The TowerStreet executive team includes (seated) John Ashenhurst, executive vice president, AMS Holding Group; and (standing, left to right) Patrick Lewis, sales and marketing development manager; Becky Clegg, national sales; Mike Peterson, director of corporate communications; and Scott Collentro, controller.
Multiple insurers, hundreds of policies, thousands of data entries and a steady stream of claims documents and customer service requests. That's the jigsaw puzzle of an independent insurance agency. And as agents attempt to expand their business with Internet sales and other aspects of electronic commerce, the puzzle becomes even more complicated.
Personal computer-based agency automation and a myriad of proprietary insurance company systems are not up to the increasingly complex demands of this changing business environment, says John Ashenhurst, executive vice president of strategic planning and business development at AMS Holding Group in Nashua, New Hampshire, the agency automation and insurance information vendor.
"Agents have had perennial problems with automation--primarily with application integration," he says. "For more than 20 years, agents have been trying to cope with the varying demands put upon them by the insurers they represent and the customers they serve.
"Many insurers provide agents with proprietary software for rating, underwriting information, and upload/download, requiring multiple data entry for any competitive application," Ashenhurst explains. "Workflow is continually disrupted as agents move from system to system."
Agents are also under pressure to manage their customer information, maintain personal and commercial underwriting information and transmit it as needed to insurers, and initiate claims with insurers on behalf of their customers. E-commerce provides new application challenges as agents attempt to market coverage on the Internet and manage remotely based producers, he says.
These escalating demands are driving the need for TowerStreet, a new Web-based integrated information and application system that would link agents and multiple insurers and host end-to-end insurance sales and customers service, Ashenhurst says.
Named after the London location of the Edward Lloyd coffeehouse where Lloyd's of London was created in the 17th Century, the new system was first announced in March at the AMS Users' Group Conference that was held in Las Vegas. The system was promoted as an online insurance exchange that would host a broad range of integrated insurance applications.
At the conference, Ashenhurst promised a breakthrough in agency automation and marketing. "TowerStreet will finally allow agencies and companies to have the complete integrated systems they have always wanted without having to spend their time and money running what has become an increasingly complex and expensive office data center," he said.
"Access to TowerStreet requires only a computer running a browser and a connection to the Internet. New users can be online and at work in a matter of minutes. There is no software to install, no updates to load, no backups to perform and no new hardware to buy."
The first test version of TowerStreet, which was released in April, focuses on the personal lines insurance sales process and addresses only some of the functions Ashenhurst described, but it establishes the technology framework on which the functions will be built. According to Ashenhurst, the company plans to add commercial lines sales by mid-year 2000 and customer service and policy issuance functions by the end of the year. Next year, the company may add self-service functions that will allow customers to access selected portions of policy and claims information.
TowerStreet operates as an Application Service Provider (ASP) on a proprietary computer platform developed by AMS. Dubbed "Nordic," the platform uses Microsoft's DNA Web application technology on a Windows NT network to deliver applications online.
"Access to TowerStreet requires only a computer running a browser and a connection to the Internet ... There is no software to install, no updates to load, no backups to perform and no new hardware to buy."
All of the applications are hosted on the Web site, and agents can access the applications with an Internet browser. Since agents do not have to maintain the applications on their office computers, they avoid the need for frequent and expensive hardware and software upgrades, Ashenhurst says.
TowerStreet supports ACORD XML shared data standards, which have been adopted by the Independent Insurance Agents of America through its Agency Council on Technology (ACT) committee and other insurance consortiums. The ACORD XML computer language allows customer information to be tagged for use by multiple systems, thus eliminating multiple data entry for multi-insurer rating.
XML also allows for online exchange of digital photos and file attachments, which may be components of insurance underwriting files or the basis of an imaging-based customer file.
Working with company partners who embrace ACORD XML standards will allow TowerStreet to provide agencies with a single user interface and single point-of-entry into a world of data and functionality that is today scattered among hundreds of different sources, many of which are not available on the Internet.
TowerStreet has also created an XML/AL3 conversion utility on the Web site to help companies understand the standards and exchange data with www.towerstreet.com.
