Ridgeland, Mississippi-based Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company (SFBCIC) has improved customer service and risk management by replacing manual processes used by field underwriters with electronic processes based on Windows Mobile devices.
In looking to update manual field data collection processes, SFBCIC decided to try devices powered by the Windows Mobile operating system because Windows Mobile supports a wide range of software and because the insurance company’s software designers were already working with Microsoft development tools such as the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET development system and the Microsoft .NET Framework version 2.0 programming model. For its data-handling project, SFBCIC developers selected the .NET Compact Framework version 1.0, which runs on mobile devices.
“From a designer’s point of view, creating the application using the Windows Mobile platform and the .NET Compact Framework allowed our developers to reuse skills learned while creating more traditional Windows and browser-based solutions,” says Joey Brown, Software Development Manager at SFBCIC.
The survey application has two components – a Web application running on a server computer with the Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition operating system and an application running on Windows Mobile powered devices. The Web application converts data to XML format for exchange between line-of-business software and for transfer of survey forms to mobile devices. SFBCIC integrates the survey application with valuation programs such as Marshall & Swift estimating software for homeowners’ reports, and other line-of-business software. Underwriters can quickly generate reports with a few clicks of a mouse.
The program was deployed on HP iPAQ Pocket PCs, which were selected by affiliate companies who found them reliable and easy to use. An initial test deployment was limited to 25 field inspectors, who have completed 4,234 surveys with the solution in its first year of deployment. The test deployment helped the company spot challenges unique to the service areas. For example, many areas the underwriters traveled to did not have service coverage. Because the data was not needed immediately for reports, the development team was able to let underwriters wait to transfer data until they returned to the office and use Microsoft ActiveSync technology to transfer information.
The new solution has helped field underwriters deliver information faster to their customers. Field underwriters can evaluate data quickly and suggest corrective actions to customers before submitting a report for the final recommendation. Customers can make any changes needed to ensure coverage, and as a result, SFBCIC turns down less business. Also, previously SFBCIC field underwriters spent each Friday in an office transcribing data and writing reports. Now, they have the day free for property inspection.