Writers Note: This blog post is written for those in the insurance sales and technology industry, the rest of you may not find it interesting. However, If you need an insurance rate quote, pleasecontact me.
I have really been pressing Vertafore to be more iPad friendly over the past few years. What I really would like to do on my iPad with Vertafore AMS360 is simply this:
Look up a client name, phone, email and or address
Verify policies in force
Record an activity and or look up previous activities
See existing claims
Really my list of requirements are rather simple and basic. I was glad to find out today that some of this I can do. I tried it and it does work. It is much faster however from a workstation and fully functioning computer.
Vertafore’s official word to me about their support for AMS360 and the iPad is this:
With AMS360 v6.0 you can launch your browser on your iPad or ANY mobile device with any browser to login to AMS360 and navigate within web-forms ( AMS360 web-forms are pages that have an actual URL address in AMS360, like Centers ). This means navigating from Center to Center and ability to launch a dec page. That is the extent of AMS360 functionality and usability with any tablets, be that an iPad or Samsung Galaxy.
This means the win-forms (the pages in AMS360 where you enter or edit data and have no URL address) will not load on these tables. Win-forms require AMS360 Client REV 3 and Net 3.5 sp1 and these component do not load onto tablets, UNLESS, they’re loaded on tablets with Windows Operating System.
The only way to fully utilize AMS360 on iPad or similar tables is to use any remoting apps ( like LogME in, Webex, PocketCloud, etc… ) which connects you to your local desktop at the office, and there are many apps like those. You may want to check several threads on NetVU NCOM for those who have tested and are currently running these environments.
Other than that, there are no immediate development plans for full AMS360 compatibility with any Apple products.
Note: This blog post is written for those in the insurance sales and technology industry, the rest of you may not find it interesting. However, If you need an insurance rate quote, pleasecontact me.
This week our local group of independent insurance agents met for our bi monthly agent’s meeting. One of the topics for discussion was comparative rating applications that we all were using. There were five agencies represented.
One agency spoke up and said they were trying out a product that I had never heard of called Semcat Quoting Solution. I immediately came back to the office and did a little research on Semcat and from their website signed up for a 2-week trial. I was promptly called (less than 10 minutes) by Brandon (did not give his last name) about my inquiry. He was quick to offer me a screen sharing overview of how Semcat did comparative personal lines’ rating.
In my brief overview (less than 30 minutes) of the Semcat Quoting Solution, I saw several things that I really liked. They have 100% accuracy. That is a true statement because they get the rates direct from the company website. I liked that they can connect with my agency management system Vertafore AMS360.
They have a feature called “pipeline” (sales management) where they can track the sales process.
They track who was quoted, and if they made a purchase or not. They have a module that reports what agents are using the quoting software, what insuring companies are winning most of the quotes and other helpful statistics about the quoting/sales process. This feature is nice to see who in your agency is using the rater and who is not. These reports are complete with color graphs and charts.
Semcat has a nice and robust password manager for all your partner companies and keeps them in one place for ready access and updating. The service interface was clean and easy to navigate.
They connect to many Internet lead generators such as NetQuote. I have used NetQuote in the past but the leads I consistently received in my area were poor.
In a nutshell, how their system works is that you enter the rating information into their thin client site/desktop application, and then you open respective tabs for a insurance company (again inside their thin client software). When you open the tab for the company that company’s agents portal website appears, and the client data is prefilled to the site. Very similar to the way a longstanding software Roboform works. They call this technology “Data Streaming.” Semcat speed types all the information from the data entry screen to the companies’ site. On particular fields that the information is unknown Semcat highlights the information, and this gives the agent the ability to complete the missing or inaccurate company-specific
Each company is then quoted separately. Vertafore PL Rater quotes all companies at one time. This to me is a disadvantage and time waster for Semcat to request each company quote separately, but then again, it is a 100% accurate quote because it is on the insuring companies’ site.
Semcat offers link to capture quote requests from the agency website at no additional charge. When a client completes that form on the agency website, an email notification is sent to the agency and preloaded information is loaded into the quoting engine. This form does not give the client a rate quote- it only gets their basic information. Vertafore’s Consumer Rate Quote productdoes give an auto rate with four of our partner companies immediately. See an example of this working on the GoVaughn.com Insurance site.
Some things that I didn’t too much care for with Semcat was that they require you to install a small thin client application on your workstation and get to their services through that client. The processing and rating are actually taking place on their servers using a browser they dictate (a customized Mozilla browser). I really like using my own browser either it be IE9, Chrome or Foxfire. We as agents need to insist that all insurance agency applications be a browser agnostic. I want to use an Apple Mac Book Pro so bad in the agency.
Semcat also lacks the ability to query and enter automobiles information and drivers in the household. With Vertafore PL Rating once you enter client’s personal information the site automatically goes out to respective databases and pulls all vehicles (with VIN numbers) and drivers in household (with the birthdays and driver’s license number) into the quoting site. Agents don’t have to retype or even ask for that information. This really helps the quoting process go faster since many prospective clients requesting rate quotes do not have all information for every auto and driver in the household. It is now easier than ever to quote a personal lines home and auto. With the data services that Vertafore PL Rating offers all we need to know to quote both home and auto are: Name, Address, Birthday and possibly Social Security Number- the rest of the information is entered automatically to PL Rating.
