Cell phones aren’t just used for talking anymore. In a survey conducted by Amplitude Research, buyers of new cell phones look at video capability (33%), music (34%), Internet access (61%), e-mail capabilities (63%), camera (67%), and text messaging (73%) as the most important features. For driving in the car, 62% said they would use Bluetooth, while 51% would use the hands-free microphones. Forty-one percent said they send or check e-mails one … [Read more...]
Are You Planning for Retirement?
How many people on your current staff are eligible for retirement in the next five years? This is a question I recently posed to the Human Resources director of a 100-person agency. I had been asked to come to the agency to discuss future trends and things the agency should do now to plan for the future. The director didn’t immediately know the answer to my questions—but it didn’t take her long to find out. After running a report on the … [Read more...]
IRMI Glossary Available Online—Free
International Risk Management Institute, Inc. (IRMI) has made access to the Glossary of Insurance and Risk Management Terms available on its public Web site, www.IRMI.com. There is absolutely no cost to access definitions of the 3,000-plus insurance terms it contains. Previously, this resource was only available to those who purchased it. In addition to definitions of more than 3,000 risk management and insurance terms, the IRMI Glossary … [Read more...]
Bridging the Gap… and Seizing the Opportunity
I’ve been around this industry a long time. Over the years, I have had the privilege of participating in many projects that attempted to work on improving how agents, agencies, insurance companies, and vendors work. While I believe that progress has been made, there are many gaps in our industry. The industry as a whole needs to work on closing these gaps in order to make a profound difference in the profitability and viability of independent … [Read more...]
Microsoft Online Services Extends SaaS to SMB Users
Microsoft recently announced plans to provide a software-as-a-service offering not just to the large enterprises already eligible for such a service from Microsoft, but to companies of all sizes. Through the new Microsoft Online Services, businesses with less than 5,000 employees will be able to subscribe to Internet-based applications from Microsoft and its partners instead of buying hardware servers and software licenses. Initially, the … [Read more...]
Using Voice as a Signature
In today’s world, electronic commerce is no longer a “nice-to-have” capability. Many consumers have become less tolerant of paper-based transactions and expect all financial transactions to be supported in an electronic environment. The insurance industry (both agents and carriers) needs to respond to consumers’ experiences with other financial vendors—or risk losing business to financial services organizations that have adopted … [Read more...]
Online Inventory
One of the biggest barriers to effectively handling a claim for your client is helping them ensure they have a full inventory of the contents they lost. There has been various software solutions created to help with this problem. AnywhereVault is a personal inventory Web site that helps people document their personal property and important paperwork so they can more easily recover from theft, fire, or other disaster. As a byproduct of … [Read more...]
Capture Pictures as Documents
scanR is a service that helps you capture information contained in whiteboards, documents, and business cards. You simply use your cell phone camera or digital camera to take clean photos of whiteboards, paper documents, and business cards. If you use your camera phone, you send the picture via MMS (also called Multimedia Messaging, PIX Messaging, or Picture Mail) or e-mail to scanR. To send an MMS, take a photo, select the option to send the … [Read more...]
