Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company

Regional Insurance Company Decreases Risk, Improves Service with Mobile Technology

Based in Mississippi, Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company (SFBCIC) delivers insurance coverage to customers in the southern United States. The company wanted to improve service and minimize risk in the hurricane-prone region, but it was hindered by inefficient data processing. To improve how it handled data, SFBCIC implemented a solution based on the Windows Mobile® operating system and the Microsoft® .NET Compact Framework. The company replaced manual processes with a custom application that runs on Windows Mobile and integrates with industry-specific software. As a result, SFBCIC can reduce risk and improve customer service with faster access to more information, and employees save time with automated data handling. Underwriters collect more-detailed information, which the company can use to strengthen risk management and drive better business decisions.

Situation

Our application based on Windows Mobile technology automates reporting and does so without taking much time from our underwriters. As a result, they have recovered 20 percent of their workweek.  Joey Brown Software Development Manager Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company

Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company (SFBCIC) is a regional property and casualty insurance company with operations in six southern states and Colorado. Based in Ridgeland, Mississippi, SFBCIC and its affiliated companies manage nearly 2.5 million policies and hold more than U.S.$1.3 billion in annual premiums. The insurance company stays competitive by continuously improving its products and services for policyholders.

Established more than 50 years ago, SFBCIC provides a variety of products and services, including homeowners, auto, inland marine, and flood insurance. With most of its coverage in coastal states, the company also pays claims on catastrophic events such as hurricanes. IT and operational support is centered at company headquarters in Ridgeland, Mississippi, and most policy fieldwork is handled by offices in other states.

Insurance industry underwriters have two primary job functions: account underwriters, who decide which risks are acceptable and ensure that policies are correctly priced; and field underwriters, who inspect property and collect the information for reports used to assist in making those decisions. 

At SFBCIC, field underwriters previously gathered data through cumbersome manual data collection processes. Many inspectors brought portable computers into the field with them for access to insurance information and e-mail accounts. However, information was not collected electronically. Instead, field inspectors recorded data with pen and paper on a variety of forms and returned to an office later to file reports. Writing reports often included typing data into valuation programs such as Marshall & Swift estimating software for homeowners reports. Each Marshall & Swift report, which generates property replacement costs, took approximately 25 minutes to produce.

Because data was not collected in a standard format, it was often incomplete and difficult to transcribe and store electronically. The result was duplicate effort and a lack of reusable information. Field inspectors would spend Monday through Thursday making visits to properties to take notes and photographs, and then they would spend all day Friday in an office writing reports. “The whole process was time-consuming and error- prone, and ultimately there wasn’t much value in the data after the fact,” says Joey Brown, Software Development Manager at SFBCIC.

Incomplete or inaccurate data can make managing risk difficult. SFBCIC employs a group of underwriters responsible for supporting states with the underwriting process in addition to risk management. To improve the quality of the data, the team’s manager, George Pink, asked the IT group to automate some of the forms used for information collection. Pink and his team sought to reduce risk and increase efficiency by improving data-handling processes.

Solution

The software development group at SFBCIC went on rounds with field underwriters to learn how they collected information and to suggest ways for improving the process. First they tried collecting data on portable computers, but the devices were too large and awkward to manage while inspecting building premises. Next they looked at mobile devices from several vendors. They wanted a platform that would support easier application development with existing skills.

We collect much more information now than when we used paper and pencil, and it’s also in a standard format. We are starting to look at trends, which is something we were never able to do.  Joey Brown Software Development Manager Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company

In early 2005, SFBCIC decided to try devices powered by the Windows Mobile® operating system. Windows Mobile was the right choice for SFBCIC because it 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 2003 development system and the Microsoft .NET Framework version 2.0 programming model. The company is currently migrating from Visual Studio .NET 2003 to Visual Studio .NET 2005. For its data-handling project, SFBCIC developers would use 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,” Brown says. “You won’t find this ability to reuse skills in a cross-platform environment with any other vendor. This was a big benefit.” 

The .NET Compact Framework was also an important consideration because it supports database interaction, Web applications, network connectivity, and Extensible Markup Language (XML) document manipulation. These features would give SFBCIC the flexibility it needed to exchange data automatically between mobile devices, line-of-business applications, and database software.

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 the Marshall & Swift program and other line-of-business software, and underwriters can quickly generate reports with a few clicks of a mouse button.

Brown, , with senior developers Wayne Chisholm and Barry Morton and guidance from Pink designed a survey program to assess homeowner liability, and they pilot-tested the application in mid-2005 on Windows Mobile powered HP iPAQ Pocket PCs. Because Windows Mobile operates on a variety of mobile devices, SFBCIC allowed their affiliated companies to choose the hardware that worked best for them. As a result, underwriters selected the iPAQ because they thought it was reliable and easy to use. The solution was put into production in early 2006 with Windows Mobile version 5.0 on iPAQ devices. Deployment was limited to 25 field inspectors, who have completed 4,234 surveys with the solution in its first year of deployment.

