UNIVERSITY PARK, ILL., Sept. 16, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Applied Systems today announced innovative product updates across its product portfolio at Applied Net 2014 , the largest independent agency and brokerage technology conference, at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Orlando. To address the evolving needs of insurance agencies and brokerages, the company will introduce new capabilities into Applied Epic, Applied TAM, Applied PerformanceManagement, Applied Rating Services, and Applied MobileProducer that will allow agencies and brokerages to capitalize on a connected technology experience to reduce operating expenses and quickly identify market opportunities to drive business profitability. All product updates are scheduled to be released in Q4 of this year.
KPMG's recent " 2014 Insurance Industry Outlook Survey " noted that over the next three to five years, changing customer demand and coping with change in technology are the two highest priorities for insurance executives. To remain competitive in today's marketplace, agencies and brokerages need to harness the benefits of advanced technology to streamline business operations for improved performance, identify market opportunities, and increase customer satisfaction and retention to maintain and drive business growth.
"The pace of digital technology innovation and the rate of changing consumer demand are requiring independent agencies and brokerages to evolve their business models to better service customers, establish more efficient operations and successfully scale their business," said Michael Howe, senior vice president of Product Management, Applied Systems. "Building on our history of first-to-market technologies and continued innovation, these upcoming strategic product releases will enable agencies and brokerages to better address the evolving needs of today's insurance customer. The range of new solutions serve to reinforce and strengthen their core role as trusted advisor."
Applied Epic 2014
Applied Epic , the fastest-growing agency and brokerage management system, provides a single, integrated application to manage client relationships, policy administration and financial accounting processes more efficiently across an entire agency or brokerage. Applied Epic delivers the most technologically advanced software for agencies and brokerages to grow faster and more profitably in today's changing marketplace. Applied Epic 2014 integrates new capabilities into the core application that offer an expanded view of client information and internal operations, enabling users to make more informed decisions and quickly capitalize on new opportunities. Release highlights include:
- Benefits – Applied Epic 2014 is the first single application for agencies and brokerages to manage both property and casualty and benefits business within their core agency or brokerage management system, providing a single, comprehensives view into customers. With native benefits capabilities, Applied Epic 2014 offers importing of Excel data, like census information, enhanced security for attachments meeting HIPAA requirements, commission rate tiers, support for the tracking and billing of fee for service activity, and other features that enable agents and brokerages to better manage their entire portfolio and expedite cross-selling opportunities.
- myEpic – Applied Epic 2014 includes a series of pre-built workflows based on Applied's experience with implementing the most common workflows across agencies of all sizes. These built-in process management capabilities automate, adapt and reassign common workflows, enabling agencies and brokerages to streamline daily workload to increase both efficiency and productivity. myEpic provides agency and brokerage executives deeper company-wide visibility into internal operations to systematically understand the effectiveness of agency-wide workflow reporting, increasing their ability to respond to changes in the market and within their customer base.
Applied TAM 2014 R2
Applied TAM , the most widely used agency and brokerage management system in the insurance industry, automates daily business operations, client policy information, and carrier and insurer communications. Applied TAM 2014 R2 delivers new capabilities to improve an agency or brokerage's workflow consistency and increase connectivity and information exchange, enabling agencies and brokerages to lower operational expenses and drive new business. Key enhancements include:
- myTAM upgrades – additional predefined workflows will be immediately available in Applied TAM, improving agency and brokerage operational performance through consistent processes, reduced training time for new employees, and mitigation of risks and errors. Workflows are accessible throughout the system beyond just the home screen, extending the use of workflows throughout the system to further streamline agency and brokerage operations.
- Policy Quick View – single view into pertinent client policy detail, such as vehicle information, coverages, and covered drivers for personal auto policies, at a click of a button, improving an agency or brokerage's ability to quickly answer policy-related questions and provide a more precise explanation of client exposures by line of business.