It is true that the Vertafore Personal Lines Rater (true product name Vertafore PL Rater) once was a bad, cumbersome and inaccurate product but over the past two years they have really stepped up to the plate and offered a stellar service to us agents who use it. Our agency quotes every personal lines risk with this software and highly recommend Vertafore’s PL Rater to any agency looking for a comparative rating solution. If you are an agency that has not tried Vertafore PL Rating recently you owe it to yourself to give them a second look.
The success of this product is mainly due to the many insurance companies signing on with them to provide real-time rates. Many of the companies have complained about the exuberant costs involved in getting their systems talking to Vertafore PL Rater. Some company’s large national companies have even said the costs are well over $100,000. The companies are putting a lot of money into these systems, and they expect us agents to be using them and quoting all of them every single time. Vertafore maintains a list of insurance companies that are offering real-time comparative rating.
If you are looking forward to buying a comparative rater for your agency, you might be interested in purchasing The Anderson Report on Premium Comparison Systems, 3rd Edition by Steve Anderson. Steve writes many publications that review many of the Premium Comparison Systems available to agents nationwide.
GoVaughn.com Insurance has used Vertafore systems since 1974. The vendor has had many names (Safecom, AGENA, AMS now Vertafore).
Tell me about your agency’s experience using Comparative Raters?
See video below about the Vertafore PL Rating Product.
“Social media tools have changed the way I communicate and network for the good. They have opened doors and started conversations that never would have opened otherwise.”
Nibby Priest, as quoted by Travelers Insurance in their social media guides for agents.
The very best desktop scanner you can buy for every day scanning.
Works quite well with many applications. We use it at GoVaughn.com Insurance extensively in scanning information into our Vertafore based client management system AMS360.
(Back in early August I received a call from a very kind gentleman Charles Wasilewski from Aartrijk. He asked me about doing a webinar about social media. This was my first presentation done completely in webinar form. We did it on September 2, 2009 –what a great experience! Below is a blog he posted to the Aartrijk site about one of the questions that was asked in the webinar. I have reposted with his permission. I hope you enjoy reading. Nibby)
That partly-excited, partly-frustrated-sounding question popped out at me from among several dozen when I was moderating a Webinar (”Social Media 101: Get Your Agency on Facebook and Twitter” presented by Insurance Journal) in early September.
The Webinar was presented by Nibby Priest of Vaughn Insurance Agency Co., who is among the most-active insurance producers I know in using social networking.
The question came while Nibby was showing how to get a personal Facebook page started. This is one of the most-popular things to do on the Internet. After all, Facebook has 200 million-plus members and is among the top 5 most-visited Web sites in the world.
When I read the question, I sensed that the agent asking the question was impatient with all the “personal” Facebook material, and wanted to get to the important stuff: how to use Facebook to market and sell.
I’ve felt the same frustration in the past — until I realized that the personal nature of Facebook is what makes it popular and captivating for millions. Facebook isn’t like advertising or direct mail or an e-mail newsletter or a Yellow Pages ad. It’s not really a marketing tool or tactic to be pulled out of the marketing plan and executed.
It’s something very different: It’s a technological way to carry out social relationships online.
Facebook is popular because it allows people to:
– connect person-to-person
– choose people, brands, organizations, causes, and advertisers they want to connect with online … and shun or ignore those they don’t
– easily search and find people from their past and present to build relationships going forward into the future
So, for me, a lesson of “Social Media 101: Get Your Agency on Facebook and Twitter” was a reminder that social networking is about talking with people, not merely sending out business messages via advertising or marketing. I’m as big a fan as anyone of advertising and marketing, but Facebook requires a different approach. It requires a commitment to joining a community, providing value, presenting information and perspective, and building relationships.
The great hope of social networking for marketers is that when members of the community are ready to buy, they will find you — even seek you out — because they know you and know what you know.
We do offer multiple client service options for our clients to communicate with our agency:
1. Telephone: Our main switchboard line 270.827.3505 is staffed by licensed agents awaiting your calls to answer questions about claims.
2. Internet: We maintain client chat services with a live licensed agent at www.govaughn.com/chat, please click this link and speak to a agent via internet chat
3. Direct Report: All of our partner companies offer direct reporting of emergency claims see our claims page on our internet site for those numbers.
Things to remember if you have a claim situation from this ice/snow storm.
1. Do everything possible to keep the damages from becoming worse than what they are presently
2. If you have power lines down. Stay away and call power company or 911
3. All claims relating to ice/snow are subject to homeowners policy deductible which is usually $500 or $1000.
Our agency is a Trusted Choice agency! Click Here for Our pledge to you our client- and we take it seriously!
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Claim Situations so far:
Trees Down, Utility Connection pulled from house, car slid off in ditch, Broken windshield from fallen tree.
After many months of work and tweaks my family business Vaughn Insurance Agency releases our newest designed website.
Our agency went online in 1997 and has maintained a continuous presence.
Our long time web designer Nancy Revell came up with another true design for us.
Some new features introduced in this is many options for Client Services now:
*Chat with a Vaughn Insurance Agency Represent
*Request Policy Change
*Request a Policy Proposal from all personal lines and some commercial lines
*Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page for all of our partner companies
In my brief overview (less than 30 minutes) of the Semcat Quoting Solution, I saw several things that I really liked. They have 100% accuracy. That is a true statement because they get the rates direct from the company website. I liked that they can connect with my agency management system 
