Agency Management System

Your response to industry hot topics.

Moderators: Josh, independent guy

Which System You Like?

NexSure
23
16%
Applied TAM
18
13%
Applied Epic
5
4%
AMS360
4
3%
Ebix
24
17%
Newton
3
2%
EbixASP
1
1%
Hawksoft
16
11%
Nasa Eclipse
1
1%
Other System
46
33%
 
Total votes: 141

vla01001
Insurance Journal Fan
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2015 9:35 am

Re: Agency Management System

Post by vla01001 »

I did look at Hawksoft, but it feels too old. We actually had a system when we first started. We ordered it from a company in Idaho. I dont remember the name of that system, it has been a few years. But it came in a disk which we needed to download on our computers. Terrible. We paid of 2k for the disk, then some sort of support fee of about 200 a month. We ended up installing it on one computer, did not use it all and tried returning. No luck with returning of course. They never even gave us a chance to explain. Simply said they will not refund us for the mistake we made to buy their product. Anyway, Hawksoft reminds me of that software. Just feels stuck in the stone ages.

What we are using is actually working pretty good. I have looked at Applied and the other one you mentioned, other than the price I dont see much difference from what got now. I will keep you posted as we are still evaluating it. By the way, no such evaluation period for any of those system I looked at, I really wanted this as we got burnt once before. This is one of the reasons I signed up for our current one.
James Bond
Insurance Journal Enthusiast
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Sep 22, 2015 1:56 pm

Re: Agency Management System

Post by James Bond »

Russmann wrote:A few questions:
1) Are you and your staff willing to put up with keystroke lag and slower response than an inhouse system?
2) Are you now or do you plan to use document management?
3) Does your agency have remote offices?
4) What is your internet connection like?
5) Are you willing to pay considerably more / month for the service?
6) Do you have someone you trust who provides your IT services?

If the answer to 1, 3, and 5 is "yes," the answer to 2 and 6 is "no," and you have a fibre or T1 connection (4) then I would say it's a good idea. Anything short of that you should probably rethink. Nexsure was written to optimize the web; not true with most other agency management systems. This will add more overhead than you're used to and hurt response time. Good luck.

Really well put.. I think this sums it up nicely
James Bond
Insurance Journal Enthusiast
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Sep 22, 2015 1:56 pm

Re: Agency Management System

Post by James Bond »

vla01001 wrote:I did look at Hawksoft, but it feels too old. We actually had a system when we first started. We ordered it from a company in Idaho. I dont remember the name of that system, it has been a few years. But it came in a disk which we needed to download on our computers. Terrible. We paid of 2k for the disk, then some sort of support fee of about 200 a month. We ended up installing it on one computer, did not use it all and tried returning. No luck with returning of course. They never even gave us a chance to explain. Simply said they will not refund us for the mistake we made to buy their product. Anyway, Hawksoft reminds me of that software. Just feels stuck in the stone ages.

What we are using is actually working pretty good. I have looked at Applied and the other one you mentioned, other than the price I dont see much difference from what got now. I will keep you posted as we are still evaluating it. By the way, no such evaluation period for any of those system I looked at, I really wanted this as we got burnt once before. This is one of the reasons I signed up for our current one.
I was left with the same impression of Hawksoft. It does feel old and awkward. However, don't be fooled by new and flashy either. There are a lot of software systems out there that look nice on the front end but are really poorly built on the back end.
sgriswold
Insurance Journal Fan
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Oct 31, 2015 11:40 am

Re: Agency Management System

Post by sgriswold »

I just switched from Nexsure to QQ Catalyst. Refreshing change.

