OpenInsight Application Brings Sophisticated Automation To Automotive Insurance Claims Settlement
Field Technicians Use SRP’s "On The Go!" To Schedule Appointments, Inspect Damage, Scan Receipts, Store Digital Photos, Send E-Mail, And More - All On Truck-Mounted Laptop Computers With Cellular Modems
The good news: after your fender-bender, you’re safe and healthy. The bad news: your car isn’t. Now comes the hard part: appraisers, estimates, appointments, delays, red-tape, paperwork - and frustration. As many drivers will attest, perhaps the only thing worse that a car accident is the often difficult process of settling the insurance claim.
One innovative California company, however, is taking much of the delay and paperwork out of insurance claims and repair. Automotive Radio Equipment (ARE) using an innovative OpenInsight application developed by
SRP Computer Solutions, has slashed the process. ARE schedules appointments with the insured to collect deductibles, process forms, obtain receipts, and provide a complete case file to the insurance company. Using SRP’s "On The Go!" ARE can now close automotive claims with insurance companies in less than 24 hours, eliminating incomplete paperwork and needless delay.
Reducing The Paperwork And Increasing Quality of Cases
It wasn’t always so easy, of course. Before rolling out the OpenInsight application, ARE technicians needed to perform numerous manual processes - many of which were bypassed in the rush to complete a case. The result: incomplete paperwork and delays.
ARE turned to SRP to create a sophisticated remote application that would help ARE cut through the paperwork and delays to help its customers faster and provide insurance companies with the right documentation at the right time.
According to Donald Bakke, Principal of SRP Computer Solutions, the two companies had clear objectives. "We wanted to create a laptop-based application that the technicians could use in the field," he said. "But we wanted to be sure it was helpful, not a barrier to completing their jobs. The application we designed runs on laptops that are transferred to a special tray mounted in each technician’s truck. This replaces much of their manual tasks by automating the technician’s day and replacing the pile of paper that had to be hauled to each job site."
SRP chose to write the application in Revelation Software’s OpenInsight application development environment. OpenInsight is a repository-based development environment that facilitates the graphical creation and editing of all components in an application. The product includes a suite of event-driven tools for designing and creating windows, reports, popups, and other events. It uses the powerful BASIC+ event-driven scripting language to provide database management and application definition.
All of these tools are integrated into OpenInsight's unique Application Manager repository that facilitates a collaborative development process. Using the repository, developers can re-use software components within a single application or across multiple applications. Overall quality increases as previously tested and approved components are reused consistently. The repository also includes application inheritance, component "check-in/check-out" code modules for off-line work, impact analysis, and extensibility to accommodate other third-party tools and components.
"ARE already had a field-service application written in Advanced Revelation [Revelation Software’s character-based development suite]," said Bakke. "We were really glad to work with OpenInsight, because we could move forward into Windows and still retain the data/dictionary/index files from the previous application. OpenInsight is an ideal tool for this application."
A Day In The Life of an ARE Technician - With On The Go!
For ARE’s field technician’s On The Go! helps structure each day’s activities and helps ensure that each case is processed completely. A typical day might include the following:
- Turn on the OTG laptop. After the technician enters the correct password to the system, OTG automatically dials into ARE's main computer. OTG retrieves the technician's schedule, work, inventory, and E-mail information for the day.
- OTG then allows the technicians to review new E-mail messages and to create or reply to messages.
- OTG displays several information screens detailing where each job is, what type of work is involved, who the contact is, time of appointment, and more.
- Using a small receipt-style dot-matrix printer, OTG prints out a list of inventory items needed from their stock to complete each job.
- At this point, OTG will dial up to ARE's main computer one more time to upload any outgoing E-mail messages from the technician. Once this is done, OTG signals the technician to turn off the laptop and to turn it back on once he is in the truck and ready to leave.
- When the technician next runs OTG, a screen with the address and time expected to arrive for the first job appears. When he arrives, OTG logs the arrival time and displays a series of screens that describe what the technician should do. For instance, OTG might prompt the technician for each inspection item to perform and record the results. OTG also prompts the technician to take pictures of the damage using a digital camera. OTG will load the pictures from the camera and automatically label them in accordance with the job. OTG can even detect if no were photos taken and will not allow the technician to proceed until this step is complete. OTG also will prompt the technician to collect certain receipts. Instead of photocopying, the technician runs them through a portable scanner connected to the laptop in the truck. Again OTG labels these files accordingly and prevents the technician from proceeding until this is done.
- Once a job is finished, the technician can optionally dial up the main office and transfer case data through their cellular phone. However, since cellular data communication is slow and unreliable, the technician typically skips this step. OTG then brings up the next screen indicating where the technician should go.
- Finally, at the end of the day, the technician moves the laptop from the truck back into the office. From there, OTG automatically dials up and uploads all information and files related to the completed work.
Faster, More Accurate Claims Processing With On The Go!
Since the ARE main office no longer needs to wait for this information to arrive by postal mail, they can close these claims in less than 24 hours, producing high quality "packages" for the insurance companies by printing out the digital photos and scanned receipts.
"The results have been fantastic for ARE," said Bakke. "Technicians no longer have to rely on memory and a pile of paperwork to get their job done. Accounting no longer has to rely on incomplete and/or late packages from the technicians. In general, the entire process is much more efficient and professional. This is helping ARE boost its image with their clients and it is giving ARE the technology to migrate across the country with greater ease."
To find out more information about SRP Computer Solutions, please email the company at
dbakke@srpcs.com.