John M. Hennessey, Vice President of MIS,
Trinity Universal Insurance Company, a member of
Unitrin Property & Casualty Insurance Group
At Trinity, a property and casualty company based in Dallas with $550 million in annual premiums, we launched our agency interface product, called Trin-View®, more than two years ago. Today we have nearly 1,300 independent agents online for upload of all our personal lines products: personal auto and homeowners insurance and watercraft and umbrella policies. We also offer e-mail, loss notices, billings and claims inquiries, as well as policy change requests. In addition, we recently began downloading personal auto and homeowners insurance to agents; and we are in the process of becoming certified for dwelling fire and watercraft. Our company is 70 years old, but we intend to stay on the cutting edge.
Trinity is in a growth mode. We currently operate in 26 states, up from 21 a year ago. With the acquisition of Union Insurance in Bloomington, Illinois, earlier this year, we have added 300 agents. So now more than ever, effective communication and efficient transactions are essential to our continued success.
Working with AT&T Insurance Solutions, we have moved quickly to extend the benefits of electronic delivery to the majority of our agents and to expand our electronic capabilities to ensure that our company and its agents can compete effectively in a rapidly changing environment.
Our agents have 24-hour access, not just during the business week, but on weekends, too. With AT&T handling the communications function, our agents are able to connect to AT&T's host computer, which contains all the information that an agent needs, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Built-in security measures mean that each agent can access only his or her book of business.
We see electronic interface as a win/win situation for the company and our agents because it enables us to improve service to our independent agents and, at the same time, reduce company costs. We have already seen a significant reduction in our paper, mailing and telephone expenses. The feedback from our agents has been positive, too, with Trin-View® being well received. One reason that we chose to work with the AT&T Insurance Solutions system is because it runs on a wide range of platforms. Our agents do not have to have high-end Pentium processors, just a personal computer and a modem. With everything presented in plain English, the AT&T system is also easy to use. Both features--the lower-cost for hardware and the non-technical language--are real benefits for our agents.
Trinity's goal is to be handling all agent communication--both upload and download--electronically by late 1998, and we're making rapid progress. Today nearly 50% of our new business applications for personal lines is coming in electronically. In addition, upload for the Business Owners Policy (BOP) and commercial auto is under development; and approximately 50 agents are in various stages of implementing download.
We also are working with several ratings vendors--Priority Data, AMS, Applied, IRS-AIMS and ITC--to interface their systems with the AT&T Insurance Solutions network so that agents can save another step. They will be able to send information entered into their rating system directly to us, without first having to export it into an agency management system. Our agents are looking to us for this type of integration, and we are paying all the associated costs. The end result will be a savings of time and money for our agents.
Trinity's interface system is continuing to evolve. Although it is DOS-based now, within six months we expect to move to a Windows™- and Internet-based product. The enhanced functionality of the Windows™ environment will, for example, give us an increased ability to tailor the screen for state specific edits. The Internet will be an additional distribution channel, one that will help us to provide better service to our agents at a lower cost and enable them to increase their performance as well.
In developing our agency interface solution, we've worked closely with AT&T Insurance Solutions and our company staff to deliver the best product. In undertaking such a major project as agency interface, the stability of the company we partnered with was an important consideration. We have been very pleased with the quality of AT&T's product, people and support service. Working together, we have accomplished a lot in a short time, introducing innovations that help our agents provide better and faster service to their clients and our policyholders.
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