Winds of Change: Incorporating Mobility
Insurance Networking News, December 2007
You can't hop into a cab, step into an elevator or walk down the street without passing someone using a Blackberry, iPhone or other type of mobile device. Business professionals, students, police and even your kids are connected every second of the day. As a result, more and more carriers are recognizing the inherent value of mobile technologies as a productivity tool, and have embraced this technology.
So with the Internet crisscrossing the welkin, cellular networks penetrating deep forests and the next generation of technology likely to offer connectivity in that precarious place between the Earth's mantle and core, it just doesn't pay for insurers to ignore the importance and benefits of mobile technology.
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Given the current capacity for immediate wireless contact and information transfer, it's imperative for insurers to arm their employees with mobile technology. Claimants have the tendency to become long-term customers when claims reps or adjusters provide fast, accurate customer service-as was the case after the Katrina crisis and is likely to happen with the recent fires in Southern California.
So, given the multitude of technologies available, insurers, say industry experts, are well advised to take advantage of their benefits before they fall too far behind the competition.
WHO AND WHAT
Business is increasingly being conducted out of the office, and the need for insurers to provide a platform for people in all departments, across all lines, is palpable.
Karen Pauli, senior analyst with Needham, Mass.-based TowerGroup Inc., believes state-of-the-art claims personnel should have tablet PCs equipped with GPS, mobile check printing, estimating software and a personal device that incorporates both phone and data capabilities.
According to Senior Planning Consultant Keith Heindl, the claims department at Northbrook, Ill.-based Allstate Insurance Co. is far and away the biggest user of mobile technology. It is also essentially on par with Pauli's barometer. Claims personnel have anytime/anywhere access to the network, which allows them to tap into data whenever necessary. Allstate's IT department is the company's second-largest user of mobile technology.
"Mobility allows our IT personnel to extend their day, serve our end-users more promptly and add additional work/life balance to their workday," says Heindl.
Both Allstate's claims and IT workers use Blackberrys, which are used both for e-mail and GPS functionality to locate facilities and transport clients. Laptops with air cards that connect to cellular networks are standard. The company also employs a software client that allows employees to securely establish their remote connections.
At The Hartford, account executives are the primary users of its mobile computing platform. Believing that mobile technology is a major differentiator for the Hartford, Conn.-based company, Mark Esposito, CIO, Individual Life Division, says mobile technology is critical for the account executives since they need the right tools to continually improve their service levels.
"Some of the capabilities that we're offering in our mobility strategy range from access to the (customer relationship management platform) and access to pending cases (i.e. when [account executives] are out on a call, they can see what's in inventory, as well as other business applications that are on the platform)," he says. "We also believe that the platform allows us to work as an integrated sales and servicing team. As the account executives are out, they're able to keep in touch with home office support."
To do this currently, the company primarily provides service through Blackberrys and software from Waltham, Mass.-based Pyxis Mobile Inc. Esposito expects that by the end of the year, the account execs will begin to use tablets, which he believes will become their primary tool because of handwriting recognition applications, leaving the Blackberry as a secondary device.
WHAT'S IN STORE?
Virtually all insurance professionals currently have a smart phone or PDA that can affect some measure of productivity while on the go, but continual advancements to wireless connectivity and other mobile devices require constant monitoring. Service providers such as AT&T and Avaya Inc. offer packages that combine a host of options that will enable connectivity and additional solutions for carriers of all sizes.
One of the developments insurers should keep tabs on is the upcoming availability of a technology that can expand wireless connectivity over long distances. WiMAX, a telecommunication technology designed to accomplish this goal, is at the top of the list for Allstate.
"We are looking forward to enabling mobile WiMAX," says Heindl. "I believe it will give us better performance, and also greater range and coverage. We expect to pilot this once it becomes commercially available."
Allstate is also monitoring developments around 802.11n, a forthcoming change to the IEEE 802.11wireless standard that allows devices such as laptops or cell phones to join a wireless LAN.
"Today, we have the ability to move significant amounts of data, but it's relegated primarily to data alone," he says. "In the future, we'll look to converge our networks to reduce complexity and reduce our cost models. In order to do that, we believe we need to add more bandwidth, and 802.11n has the promise of doing that for us."
Ultra-mobile PCs are another useful technology that, despite being readily available, insurers haven't yet adopted on a major scale.
"Something that's out there and relatively new that hasn't gained traction yet are ultra-mobile devices-they're halfway between a laptop and a PDA," says TowerGroup's Pauli. "They fix some of the problems inherent in a regular laptop. For example, a regular laptop does not work well in direct sunlight. These ultra-mobiles have backlit screens so you can see them in the sun. They also have better batteries, easy-to-hold grips, work with a stylus and have full, functioning keyboards. So far, the insurance industry hasn't grabbed onto them, but they really need to."
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