By using Windows technology and the .NET Compact Framework, SFBCIC had the flexibility it needed to quickly adapt the solution to meet the needs of its production environment. For instance, the team originally designed the application to transfer data stored on devices over a cellular network. However, many areas the underwriters traveled to did not have service coverage. Because the data was not needed immediately for reports, the development team decided that underwriters would wait to transfer data until they returned to the office. Now they use Microsoft ActiveSync® technology to transfer information to a custom Web application. The Web application stores the data in Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005 Enterprise Edition database software.

The server software was designed to be easily modified by nontechnical administrators, who can quickly customize survey forms for specific assignments. For example, underwriting management might add new roofing material to a drop-down list. As a result, field underwriters can collect more data with greater accuracy, and the modified forms are stored and refined with each new inspection.

SFBCIC uses Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition for its corporate messaging system, and field underwriters use e-mail messages as part of the inspection workflow. After completed surveys are transferred to the Web application, an e-mail message is automatically created and sent to account underwriters with supporting attachments and a hyperlink to the report. Underwriters use the Microsoft Office Outlook® 2003 messaging and collaboration client in the office and Office Outlook Web Access in the field.
 
SFBCIC plans to make more changes to the solution as it adds users. For example, the company will also integrate SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition with the application on mobile devices to improve data storage and transfer. Field underwriters will have the ability to transfer data over the air through an Internet connection in addition to using ActiveSync when they return to an office.

Benefits

With a solution based on Windows Mobile technology, SFBCIC improves business by reducing risk and delivering better service to its customers. Underwriters save valuable time through automated data collection and reporting, and the company can take advantage of more data to drive better business decisions. 

With faster access to more information, we can get problems fixed that might otherwise cause damage or accidents. We are making 50 percent more corrective recommendations than we were before.  Joey Brown Software Development Manager Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company

Strengthened Customer Service

Because field underwriters electronically collect and store data, they 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.

“Windows Mobile helps us deliver more than just financial protection to our customers—the information we gather can be used to reduce losses and improve their safety,” says Brown. “Insured losses are not good for anyone—they’re not good for our customers and they’re not good for our insurance company.”

Reduced Business Risk

The solution helps protect customers, and it minimizes business loss to the insurance company. Brown points out that the least expensive way to resolve a problem is to stop it before it happens. “With faster access to more information, we can get problems fixed that might otherwise cause damage or accidents,” says Brown. “We are making 50 percent more corrective recommendations than we were before.”

Increased Efficiency

Before, SFBCIC field underwriters spent each Friday in an office transcribing data and writing reports. Now, they have the day free for property inspection. Underwriters transfer data automatically with ActiveSync at the end of each day, and they use the survey software to quickly generate reports.

For instance, the Marshall & Swift report that took 25 minutes to complete is now processed in seconds. “Our application based on Windows Mobile technology automates reporting and does so without taking much time from our underwriters,” says Brown. “As a result, they have recovered 20 percent of their workweek.”

Improved Business Decisions

By implementing a solution in the .NET Compact Framework, SFBCIC delivers tools that end users can quickly adapt to changing business needs. For example, Underwriting management without programming experience can easily make changes to survey forms. As a result, field underwriters can ask targeted questions and return with more-detailed and more-accurate data. “The beauty of this solution is that underwriters now have the flexibility they need to design surveys that capture the most relevant information,” says Brown.

He continues, “We collect much more information now than when we used paper and pencil, and it’s also in a standard format. We are starting to look at trends, which is something we were never able to do.”

By collecting more-usable information, SFBCIC can start to analyze data to improve business decisions. For example, Brown points out that in an area prone to hurricanes, it will be especially helpful to correlate insurance claims with different types of roof construction. The insurance company can use the information to write better risks and improve recommendations to its customers. “There is a tremendous amount of data out there, and we have only just started taking advantage of it.”

For More Information

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www.microsoft.com

For more information about Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company products and services, call
(601) 957-7777 or visit the Web site at:
www.sfbcic.com

Windows Mobile

Windows Mobile brings the power of the Windows® operating system to mobile devices, helping businesses and their mobile employees stay connected while on the go. Windows Mobile runs mobile versions of Microsoft programs, including Microsoft® Office Outlook® Mobile, Internet Explorer® Mobile, Pocket MSN®, Windows Media® Player Mobile, and Microsoft Office Word Mobile, PowerPoint® Mobile, and Excel® Mobile. With Windows Mobile, information workers get powerful software combined with the familiarity of Windows. Combined with available service plans and connectivity options, Windows Mobile–based devices, available from 42 device makers and 68 mobile operators in 48 countries, can be used to make calls, send e-mail and instant messages, surf the Web, and access critical business information even when users are away from the office.

More information about Windows Mobile can be found at:
www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published October 2007