What agencies really want: a central database for prospects and clients would be part of an ideal agency management system.

Technology has changed the business world by speeding up various processes, providing easy access to information, and raising the possibility and expectation of immediate service. Technology also has benefited American industry by increasing productivity, lowering costs, and improving customer and prospect information.

An issue with technology exists, though. Since technological advances have improved productivity and provided better reporting capabilities, agencies want a great deal more. Their current automation options require them to use multiple systems, to duplicate their efforts, and to accept that automation solutions don't fit some of their business's areas.

Most agencies have a full-function automation system with integrated customer information, policy detail, accounting, transaction processing, and report generation. These systems support the processing of standard property/casualty business, but don't provide good solutions for nonstandard lines or specialty business. Nonstandard information, then, must be maintained and collected outside of the agency management system. Even when Internet applications are used for this business, the systems do not interface with the agency management systems.

Sales management hasn't been supported by agency management systems either. So agencies use contact management systems, such as ACT or Goldmine, to monitor sales activity and hit ratios and to maintain prospect databases. Because these systems are easy to use, producers often will record information in them or send e-mails from them for their existing customers, leaving a gap in the agency management system detail.

Agencies benefit from the real-time access to carrier Web sites for policy, claims and billing information, but that is not available to all. Agencies benefit in accuracy and processing speed from carrier download, but quoting through carrier Web sites usually requires them to enter and re-enter information to obtain more than one quote.

Although agency accounting was the first area to be automated, the process of reconciling carrier statements still takes time because there is no electronic exchange of information from carrier to agency. For larger brokers and bank-owned agencies, creating consolidated statements means information must be re-entered into more sophisticated accounting systems. Agency-management systems provide some security controls by the user, hut not enough to limit access to information by customer or by detail within the customer file. These controls are important for compliance with HIPAA regulations, for example.

The ideal agency management system would have a number of components. First, a central database for both prospects and clients would be available. The prospect module would have a full-function contact management system with preprogrammed sales management reports. All product lines and specialty forms would be supported: either in the system or interfaced with an Internet-based system to avoid duplication of information. Access to client information could be limited by the name of the client, the line of business, or by field.

Sales management hasn't been supported by agency management systems.

To produce quotes, information would be pulled from the agency management system into carrier Web sites. Real-time inquiry for policy billing, underwriting, claims and loss runs would be easily accessed through the agency management system. Direct bill commission statements, accounts current, company statements, and bank statements all would be exchanged electronically from the carrier or bank.

To eliminate the need to maintain separate paper Files, the system would allow for scanning and easy retrieval of paper and images. Electronic policy forms, such as PDF and Excel files, and e-mails, would be attached to client Files. By integrating the agency management system with Web services, the customer would provide updated information, such as drivers lists, locations and certificates of insurance, and the data would be imported directly into the agency management system. Using Web services also would allow the customer to access the agency management system to produce a certificate or look up account information.

Finally, systems would have multiple standard reports easily accessible and able to be viewed, printed to a PDF file, or imported into a spreadsheet. Other reports could be produced with a minimum of effort and no special expertise.

Although this list may seem daunting, many of the existing and new agency automation vendors are working on these enhancements. The not-too-distant future then should finally bring complete automation and its benefits to the agency system.

Sharon Cunningham, a Best's Review columnist, is president of Business Management Group, a management consulting firm based in Hartford, Conn. She may be reached at [e-mail].