Agency Management System

[KeithA]

If you are looking for a management system for a MGA o GA then I suggest staying away from the retail agency management systems. Choose an Underwriting Workflow System that is built for the wholesale marketplace. Blue Goose (http://www.bluegoose.us/) has a product called ExpertInsure, it does everything a MGA or GA needs and fits a MGA much better than a retail system forced to work in a wholesale environment.

[mccloud55]

Hi, I am also trying to decide which Agency Management System will be the best for my start up independent agency. I found a small start up company named "Agency Automation Team" & their product seems to address a lot of the issues discussed on this forum. The problem is, the product has not officially been rolled out yet, so I"m not so sure whether to trust that it will work as mentioned on their website.....anyone have any comments about what things I should consider before selecting my agency management system?
thanks everyone

Here is a follow-up on what I found at the Utah Better Business Bureau on Quomation;

BBB Rating for Quomation Insurance Services
Based on BBB files, Quomation Insurance Services has a BBB Rating of F on a scale from A+ to F.
Reasons for this rating include:
•BBB does not have sufficient information to determine how long this business has been operating.
•BBB does not have sufficient background information on this business.
•Failure to respond to one complaint filed against business.
•One complaint filed against business that was not resolved.

Any questions??mccloud55
Insurance Journal Fan

Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Aug 25, 2010 2:24 pm
Private message

[siraj098]

I am looking for a sales person for agency management software. Let me know if any one in interested with a good background in sales.

Siraj

[Steley123]

Whatever choice is made, consider the prevailing trend in information systems. Desktop and server based systems are rapidly being replaced by cloud services. Unless you have a in-house team of crackerjack IT specialists, migrating to cloud-based applications is a virtual guarantee of lower costs and higher uptime and enormous time savings. Server and networking infrastructure and their related maintenance costs are reduced, while insuring the latest feature-set and security patches are always up-do-date. Capital expenditure is replaced by simple fixed subscription expense. Within a few short years, cloud services will be the norm. Shop vendors who share the vision and either now provide or will be migrating to a cloud-based environment.

[ASI123]

I read the comments throughout and would like to say that you don't have to spend the Big $$ on systems such as Applied or 360. However they defiantly do the job, but for a price and a huge monthly fee and they tend to increase those fees every year with no end in sight. And in most cases most agencies do not use 1/2 of what the system offer's. I have been helping Agencies for about 10 years with Management systems and can help any one of you achieve all of your goals with a lot less of the cost. We also have conversions of data built for just about any other system out there as well, so transition is fairly easy. Easy Apps is a name you might recognize but we also have very affordable managements systems ranging from $700-$2495 and we offer download both commercial and personal. We have no monthly fees and charge a very modest annual fee after the 1st year, We also have integration with rating systems such as Ez Lynx. We have both online and local server editions as well.

If your looking for a new system or to replace one feel free to contact me so I may get you some valuable information to review that could save you a lot of money and time.

Thanks for reading,

email me at dave@agencysoftware.com

[Istevens]

So much information in this topic it is hard to digest it all.

Our agency is a somewhat unique situation. We are a new agency with less than 5 employees. The owner was a principal of another agency and bought his book of business. The previous agency (40 employees) used AMS 360.

It is up to me to choose the new management system. We would prefer to stay away from AMS 360 or TAM for the simple reason the cost does not make sense for an agency this size. That said, we need to be able to migrate as much of the information from 360 to the system as possible as all his clients are higher level/service intensive accounts. Ideally we'd like a wholly web/cloud based system that is OS agnostic since we are using macs and most systems are windows based. We can run parallels on Mac OS to run windows which we are currently doing with AMS 360 which is web based but still has a windows component. We have an agreement with the other agency to use their system with until we choose ours. As you might imagine, the situation is not ideal but this is the task I have been given.

I have found one system that is wholly web-based called Aspire but cannot find any reviews/pricing http://www.impowersoft.com/Aspire/index.htm

Any thoughts/ideas/suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you

[SteveAnderson]

You are correct, there is a lot of information to digest when trying to figure out the best agency policy management system for your organization. Impowersoft’s Aspire is a new vendor and product with a web architected policy management system. You should contact them through their website for a demonstration of the product and pricing information. Some additional vendors to consider include: Evolution Agency Management at http://www.my-evo.com; SIS at http://www.sisware.com; and Ebix at http://www.ebixasp.com.

Because you're using Macs in your office you will want to make sure you thoroughly test how each of these programs function using the Safari browser. While I have not tested any of these programs personally, I suspect they all are designed to run in Microsoft Internet Explorer and may not function correctly in Safari. You may have to consider using Parallels (or other Windows emulation program) to run IE on your Mac.

