AMS Services, Inc., has successfully installed and implemented its Sagitta Browser system in a three-location, 80-user agency based in Oakland, California. Dealy, Renton & Associates is now "live" on the first browser-based insurance management system. Agency president Al Chinn sees improved access as the biggest benefit, creating "smarter office procedures and new business opportunities." Employees can access the management system from home via their home AOL connection and key customers can look at their accounts or print out their own certificates. Access is limited by way of passwords.
Chinn is also pleased with how easy the browser-based system is to learn. Employees who were comfortable with using the Internet were quick to use the Sagitta Browser system. Even employees who were usually hesitant of computers found the Sagitta Browser system easy to use.
Artizan Computing, Inc., assisted AMS in the delivery of this product, providing HTML, DHTML, ActiveX and Java components as their part of the project.
For additional information about AMS products and services, visit the AMS Web site at www.ams-services.com or call (800) 444-4813.
The Qwik App Company announces its Internet claim reporting service, Claimsonline. WYSIWYG technology enables Claimsonline to display a form on screen with the input fields clearly denoted. Mandatory fields can be specified and customer access to the forms at the agency Web site can be password protected.
Using an Internet browser, employers can complete the state workers compensation First Report of Injury. A copy may be printed and forwarded to the insurance company or claims administrator, or data can be converted to various EDI formats and uploaded. The following forms have been approved by state jurisdictions and comply with their data requirements: First Reports, Subsequent Reports, Wage Statements. This service is available in all states except Alaska, Ohio, Washington and Wyoming.
Property and casualty claims can also be completed via Claimsonline. Property, liability, automobile and watercraft forms are available. This service is available in all states. To streamline the process, the user is taken through a decision tree that determines the proper form and the required data.
For additional information, visit www.claimsonline.com or contact Nils Martinson at Qwik App in Tustin, California, at (800) 497-9996.
Delphi Information Systems, Inc. has introduced ebix.com, a browser-based system that enables insurance carriers, brokerages, agencies, financial institutions and insureds to work together in real time over the Internet to gather, manage, communicate and exchange property and casualty risk information--data, documents and images.
Formally called Electronic Brokers and Insurers eXpress, ebix.com is expected to improve throughput and reduce labor, paper and mailing costs associated with the processing of commercial lines submissions. According to Delphi Information Systems, ebix.com is especially valuable in handling unstructured data (forms other than ACORD or CSIO forms). It is AL3 and Y2K compliant.
Additional information about ebix.com is available at www.ebix.com. For more information on Delphi products and services, visit the Delphi Web site at www.dlph.com or call (800)433-5744.
The Board of Directors of ACORD has confirmed William B. Jenkins, CPCU, as chairman, and Philip A. Eifert, CPCU, as chairman-elect for 1999.
Jenkins is vice president of Evans, Conger, Broussard & McCrea, an insurance brokerage and consulting firm based in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, where he is responsible for the placement of commercial business. Before joining ECBM, he was senior vice president of information services at General Accident Insurance, where he was responsible for application development, technical services, telecommunications, technology planning, agency systems, client systems, and data security/recovery. Jenkins has been a member of ACORD's Board since 1994.
Eifert is vice president of Eifert, French & Ketchum, Inc., in Pelham, New York. He is responsible for information systems development and coordination, and placement of commercial and personal insurance programs. Eifert is past president of IIA of Westchester and past chair of the IIAANY automation committee. He served as vice chair of CIAB's national agency-company productivity committee and was regional manager of the New York/Metropolitan Delphi Users Association.
An interactive online demo of IVANS Access eXpert™ is now available at IVANS' Web site (www.ivans.com).
Access eXpert is one of the IVANS NetConnect family of products providing insurance companies and agencies with the ability to leverage new Internet technologies. Access eXpert is a browser-based application that allows agencies and companies to interface directly from their PCs, using a simple, point-and-click screen.
An agency or company professional can click on different icons to access information on an insurance company mainframe to obtain data from an information services provider, to send e-mails or to access the public Internet.
Access eXpert client software is installed on the PC workstation providing a Web browser-based desktop, customized for users to access individually authorized applications and services.
The demo allows visitors to IVANS' Web site to step through the various functions of Access eXpert, including claims, endorsements and access to insurance information services.
Additional information about IVANS' products and services is also available by phone: (800) 288-4826.
The American Institute for CPCU (AICPCU) and the Insurance Institute of America (IIA) now offer online and electronic options for people who don't want to commit to a semester-length course, who want to learn via the Internet, who need continuing education (CE) credits, or who want to assess what they've learned or take exams on a PC.
* The Institutes offered INS 22 (Personal Insurance) and CPCU 9 (Economics) on the Internet last fall and plan to offer those two courses plus INS 23 (Commercial Insurance) and CPCU 6 (The Legal Environment of Insurance) in the spring. The Institutes will offer these and other instructor-led online classes in subsequent semesters.
* The Institutes' first CD-ROM product, "Writing That Works!," is designed to help people improve their business writing skills. Two strengths of the CD-ROM are its flexibility and its depth: users can choose the grammar or style topics they would like to work on, and they can spend as much or as little time working on them as they would like.
* The Institutes have a Web site that people can visit to gain more information about Institute courses, study materials, and exams (www.aicpcu.org). By late spring 1999, students will be able to order study materials, register for an exam, and check their grade history via the Web site.
Additional information is available from the Institutes by calling (610) 644-2100.
AMS Services, Inc., announced that AMS Rating joined AMS Services, Inc., Allenbrook and iiX as its own division of the AMS Holding Company. Frank Amoruso is president and CEO of AMS Rating and has extensive experience managing technology companies, most recently heading up the Treasury Products division of CheckFree Corporaion.
©COPYRIGHT: The Rough Notes Magazine, 1999