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Veruna (Westborough, Mass) has selected Duck Creek Technologies’ (Columbia, S.C.) AgencyConnect Integration Kit to convert policy and direct bill commission statement downloads from AL3 into ACORD XML for use in the Salesforce-based, open-platform Veruna AMR agency management system, which received a 2016 ACORD Leadership Award at the firm’s debut at the ACORD 2016 show.
“Agents are increasingly vocal about their dissatisfaction with traditional upload and download capabilities,” comments Jai Mistry, principal solutions architect at Veruna. “Improving the customer experience for agents is a critical step toward increasing sales and agency retention. By translating download data into XML, opportunities to leverage that policy information open up exponentially.”
AgencyConnect, one of several new solutions Duck Creek gained through its acquisition of Agencyport Software, is an industry-leading conversion interface between agency management systems and real-time rating systems for insurance companies’ processing of new business intake. The solution offers carriers the following capabilities according to Duck Creek’s description:
- A single entry point to any agency interface transaction including upload, bridging, and real-time rating
- Seamless plugin to leading export services including TransactNOW, Transformation Station, PL Rater, and others
- Mappings and transformations from various data formats to a single, accurate and consistent input/output ACORD XML data stream
- Advanced data handling capabilities including normalization, validation, and real-time corrections
- A robust toolset to handle all integration, mapping and orchestration configuration
- Data routing based on content and definition
- Streamlined, easy-to-use interface to manage gap analysis when downstream systems can’t
Duck Creek reports that Veruna will apply these capabilities to convert the antiquated AL3 download format into the more robust ACORD XML, which serves as the foundation of the Veruna AMR solution.
Friendly, Flexible, Open
“The standard across the industry today is XML—except for download,” comments Curt Stevenson, chief digital officer, Duck Creek Technologies. “Unfortunately, almost all downloads from carrier systems are currently distributed to agency management systems in AL3, an archaic and very limiting file format. XML is much friendlier, flexible, open, and well-suited for contemporary agency management systems, apps, and other integrations.”
Curt Stevenson, Chief Digital Officer, Duck Creek Technologies.
Veruna AMR leverages Salesforce, providing full access to more than 3,000 business apps on the Salesforce AppExchange, to deliver what the company calls a best-of-breed user experience based on the actual needs of insurance agents. The solution has a natively mobile interface, open platform and customizable functionality. Veruna describes the platform as providing unprecedented control with agency management technology that powers growth for the modern insurance agency. The solution’s modules have been built from the ground up to manage all lines of business, in contrast to legacy platforms designed for a single insurance vertical that have been modified to accommodate other lines over the years.
Duck Creek touts AgencyConnect as one of four new solutions that focus on providing intuitive, digital experiences between P&C carriers and their agents, brokers, consumers, and policyholders anytime, anywhere and from any device. The vendor’s newly added digital products also include AgencyPortal, Turnstile, and BookSmart.
Veruna Launches Salesforce-based Insurance Agency Management Platform