Applied Systems’ Interface Services division held two carrier meetings early this year in Canada to promote WARP and real-time interface using CSIO XML. Carrier response was very positive and indicates imminent growth in real-time transactions. More than 100 carrier representatives attended the WARP Overview session, describing Applied Systems’ history in interface, the standards process, how WARP works, how to add company-unique data and edits to TAM forms, and transaction security. Jo Ann Litwin, president of Litwin, Castle, & Christ Insurance in Orchard Park, N.Y., presented an agent’s perspective of real-time interface, drawing on her experience with real-time transactions in the United States.

The second carrier meeting focused on WARP implementation and included discussion of WebEdits and WebDNA. When carriers in Canada were interfacing issuance transactions only through batch upload, they had no need for company-unique screens or edits. With the ability to interface additional transaction types, carriers can now determine their own business rules based on those transaction types. For instance, a carrier may have fewer required fields for a quote transaction than an issuance transaction.

Through mid-2006, four carriers were live with WARP inquiry transactions and data bridging for quote transactions, and most carriers were using a proprietary bridge technology to accomplish real-time interface. Applied Systems continues to encourage carriers to implement standard CSIO XML transactions, a transition that will drastically increase the speed of all broker transactions.

Get Real

In Canada, about 250 brokers use WARP daily, averaging more than 10,000 transactions per month. Not certain you’re configured for WARP? Simply click on the blue butterfly icon on your TAM or Vision main menu, or call Applied Systems Communications Support to walk you through setup.

In the nine months since the Centre for Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO) portal officially closed, increasing numbers of Canadian brokers have discovered the gateway to WARP, Applied Systems’ real-time technology in Canada.

Some industry professionals feel that WARP should have been the accepted entryway to real-time several years and many millions of dollars ago. But the past is just that, and Applied Systems’ Interface Services division is encouraging brokers and carriers to look to WARP to help build a better, more profitable future.

“Applied Systems has become a very active participant in the CSIO process, and we encourage brokers to also participate,” said Donna Gilbert, Applied Systems director of industry standards. To do so, Gilbert recommends brokers contact their local ASCnet interface liaison.

For six years, national standards organization CSIO worked with insurance carriers in Canada to implement the CSIO portal as a real-time transaction network. The portal, never widely accepted, fell short in a number of areas and was terminated in December 2005. Since then, the CSIO has refocused on developing and implementing XML standards for personal and commercial lines. The organization is in the process of updating all applications and supplemental forms, AL3 standards, and XML standards. At Applied Systems, attention has been given to promoting WARP and real-time interface using the CSIO XML.

How are Brokers Responding?

“WARP technology was far ahead of its time,” says Jeff Roy, owner of P.A. Roy Insurance, headquartered in Clinton, Ontario. “The CSIO portal was a great idea, but it was built on a history of failure. It was never the full package [that brokers needed].”

“Today, brokers and carriers alike need a vision of the whole process of real-time transactions,” Roy says. That vision, he says, should be based on a concept of how a customer transaction should work, from start to finish, with all the speed and efficiency that technology can offer.

“We have to take ownership of the idea,” Roy says. “We have to get involved with the CSIO Development Committee. We all realize that change is relatively slow, and it requires time, money, and resources to get things done.”

Roy is quick to point out that brokers should be motivated to help adopt the standards that will hasten the transactions process. While SEMCI is the common good, Roy acknowledges that each carrier has its own agenda. Brokers need to let the carriers know what they want, he says, reminding them that becoming functional with WARP is the magic key to ease of doing business.

Communication is Key

Sharing Roy’s observations is Mary Lou Charles, senior vice president of operations for WFG Agency Network, Inc., part of the Western Financial Group based in High River, Alberta. Like Roy, Charles has become active in ASCnet’s Interface Committee, which works with the CSIO on standards issues including forms development.

“If Web business is the way of the future, then the only way for it to work is for brokers to communicate with carriers from the agency management system,” Charles says. “Multiple entry is a big concern and a lot of that extra work can be avoided.”

Being responsible for policies and procedures carried out by 500-plus employees in multiple locations throughout Western Canada, Charles harbors very real concerns for consistency and ease of operation. She says she wants to know what’s going on in the standards development arena. Charles encourages other brokers to also take an interest, particularly in workflow-related goals like forms that are clear, consistent, and readable.

What factors might prevent a broker from supporting standards adoption? “Some brokers might be intimidated by technology,” Roy ventures, depending in part on whether and how much they have automated their businesses. Roy thinks some brokers need to develop a stronger link between business and technology know-how. To develop that link, he encourages participation in ASCnet and its committees as well as CSIO involvement.

“To develop that vision of how we should do business, we have to keep in mind what we all know: Insurance is about relationships,” Roy says. “We need to understand how technology will help us cultivate and nurture those relationships, enhancing our businesses and allowing us to deliver the service that our customers deserve. The way technology is going in all segments of society, people expect speed, efficiency, and accuracy.”

Industry standards can help meet those expectations, Roy asserts, allowing brokers to devote the time and care necessary to maintain customer relationships and grow business

Sheryl Feminis (sfeminis@appliedsystems.com) is the marketing/communications editor at Applied Systems. Email her at marketing@ascnet.org