Applied PerformanceManagement 2014 R2
Applied PerformanceManagement is the first purpose-built business intelligence solution developed exclusively for the independent insurance agency and brokerage industry. Applied PerformanceManagement allows agencies and brokerages to make quicker, more informed business decisions. The solution leverages existing agency/brokerage management system data in an easy-to-consume visual interface that provides new insights in to the operations of the business. Applied PerformanceManagement 2014 R2 provides an expanded user interface and richer, dynamic reporting options to further analyze and better understand relationships across key performance indicators (KPIs) for your business, such as growth, client retention, and employee performance. Release highlights include:
- Business performance scorecard – a new, powerful scorecard provides a consolidated snapshot of the business and allows agencies and brokerages to analyze critical business and employee performance KPIs for the past year and be measured against future target goals, providing context of historical business trends and success rates and the ability track progress toward projected goals
- User-defined dashboards –completely redesigned dashboards with expanded filters allow users to analyze and drill-down into hundreds of user-driven combinations of KPI's in a single dashboard, enabling agencies and brokerages to make more informed decisions when defining steps to improve operational performance and client retention and growth
Applied Rating Services 2014
Applied Rating Services , Canada's leading comparative rating service, streamlines rating activities by providing greater connectivity between brokerages, insurers, and insurance consumers to manage sales and underwriting in a more timely fashion. Applied's comprehensive portfolio of rating services delivers quick and accurate insurance pricing and rate comparisons for automobile insurance through Applied AutoRater and property insurance with Applied PropertyRater . Applied Ratings Services 2014 enhances brokerages' client self-service quoting offerings and increases integration with brokerage management systems and across the portfolio of rating services, enabling brokerages to increase customer engagement channels and reduce duplicative work. Release updates include:
- Client self-service quoting – brokerage clients can conduct real-time self-service quoting through Applied WebRater on their computer, smartphone or mobile device anywhere, anytime, extending the channels of engagement for brokers to secure new business and increase client satisfaction and retention
- Increased systems and software integration – streamlined connectivity and information exchange between brokerage management systems, such as Applied Epic, and across the Applied Rating Services suite reduces time spent on manual data entry, allowing brokers to provide more informed and timely customer service
Applied MobileProducer 2014
Applied MobileProducer is the first independent agent and broker mobile app designed specifically for producers to grow business while away from the office and offer an elevated level of client service. Applied MobileProducer provides risk assessment tools and maintains a direct connection with Applied Epic or Applied TAM to access accounts, activities, contact details, and insurance policy information, allowing producers to input and manage account activities and establish new commercial or personal accounts from a tablet. Applied MobileProducer 2014 is available for both Apple® iOS and Android™ tablets. Added capabilities to Applied MobileProducer 2014 include:
- Document integration – client and prospect documents, including certificates endorsements, claims documents, proposals, in Applied Epic and Applied TAM can now be viewed through the mobile app, enabling producers and account executives to provide more timely and complete client service.
- Localization capabilities – expanding to the French Canadian and UK markets, client information such as address and premium value fields are displayed based on the client's regional selection, extending client self-service options to additional agency and brokerage clients across different geographies
Applied Net 2014 includes approximately 2,700 agents, brokers, carrier executives and other insurance professionals convened to discuss technology innovations, strategies, and industry best practices. As the flagship conference for users of Applied software, Applied Net 2014 includes more than 200 education sessions and networking to ensure users gain the greatest value from their Applied Systems investment, making agency and brokerage businesses more valuable and productive. Click here for all the conference developments. Join the conversation on Twitter with hashtag #AppliedNet.
About Applied Systems
Applied Systems is a leading provider of software that powers the business of insurance. Applied is recognized as a pioneer in agency and brokerage management systems and data exchange between agencies, brokers, carriers and their clients. Automating the insurance lifecycle for more than 140,000 insurance professionals, 12,000 agencies and brokerages, and 350 carriers worldwide, Applied enables millions of people around the world to safeguard and protect what matters most.
Courtney Rains Applied Systems (404) 807-0846
