Civil Service Employees Insurance Group to Improve Workflow with IVANS Insur@nce Solutions.

Business Editors

GREENWICH, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 18, 2000

Regional Carrier Provides Agents Access to

Reports Via the Internet

In an effort to encourage its 500 agents to utilize the Internet to improve workflow, San Francisco-based Civil Service Employees Insurance Group (CSE) has chosen IVANS Insur@nce Solutions(TM) to reduce the time needed to analyze business performance and access company information. IVANS Business Tracker(TM) and WebDirect(TM), two flagship products of Insur@nce Solutions, will provide CSE and its agents with browser-based access to commission statements, cancellation notices, and production, losses by agency and experience reports. The reports will also be made available to CSE's eight marketing representatives. The combination of WebDirect and Business Tracker provided by IVANS, an e-business solutions provider for the insurance industry, are expected to save CSE a minimum of $85,000 per year over the current paper distribution of this information.

Simplicity of implementation was a key factor in CSE's decision to choose IVANS Insur@nce Solutions products. "Ease of doing business is the key to the agent/carrier relationship," said Dave Brinker, senior vice president and chief information officer for CSE. "Business Tracker makes life easier by allowing us to distribute reports to our agents electronically. Agents obtain reports quickly and, in turn, we eliminate the cost associated with printing and mailing. In addition, we decrease the possibility of errors by reducing duplicate entries of data and the time required to facilitate production. It's a solution we believe will open up new capabilities for our company and our agents."

IVANS Business Tracker provides a single gateway for easy, secure access to information from a variety of sources within an organization. New report postings can be announced via automatic e-mail notifications to end users.

"With WebDirect, agents will have immediate feedback that an endorsement has been received and processed. Without this capability, it would take three days for the information to be received and another three to be acknowledged," he added. "Both WebDirect and Business Tracker will ensure that we get information to the right people in the right amount of time."

CSE will implement WebDirect to provide inquiry and policy change capability to its agents on all current personal auto, homeowners and dwelling fire policies in all the states in which CSE conducts business. Creating a simple point-and-click environment, IVANS WebDirect graphically extends the functionality of existing legacy systems without changing the underlying host applications. The product reduces end-users' training time and customer response time by providing easy access to claims, underwriting, accounting and customer service information through an integrated graphical user interface.

"The headache of having to know complex codes and functions is alleviated," said Anna England, vice president of e-business solutions for IVANS. "WebDirect is designed with the understanding of insurance workflow and backroom processes. Customized screens are used to reflect the way a company does business."

According to England, insurers must rely on information to make decisions and respond more quickly than ever before. "Through one screen, Business Tracker and WebDirect provide CSE with a simple, well-organized environment that will help the company and its agents improve productivity and service."

Brinker agrees. "The simplicity of implementation is a big advantage for us," he said. "Both of these products provide a roadmap for us to move toward the Internet in an effort to communicate more efficiently with our agents."

The Civil Service Employees Insurance Group (CSE) has served the personal insurance needs of public employees and the general public in several western states for over 50 years. Offering competitive automobile and property products, the company also represents several highly rated life and disability carriers through its brokerage subsidiary, CSE Diversified Insurance Services. Acquired in 1981 by GMF Group, now Azur-GMF Mutuelles D'Assurances Associees, France's largest insurer of public employees, CSE continues to operate as an independent regional insurer, with its home office in San Francisco and regional claims offices in Sacramento and Pasadena, California. More information can be found at www.cse-insurance.com

IVANS Inc. (www.ivans.com) is a recognized leader in providing e-business solutions for the insurance industry. Established in 1983, IVANS provides electronic communications services to more than 500 insurance and healthcare companies and related organizations in the United States and Canada. An industry-owned organization, IVANS works to supply the most cost-effective, efficient technology solutions to all parties in the insurance distribution system.