SEMCI THE POWER OF COMMUNICATION

"CNA Personal Insurance is offering its agencies APT upload modules
at no charge, regardless of vendor system..."

Communication is essential to both company and agency success. A communication system that not only enables us to relay information to each other, but also impacts our bottom line by improving operating efficiency and decreasing costs, is a real winner. It makes sense to use that communication system and support that vision. In our industry that system is single entry multiple-company interface, more commonly referred to as SEMCI.

Though the push for SEMCI began several years ago, it has really snowballed in the past couple of years to become a reality for the entire insurance industry. SEMCI is non-proprietary and reduces operating costs for agencies, insurance companies and vendors, alike. It also helps independent agencies improve customer service and increase productivity because customer service representatives (CSRs) only need to enter information into their system once. SEMCI provides CSRs with the capability to input a customer's information directly into the system, enabling them to respond immediately to customers' needs. In today's changing insurance climate, independent agencies, insurance companies and vendors need a competitive edge: through the development and support of SEMCI, APT has taken great strides in bringing that competitive edge to all insurance industry players.

CNA Personal Insurance has adopted SEMCI as a strategic initiative and is committed to its successful implementation. We understand the powerful role that communication plays in both our business and our independent agencies' business. Our goal is simply to make it easier for agencies to work with us. SEMCI eliminates the need to learn and work with the intricacies of multiple proprietary systems. We believe that SEMCI is less expensive for both CNA and our agents to develop, implement and operate. And it leverages existing agency software and hardware.

Upload and download are the key components in delivering SEMCI. With SEMCI, insurance policy transactions are processed between agency management systems and CNA without duplication. CNA is equipping agencies with APT software and offering both the APT Agency Module™ and Stand Alone Module™ (SAM) so that we can facilitate communication with SEMCI and accommodate all workflows.

The feedback we have received from our agencies, especially in regard to SAM, has been extremely favorable. To encourage implementation of SEMCI upload, CNA Personal Insurance is offering its agencies APT upload modules at no charge, regardless of vendor system, with free installation and first-year maintenance. We also have instituted an automation help desk that our agents can access via a toll-free number.

In today's marketplace, knowledgeable customers expect more from their insurance providers. To achieve success, agencies and insurance providers must continually pursue opportunities that will provide increased value to their customers. Communication solutions such as SEMCI, that increase productivity and lower expenses at both the agency and insurance company levels, result in improved customer service and enable us to compete more effectively with direct writers.

CNA applauds APT for leading the way in non-proprietary communication and adding value to our industry. *