What Would You Do with an Extra Hour Each Day? – Why You Should Maximize Your Download Connections

Is your agency using download services to the fullest extent?

If not, you’re leaving valuable time and money on the table. By using all of the download connections available to you – including eDocs and Messages, Claims and Commercial Lines – your agency can realize significant time and cost savings. In fact, agencies currently utilizing download services report saving more than one hour per day per employee.

Download automates the exchange of policy, claims and billing information between you and your MGAs and insurers to ensure the most up-to-date information is instantly available at the moment you need it while eliminating the need for paper-based transactions. With help from insurers, more and more agencies like yours are automating servicing with download services. In fact, from 2015 to 2017, the number of eDocs and Messages download transactions processed through IVANS experienced an increase of 2361%. This dramatic increase shows that more of your peers are taking advantage of the opportunity to go paperless and gain extra time back in their day.

Are you taking advantage of all of your download connections?

Today, there are more than one million available connections, but 52% of those available have not been activated by agencies. Many agencies simply are not aware of all the download services their insurers offer or believe they already download every line of business. There is immense opportunity for your agency to take advantage of the time-saving and customer service benefits of receiving all available download services from your insurers.

With greater visibility into insurer download connections, your agency can:

• Operate within one standard workflow for all lines of business
• Eliminate re-keying of data to reduce processing time and mitigate errors and omissions
• Focus on the business of selling insurance, rather than policy administration
• Create upsell opportunities through better management of customer data

How you can get started

IVANS offers a free online tool to independent agents, IVANS Exchange, which allows you to review insurer download connections available to your agency and communicate interest in receiving download by line of business. The benefit of IVANS Exchange is that as your business needs change, you can expand and customize your insurer download connections to match your operational needs.

To get started with IVANS Exchange, follow these easy steps:

1. Register your agency or log in
   You must first log into your IVANS account before you can access any reports or dashboards in IVANS Exchange. To log in or register for a new account, visit exchange.ivansinsurance.com.
2. Access your Connections Report
   Once you have logged in or created an account, you can view your IVANS Connections Report. This report offers the opportunity to generate additional time savings for your staff and turn on download for every line of business for each insurer you represent. It shows all inactive download connections that are available for you to turn on to start driving efficiency. View more than 20 potential lines of business with the report, including eDocs and Messages, Claims, and Direct Bill Commission Statement download.
3. Customize your Connections Report
   Because this report is truly dynamic, you can customize each field to get a true representation of your agency’s download activity. Your report will display an “A” for available connections and “DL” for lines of business currently downloaded. You can also communicate directly with your insurers about desired download connections (marked by a “W”) or indicate if you are having download quality issues.

Why should your agency connect?

Connectivity between agencies and insurers is not only valuable to the growth of your agency, it is critical to compete in the digital age of insurance. Connectivity technology, like IVANS Exchange, streamlines processes to reduce the amount of time spent on administrative tasks, enabling you to drive more insurer connections and higher agent productivity. Ultimately, the ability to communicate and exchange information securely from insurer systems directly to your agency management system enhances your core value proposition as an independent agent – to provide the best products and advice to your clients.

For help in receiving your available downloads, contact the IVANS Connections team and they will help you configure your system.

Automated Servicing, Agency-Carrier Connectivity, Best Practices, Agents, 2018