You can also take a short email course I developed to help agents with the policy management system selection process. You can sign up for free at: http://steveanderson.com/choosing-the-b ... nt-system/.

Steve Anderson
http://www.SteveAnderson.com

[popodad]

I have to tell you.... Aspire Looks great but still far from it... The system is still to new to be charging the price of a Jaguar when they are offering a Kia.

Sorry but when you charge an upfront fee over $3500 and $400 per month for a 4 peson for a basic system without downloads or calendar/outlook sharing and with download they want to charge an additional upfront fee plus monthly fee they must be crazy.

The companies that we all have pay for downloads pay for it WHY are they also trying to charge us... plus the people you talk to NEVER worked in insurance. Good Luck but I would not give them a try right now.

[AgencyEquity]

An agency management system is essential to run an independent insurance agency. Many carriers will not provide an agency appointment without some sort of a system. There are over 15 different of such vendors who make well over 20 different insurance agency management systems in the marketplace. The two largest vendors have been the largest for some time, they are Applied Systems and AMS/Vertafore.

Should a new agency starting out go with one of the larger vendors? First of all, I would say an agency should always plan to get a system they are plan to keep indefinitely. Will circumstances change and needs change? Yes, but with advance planning, you can minimize the need to change systems, if you have to. If an agency is looking to add producers, they should keep that in mind when purchasing a system.

The larger more expensive systems have huge capabilities that are able to add all the branch office an agency may have along with hundreds if not thousands of producers. These system are flexible and are able meet the extensive needs of a these larger agency organizations. With the fast changing and innovative world of technology we have seen, the list of capabilities are constantly growing. We are seeing a lot more integration as these vendors are taking fully advantage of this, especially the newer systems.

To view a list of Agency Management Systems, please visit:
http://www.agencyequity.com/insurance_a ... nt_systems
To get more information about starting an independent insurance agency, please visit:
http://www.agencyequity.com/starting_an ... nce_agency

[glennen]

Anyone with experience with QQevolution? We are considering that one and hawksoft.

Any thoughts?

[jbsmithtx]

I am considering Hawksoft, Nexsure and QQSolutions for my small agency. They seem to be the ones that offer the functionality I need at reasonable costs. Anyone have any significant issues or negative experience with any of these that I should be aware?

[CSRQueen]

I am considering Hawksoft, Nexsure and QQSolutions for my small agency. They seem to be the ones that offer the functionality I need at reasonable costs. Anyone have any significant issues or negative experience with any of these that I should be aware?

As an end user, I've not been happy with Nexsure. let's just leave it at that.

Disclaimer: the opinions I've expressed here are my own and do not reflect those of my employer or their subsidiaries.

[volstrike3]

[quote="glennen"]Anyone with experience with QQevolution? We are considering that one and hawksoft.

Any thoughts?[/quote]


I switched fro Doris to QQEvolution 7 months ago and I am still trying to figure out what the catch is... QQ seems too good to be true. It is simple to use, cheap and can do everything we need. My CSR's love it.

[glennetheridge]

Check out Evolution Agency Management, http://www.my-evo.com

As low as $200 a month

What agency management system would give you, the agent, an Agent's Bill of Rights? What a concept!

1. That the agency, no matter what size, should have the ability to obtain and use a state of the art agency management system, at a reasonable price. Not long ago, the typewriter was a standard instrument in every agency. Now, a good agency management system should be just such a standard instrument.

2. That the agency should not be bound into an expensive long term contract. Like our underlying insurance business, renewals are based on value, service, and trust.

3. That the agency has an inalienable right to the data in the system. No matter where the data is stored and processed, the agency has the right to obtain a usable copy at a reasonable price. Under no circumstances will the data intentionally be made available to any third party without the agent's permission.

4. That the agency should not be subjected to price increases beyond cost of living increases, unless the value of the product itself is increased proportionately. Even then, to the greatest degree possible, the agency should be able to opt out of the additional features and cost.

5. That the agency should have the right to a completely transparent pricing structure. To that end, our prices are published openly, and they are the same for every agency.

6. That the agency should have the highest degree of self determination possible. To that end, if the agency wishes to leave the vendor, it should be able to obtain a long term right to use the system, and a usable copy of the underlying data if the vendor is hosting it.

[jbsmithtx]

Have done demos of Partner XE and Hawksoft and am torn. Both seem to do what we need and expect with Partner XE having a leg up due to the builtin accounting system.

Unfortunately, haven't been able to find much in the way of reviews for Partner XE and Hawksoft seems to be a little more broadly used.

Any real negatives I should be aware of with Partner XE?