My complaints with Nexsure:
* Built by engineers. Anyone who is a UI/UX nerd like me will understand this. The interface is literally garbage.
* Slow
* 100% web based, but inexplicably ONLY supports Internet Explorer. Even more inexplicably, it requires ActiveX. Even more even more inexplicably, is always 1-2 versions behind in support (e.g. won't support MS Edge yet).
* Every action is cumbersome; a simple cert takes 15 steps (create, post, add holder, issue, deliver)
* Zero help. Nobody ever answers their phone or responds to email. Help feature is out of date.
* Tries to do way too much (it "works best" if you have 100% of agency functions done with Nexsure, but nobody in their right mind would do this)
* Tries to accommodate nonstandard forms (e.g D&O) but the result is multiple useless form templates that do nothing helpful


I switched to QQ Catalyst last month. Advantages of this system are:

* Much more responsive development and support. I can actually talk to people over the phone and they respond to emails.
* Super-fast and very intuitive interface
* Integration with Quickbooks Online (this is impressive)
* Customizable dashboard

However, it still has a few minor quirks:
* Input redundancy (e.g. in a business file, you add "business contacts" and "employees" in separate screens. This information does not carry over nor can it be imported
* No support for nonstandard forms. In some cases, worse than Nexsure in that it won't even let you put in policy information in the "details" section. Irritating for agencies that do a LOT of PL/D&O
* Random limitations (i.e. dashboard lets you have a "cross-sell" panel but only lets you specify 1 parameter.


For the time being, this is a good system and I like it. However, I'm still looking for something with the following criteria:

1) Excellent, fast, web interface
2) Support for group benefits
3) Support for nonstandard lines
4) Responsive support and frequent updates

If anyone has suggestions, let me know.
Smalltownagent
Insurance Journal Addict
Posts: 49
Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:23 pm

Re: Agency Management System

Post by Smalltownagent »

sgriswold - I just signed up for Catalyst and we're still in the data conversion phase. I'm glad to hear your impressions on it.

I think it will work out great for us, as we're mainly a smaller P&C (Personal lines) agency. I was with AgencyPro, which is not web based. So it had to be hosted by a third party (which cost extra money) via a remote desktop. :roll: This made it ridiculously slow and the interface itself was anything but intuitive. It got the job done, but I needed something more modern/intuitive and with a few more bells and whistles.

We have very little D&O, PL and non-standard forms. So hopefully it will fit us great. Thanks for the input.
SandyB
Insurance Journal Fan
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Nov 06, 2015 11:27 am

Re: Agency Management System

Post by SandyB »

I have heard Vertafore's AIM system is very good for MGA operations. Thoughts? What versions are being supported? Do you know if there is an option to host local as well as cloud like other Vertafore products? Is this a long term viable product?
Iowa Guy
Insurance Journal Fan
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2012 11:40 am

Re: Agency Management System

Post by Iowa Guy »

I just purchased QQ Catalyst. Actually, I purchased Agency Softwares EZ Agent at the same time and went through downloads with both and tried them both for a week. I stuck with QQ. It's web based and very easy to use. EZ agent is pretty antiquated. Have to load it on your computer....

Also, a year or 2 ago I actually purchased Nexsure. I thought it would be exactly what I was looking for. While it has many of the same features as QQ Catalyst, it ended up being way too complex to use for us. Thankfully, they were very nice and allowed us to cancel it. Lots' of capability but as another poster mentioned, there are some issues with how complex it is.

I've been researching these things for years and so far, I really like QQ as well as any. I test drove theirs a few times over the years. The dashboard and the stack are invaluable IMO. There are a lot of little changes that could make it better and so far, every time I call (I call them alot) with questions or needing guidance, they are excellent. No waiting on hold.

Like I said, I researched a lot of systems and when I looked at QQ a few years ago, they seemed to be more personal lines based, they have beefed up the commercial lines (I am 95% commercial) and while there are some small changes that could be made, I really like it so far. It's been about a month that I've been using them and so far so good.

They were purchased by Vertafore, so who knows if that will be a good or bad thing.....

