Building Your Virtual Office

ORLANDO, FL, May 19 — Continuous access to agency services for customers, a flexible work environment for employees, eliminating the need for producers to report to an "office," and E&O loss prevention, are just a few of the benefits of a virtual office, said Edgar J. Higgins, Jr., owner of Thousand Islands Agency, who with Kim Henry, marketing manager for MCI, led a workshop titled "Building the Virtual Office" at ACORD's Technology Conference '97.

"Practically applying technology to daily work environments is an agent's most powerful tool to achieving world-class customer service," Higgins said. "Even a small three-person agency like ours can successfully compete. in our industry's challenging marketplace.

The benefits of a virtual office are many, he continued. Agency owners or managers are free to work from other locations as necessary. Employees have more flexibility for child or family needs, and also can take additional work home. A side benefit is errors & omissions loss prevention, Higgins said.

One of the biggest benefits from the virtual office is improved customer service. Thousand Islands greatly improved service to its customers by upgrading its existing phone system, Higgins said. After installing a voice mail system the agency found it could also offer a 24-hour claims service by automatically paging an on-call staff person. Twenty-four hour fax-on-demand access to more than 60 documents for clients followed. "Now our agency is not only ahead of the curve for our personal lines clients," Higgins said, "but we're leading the forward edge of practical technology applications."

MCI also is experienced in the process of setting up virtual offices. In 1995 MCI's core business was growing at three times the industry rate while entering into new markets, Henry said. Only 16 percent of their reps or managers had laptops; reps had a 70 percent PC illiteracy rate; and they were spending only 30 percent of their time with customers.

"We allowed our sales people and key marketing personnel to work any time, anywhere to communicate with the office, coworkers and customers transparently," Henry said. "The key is to respond quickly to the customer."

Today 100 percent of MCI's reps and managers have laptop computers; all reps are PC literate; virtually all of MCI's applications are designed for the laptop; and reps report increased productivity and increased time spent with customers, Henry said.

While employees benefit greatly from a virtual office, they're not the only ones. Company benefits include increased productivity, increased revenue, attrition and retention of key staff, real estate cost savings, an increased competitive advantage, compliance with legal regulations, more time spent with customers, and maintaining productivity during emergencies.

"Building the Virtual Office" was one of 29 workshops presented during the three-day ACORD Technology Conference '97, attended by more than 800 of the industry's leading technology users and providers. The Conference, which included tracks for agents, company representatives, and software developers, is in its fifth year. For the first time, this year's program featured several events for the Life Insurance industry.
Next year's ACORD Technology Conference will take place at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Orlando, FL, May 17-19. Keynoting the opening session will be Oren Harari, author of Jumping the Curve: Innovation and Strategic Choice in an Age of Transition. Harari brings provocative new perspectives on competitive advantage, organizational change, and transitional leadership.

ORLANDO, FL, May 19 — Continuous access to agency services for customers, a flexible work environment for employees, eliminating the need for producers to report to an "office," and E&O loss prevention, are just a few of the benefits of a virtual office, said Edgar J. Higgins, Jr., owner of Thousand Islands Agency, who with Kim Henry, marketing manager for MCI, led a workshop titled "Building the Virtual Office" at ACORD's Technology Conference '97.

"Practically applying technology to daily work environments is an agent's most powerful tool to achieving world-class customer service," Higgins said. "Even a small three-person agency like ours can successfully compete. in our industry's challenging marketplace.

The benefits of a virtual office are many, he continued. Agency owners or managers are free to work from other locations as necessary. Employees have more flexibility for child or family needs, and also can take additional work home. A side benefit is errors & omissions loss prevention, Higgins said.

One of the biggest benefits from the virtual office is improved customer service. Thousand Islands greatly improved service to its customers by upgrading its existing phone system, Higgins said. After installing a voice mail system the agency found it could also offer a 24-hour claims service by automatically paging an on-call staff person. Twenty-four hour fax-on-demand access to more than 60 documents for clients followed. "Now our agency is not only ahead of the curve for our personal lines clients," Higgins said, "but we're leading the forward edge of practical technology applications."

MCI also is experienced in the process of setting up virtual offices. In 1995 MCI's core business was growing at three times the industry rate while entering into new markets, Henry said. Only 16 percent of their reps or managers had laptops; reps had a 70 percent PC illiteracy rate; and they were spending only 30 percent of their time with customers.

"We allowed our sales people and key marketing personnel to work any time, anywhere to communicate with the office, coworkers and customers transparently," Henry said. "The key is to respond quickly to the customer."

Today 100 percent of MCI's reps and managers have laptop computers; all reps are PC literate; virtually all of MCI's applications are designed for the laptop; and reps report increased productivity and increased time spent with customers, Henry said.

While employees benefit greatly from a virtual office, they're not the only ones. Company benefits include increased productivity, increased revenue, attrition and retention of key staff, real estate cost savings, an increased competitive advantage, compliance with legal regulations, more time spent with customers, and maintaining productivity during emergencies.

"Building the Virtual Office" was one of 29 workshops presented during the three-day ACORD Technology Conference '97, attended by more than 800 of the industry's leading technology users and providers. The Conference, which included tracks for agents, company representatives, and software developers, is in its fifth year. For the first time, this year's program featured several events for the Life Insurance industry.

Next year's ACORD Technology Conference will take place at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Orlando, FL, May 17-19. Keynoting the opening session will be Oren Harari, author of Jumping the Curve: Innovation and Strategic Choice in an Age of Transition. Harari brings provocative new perspectives on competitive advantage, organizational change, and transitional leadership.