, North FloridaAgents Network

• Mike Worthington, Worthington Insurance

Other Real-Time Study Group membersinclude:

• Cal Durland, ACORD

• Andrew Fogarty, ATF Services

• Linda Rollings, AMS Users Group

The following carriers were identifiedby study participants as being in theiragencies:

• Acuity

• AIG

• America First

• Arbella

• Atlantic Mutual

• Auto Owners

• Central

• Chubb

• Cincinnati

• Citizens

• CNA

• Companion PC

• Concord Group

• Continental Western

• EMC

• Employers Mutual Casualty

• Encompass

• FCCI Merchants Mutual

• Fireman’s Fund

• General Casualty

• Harleysville

• Integrity/Grange

• Kemper Auto & Home

• MetLife

• Motorists

• National Grange/Main Street America

• Ohio Casualty

• Pekin

• Preferred Mutual

• Premier

• Progressive

• Quincy Mutual

• Safeco

• Safety

• Selective

• Society Insurance

• Travelers

• State Auto

• The Hartford

• Westfield

• Zurich

AUGIE Real-Time Study Group

A special thanks to Westfield Insurance,which sponsored stopwatches AUGIE

presented to all study participants.

AUGIE Real-Time Study

Documents

Transcript of AUGIE Real-Time Study