Participating agencies will pay a monthly fee in advance to subscribe to selected TowerStreet services and then be billed additional monthly fees based on transactions processed online each previous month. The company also plans to charge one-time fees for set-up, training and data conversion.
Says Ashenhurst, "The TowerStreet environment can finally provide what the industry has been searching for the last 20 years, a single-entry environment that links agency and company systems in real-time and eliminates the need for computer-to-computer synchronization, upload and download."
The beta test features a personal lines system for passenger auto, homeowners and dwelling fire coverage. Agencies can link their Web sites to the system for direct online sales or use the system to enter applications and rate coverage from multiple insurers.
Ashenhurst describes the test product as a point-of-sale (POS) engine that covers the complete insurance sales process from initial needs analysis, through underwriting for eligibility, rating and policy acceptance. The system will also eventually generate a binder or proof of insurance.
Because the system is based on the Internet, each step of the sales process can be carried out by several agency employees in multiple locations, allowing producers working in remote locations to initiate a sale and enter underwriting information that may be evaluated and progressively processed by other employees.
The vendor plans to add a commercial lines system by mid-year 2000 and additional applications including policy issuance by next year.
Jerry Fox, vice president of James M. King & Associates, a Bloomington, Minnesota-based agency with nine employees, is on the board of directors of the AMS Users' Group and chairs the group's TowerStreet design review committee. Fox is beta testing the TowerStreet personal lines point-of-sale system. About 60% of his agency premium volume is derived from personal lines sales.
"TowerStreet is a product that has been truly designed by its users," he says. "In 1997, AMS asked its Users' Group to create a wish list of technology and applications they would like to see developed by the company. TowerStreet is the result of that original list, and we have been involved in the development of the system ever since."
Fox says the integrated package of applications will have a long-term impact on the way agents conduct business both within their offices and on the Internet. "Even in the initial application, the system moves agency technology forward from simple automated rating engines to a complete point-of-sale function. At the very least, TowerStreet will speed up the rating process and increase agency productivity."
Fox also expects TowerStreet to be the key to competitive Internet sales for many agencies, providing the application and rating functions that will allow them to compete with direct marketers and other online producers.
The system will also enhance the internal workflow of agencies, he says. "Eventually, customers will be accessing aspects of TowerStreet directly, entering their own data and maintaining their own files, relieving agencies from many routine administrative tasks."
TowerStreet is a new company, and the seventh technology subsidiary of AMS Holding Group, which has been in the insurance agency technology industry since 1975. The company has more than 30,000 insurance industry customers. Each of the other six companies focuses on a different aspect of the insurance sales and underwriting process:
--AMS Services specializes in agency management and enterprise software for agencies.
--Rating Services deals with insurance rating systems.
--Allenbrook markets policy administration tools for insurers.
--Allenbrook Policy Processing Services (APPS) markets the Phoenix system for insurance company policy issuance.
--Insurance Information Exchange (iiX) supplies electronic underwriting reports to agencies and insurers.
--Silver Plume is a comprehensive insurance reference library that is available on CD-ROM and the Internet.
As an integrated technology product and a separate AMS company, TowerStreet is a major new step for the holding company, says AMS chief executive Ken Benvenuto, but it will provide an additional platform for AMS products as well as the new services.
"While AMS will continue to enhance our existing products and services through TowerStreet, we are investing in the development of a new generation of integrated technology and information services provided to our customers over the Internet.
"The formation of TowerStreet is perfectly in step with our future direction. Our mission is to provide a technological advantage to insurance agencies and companies, and the formation of TowerStreet will enable us to take that advantage to the next level," he says. *
For more information:
TowerStreet
Bedford, NH
E-mail: info@towerstreet.com
Toll-free phone: (877) 869-3778
Web site: www.towerstreet.com
The author
Len Strazewski is a Chicago-based freelance writer specializing in marketing, management and technology topics. In addition to Rough Notes, he has written on insurance for Business Insurance, the Chicago Tribune and Human Resource Executive, among other publications.
©COPYRIGHT: The Rough Notes Magazine, 2000