Upgrades Front Office Suite of Insurance Underwriting, Agent Portal and Upload Applications
BEDFORD, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–FirstBest® Systems, Inc., provider of insurance software solutions that help commercial- and specialty-lines insurance carriers drive premium growth, scale their business and achieve high service levels with agents, today announced upgrades to the FirstBest Front Office Suite’s underwriting workstation, agent portal and upload applications, which increase ease of doing business (EODB) and help carriers to become the carrier of choice while empowering IT to transform the business in less time. The Suite’s new features include automated submission handling to speed quoting and increase EODB, broader distribution support to drive channel revenue and new tools to help IT transform the insurance front office rapidly and at lower TCO (total cost of ownership).
“These new features empower the entire insurance distribution channel, as well as underwriters, business analysts, and IT teams, to increase competitiveness and drive greater channel revenue while lowering costs,” said Julian Pelenur, co-founder and CTO of FirstBest Systems, Inc. “Collaborative underwriting significantly improves ease of doing business, delivers faster service and increases efficiencies.”
The FirstBest Front Office Suite includes new features for automated submission handling, broader channel support and greater IT empowerment. Features are available in each of the suite’s products unless otherwise indicated.
New Submission Handling Features
The Suite’s new automated submission handling features speed quotes and increase ease-of-doing business, helping to transform the insurance company into the carrier-of-choice:
- Automated early submissions ensure “once-and-done” process. Carriers can now choose to allow agents to submit early applications in advance of the carrier’s usual submit date. Early submissions are then queued and automatically submitted once they’ve passed the cutoff, eliminating the inefficiency of carriers declining early submissions and then requiring agents to resubmit them.
- Fully-automated STP speeds quoting to win the business. FirstBest enables carriers to offer rules-driven STP, with and without underwriter referral, even for complicated insurance applications. For example, FirstBest’s auto quote feature lets the carrier automatically create a quote for an STP-eligible submission so that the carrier can quote as quickly as possible, engage the agent and win the business. (Applies to FirstBest Agent and FirstBest UMS).
- Email receiver speeds response to win more business. FirstBest AppReader’s automated email receiver enables the carrier to process and quote emailed applications faster than the competition, increasing the likelihood of winning the business.
Broader Channel Support
The Suite provides complete distribution support, enabling carriers to bring together the entire distribution channel: agents, brokers, MGAs, and MGUs.
- Streamlined MGA and MGU support brings MGAs and MGUs into the underwriting process. New MGA and MGU roles make it easier for a carrier to grant a broker underwriting binding authority within controlled market and risk criteria, while retaining automated referral detection and oversight.
- New agency roles increase efficiency and save time. New agency roles foster more targeted and effective communications with agency producers and customer service reps.
- Enhanced chat increases collaboration. The Suite’s chat function (part of FirstBest UMS) now enables agents and underwriters to detect who is online, lets users participate in multiple chat sessions at the same time and enables collaboration before, during and after application submission and quoting.
Empowers IT to Transform the Insurance Front Office
The Suite empowers IT to transform the front office – rapidly and at a lower TCO. New features enhance security, increase manageability and speed deployment and integration.
- Single sign-on for seamless user experience. The Suite integrates with the carrier’s directory and single sign-on systems, so that agents or underwriters can log into the carrier portal and access FirstBest applications without additional sign-on.
- User security protects against unauthorized access. The Suite provides robust standalone security, including configurable access control lists (ACLs) that limit agent/underwriter access to submissions, user authentication and password hacking prevention, audit trails, and more.
- Enhanced manageability for business agility and lower TCO. The Suite is highly configurable and can be configured by the carrier and/or by FirstBest. The applications include configurable rules, workflows and forms, enabling carriers to manage the system and quickly adapt to changing market conditions, without legions of expensive consultants. Organization-level letters of authority enable IT to quickly adapt to changing organization needs.
- Streamlined deployment and integration lowers risk and shortens time to value. FirstBest’s proven field-tested professional services methodology speeds deployment and delivers rapid time to market.
Components and Availability of the FirstBest Front Office Suite
The FirstBest Front Office Suite includes modular upload, transactional agent portal and underwriting workstation applications that work together seamlessly and can be assembled in different configurations to meet carrier needs. The FirstBest Front Office Suite’s upgraded applications are available immediately from FirstBest and include:
- FirstBest Underwriting Management System (UMS), Version 3.0 – FirstBest’s flagship solution combines a next-generation underwriting workstation and a business analyst workstation with a Web 2.0 agent portal for comprehensive underwriting workflow and real-time carrier-agency collaboration.
- FirstBest Agent, Version 3.0 – A complete transactional agent portal that facilitates both new business and renewals and provides rich functionality for increased carrier-agency communication, including dynamic supplemental data, shared documents, notes, and email notifications.
- FirstBest AppReader, Version 2.0 (announced in September 2010) – Provides instant upload of application forms to carrier systems, regardless of agency management system. AppReader converts ACORD or proprietary application form images into ACORD XML that can be passed into the carrier’s portal, submission and policy systems.
For more information, see accompanying press release issued today and register at http://www.firstbest.com/new-front-office-webinar.htm to join FirstBest for a complimentary webinar on December 14th.
About FirstBest
FirstBest® Systems delivers insurance software solutions that help commercial-and specialty-lines carriers drive premium growth, scale their business and achieve high service levels with agents. FirstBest’s proven Insurance Front Office Suite includes modular underwriting workstation, agent portal and agency upload applications. Insurance companies such as AMERISAFE, Inc., a specialty writer of workers’ compensation insurance for hazardous industries, ICW Group Insurance Companies, a multi-line super regional insurer, and Beacon Mutual Insurance Company, Rhode Island’s largest writer of workers’ compensation insurance, rely on FirstBest solutions to improve underwriting efficiencies and quality, institutionalize knowledge and best practices and empower everyone in the process to quote, collaborate, issue, and bind business on a single real-time platform. FirstBest also hosts the Agent‐Carrier Connection, a collaborative underwriting forum and news portal. For more information, visit www.firstbest.com or call 1.888.863.6095.
FirstBest is a registered trademark of FirstBest Systems, Inc. FirstBest Front Office Suite, FirstBest UMS, Underwriting Management System, FirstBest Agent, FirstBest AppReader, and Agent-Carrier Connection are trademarks of FirstBest Systems, Inc.
All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Contacts
FirstBest Systems, Inc.
Meira Primes, 781-863-6050
mprimes@firstbest.com