Certs are really easy. They don't have an option to send a cert as a fax (I use myfax.com as my electronic fax service. It's just like sending and receiving an email except it goes to a customer as a fax. I just create an email and type in the number +myfax.com and send it) They haven't figured that out yet. You can't do that in their system. They really need to fix that though. I just email it to my self from the system and the send it as a fax from there. No big deal, but is a bit of a pain.
OldIndyAgent
Insurance Journal Addict
Posts: 81
Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2011 7:07 am

Re: Agency Management System

Post by OldIndyAgent »

Purchased by AMS Vertafore...
Like finding a horse head in your bed.
Applied buys this one, AMS that one, Applied this one, AMS that one...
Did you ever wonder why?
TheFieldman
Insurance Journal Fan
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2013 12:43 pm

Re: Agency Management System

Post by TheFieldman »

If anyone is interested in selling me their legacy AMS Prime software and licenses, please PM me here. Need at least a 3 user license.

Thanks!
jessicab
Insurance Journal Fan
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Nov 19, 2015 1:20 pm

Re: Agency Management System

Post by jessicab »

We are an MGA who went live with Nexsure on 7/1/2015. It was a transition from Applied Systems EPIC. So far we've found it to have less downtime than EPIC. The reporting features have been easy to use and require minimal training or assitance.

It has been a cost effective system, we aren't limited to the number of users who can log in at one time and the cost per user/seat is very budget friendly.

I ma on a loaner computer right now and like that I didn't have to download anything to get myself back up and running, I just logged into Nexsure and everything was right where I needed it. As a bponus, must of the other websites I needed were in the "e links" tab so I didn't have to go hunting for those either.

I am mostly familiar with the accounting features of Nexsure. Again, I found the procedures to be intuitive and only had to be shown most things once. My accounting staff was nervous about changing systems but they were up and running with confidence very quickly.

I have been pleased with the transition.
jkfrazier
Insurance Journal Fan
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:35 am

Re: Agency Management System

Post by jkfrazier »

I'm considering changing from Applied Tam to either Quikfuzion, www.quikfuzion.com, or TechCanary, www.techcanary.com. Anyone here using or have experience with either of these? Both companies are fairly young and it's difficult to find reviews on either AMS.

I have requested referrals from each company but have not received any yet.

I like the idea and concept behind each using open source API's for added functionality.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

jf
Oscar
Insurance Journal Fan
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2015 11:33 am

Re: Agency Management System

Post by Oscar »

Applied TAM is really a terrific user friendly system. Applied EPIC must be good for Applied. Many agents find it very cumbersome and user unfriendly. Oscar
Askariot
Insurance Journal Fan
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2015 4:48 am

Re: Agency Management System

Post by Askariot »

With a great range of commercial CRM systems in market, my personal choice is bpm'online. I've been using it for a while now; affordable pricing and user-friendly interface makes it one of the top solutions in the market.
OldIndyAgent
Insurance Journal Addict
Posts: 81
Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2011 7:07 am

Re: Agency Management System

Post by OldIndyAgent »

Download? Forget that with CarnaryAMS, useless.
bpm'online is geared towards sales and not insurance as well.
I smell sales rats posting here...
QuikFuzion is by the guy that used to run FiServ, so a new product, not a new player.
jlbarbee
Insurance Journal Fan
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2016 8:49 am

Re: Agency Management System

Post by jlbarbee »

I am using Nexsure by XDimensional Technologies. I checked out multiple AMS vendors and wanted to find a solution that didn't require me to get a server and was scalable. We focus on aviation so I needed to find someone who worked well with our business. I picked Nexsure because their system has the ability to handle all lines of business including aviation. It is a scalable solution and I can add on additional features as my agency grows. It is a cloud based AMS so I don't have to purchase a server and they perform updates to keep the system operating at maximum efficiency. They have frequent back ups of their servers. We have been very happy with the sales, support and management team. They are very responsive and easy to work with. I highly recommend Nexsure. You can check our their website for more information at http://www.nexsure.com/ or contact me and I will answer any questions you may have.

Jeremy L. Barbee
President/Owner
Roy Neal Insurance
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