Webinar to Explain ‘How & Why’ of Real Time - CSRs Saving 10 Hours Monthly with New Workflow

PEARL RIVER, NY (July 31, 2009)—Continued agent and carrier interest has led the Real Time/Download Campaign (www.getrealtime.org) to add another session date to its monthly webinars titled, “Real Time: The Next Major Advance in Agency Workflow.”

The hour-long session, slated for August 5, will provide independent agency owners and employees a free, convenient chance to learn how to leverage existing technology and workflows to improve customer service and agency profitability.

“Agencies using this advanced workflow are saving 30 minutes or more per day per CSR,” explains campaign co-chair Cyndy Smith, vice president and director of technology at Haylor, Freyer & Coon, Syracuse, N.Y. “So in less than a week, CSRs will see a return on the time they invested in attending the webinar.”

More than 2,000 insurance professionals have participated in the webinars already this year. In each session, presenters explain real time, demonstrate its capabilities, discuss benefits, and outline steps agencies and brokerages can take to implement real time or increase its usage. They also discuss the increasing importance of download, which completes the round trip of data between agency and carrier.

The Real Time/Download Campaign does not advocate a specific technology, but rather a workflow approach that frees up time for agencies to sell, process and service business. Most agents and brokers can leverage tools already embedded in their management systems or comparative raters.

“Real time has cut our agency’s new-business quoting time in half,” says campaign co-chair Lisa Parry Becker, vice president of William B. Parry Agency, Langhorne, Pa. “It lets us perform as independent agents again, especially with quoting.”

Real time is not just a “nice to do,” adds Parry Becker, who also serves as vice-chair of ASCnet, the Applied Systems user group. “It is a critical tool agencies can use to be successful competitors in the future. It lets agencies help employees become trusted advisors and transforms service operations into true sales organizations. ”

Smith, who also is a member of The AMS Users’ Group board of directors, adds, “We have worked with more than 30 state agents associations to conduct on-site real-time demonstration sessions. Agency management system user groups have helped spread the word, as have vendors and carriers, but we’re looking to reach more people.”

The free webinar, designed for principals, systems professionals and CSRs, runs an hour long, with time available for questions and answers. The webinars are relevant to agencies no matter which system they use, as virtually all offer real-time functionality. Live demos of real-time quoting and inquiry transactions are shown. These vendor-specific demos are intended generally to show the efficiencies of real-time workflows.

Attendees can to listen to the audio through computer headsets or speakers or by dialing a long-distance number. A recorded version is available on demand at getrealtime.org.

To register for the event, which will run from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday, August 5, 2009, go to: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/385480496. To see the presentation outline, go to www.getrealtime.org/active/powerpoints.asp.

About the Real Time/Download Campaign

Launched in April 2007, the Real Time/Download Campaign (www.getrealtime.org) is dedicated to improving the competitiveness of the independent agency distribution channel. The campaign goal is to double the number of real-time transactions each year.

As defined by the campaign, Real Time is the ability to click on a button from a client file in the agency management system or comparative rater for immediate access to carrier information on that client. The transaction may be a quote, billing inquiry, claim inquiry/loss run, policy view, endorsement or request for information. This approach provides a single workflow for servicing or quoting.

Campaign participants include agents, brokers, carriers, technology providers, user groups, and agent and industry associations. The campaign is sponsored financially by ACORD, ACT, AMS Services, AMS Users’ Group, Applied Systems, Applied Systems Client Network (ASCnet), Artizan Internet Services, AUGIE, EMC Insurance Companies, Grange Insurance, IIABA, IVANS, Liberty Mutual Agency Markets, MetLife Auto & Home, Nationwide/Allied, PIA of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut & New Hampshire, SilverPlume Rating Solutions, Strategic Insurance Software (SIS), The Hartford, and Westfield Insurance.