Beacon Mutual To Implement FirstBest Agent Portal

Beacon Mutual Insurance, Rhode Island's largest writer of workers' compensation insurance, has selected FirstBest Systems' (Bedford, Mass.) Agent portal. FirstBest Agent will enable ease-of-doing-business for Beacon's independent agents through real-time collaboration and immediate production quotes, supporting the Warwick, R.I.-based carrier's aims of expanded market presence and increased submission counts, a First Best press release asserts.

"Beacon Mutual conducted exhaustive market research and in-depth reviews of agent portal solutions before selecting FirstBest to power our agent interactions," comments Robert DeOrsey, VP of underwriting, Beacon Mutual.'"Not only did FirstBest offer proven technology, stellar references and an experienced high-caliber team, they also gave us confidence in their ability to meet timelines. These are all critical components for a successful vendor relationship."

Once fully implemented, the new agent portal will be an integral part of Beacon Mutual's BEACONNECT site, providing upload, supplemental questions, STP (Straight-Through Processing) quoting, and real-time collaboration and visibility into the submission process for its 400 agents, according to the FirstBest press release.

"Like other FirstBest customers, Beacon Mutual expects to grow market share with FirstBest's agent portal.'Additionally, we aim to provide our agents with the best web portal technology available in the marketplace — a key goal we have committed to for our agents.'With the FirstBest solution, we will be able to provide greater ease of doing business and real-time collaboration, as well as improve profitability in both soft and hard markets," adds Beacon Mutual's DeOrsey.'

The vendor describes FirstBest Agent as an interactive Web 2.0 agent portal that allows agents to quickly and easily submit business, secure quotes and even bind. According to FirstBest, the offering functions as a complete point-of-sale portal for both new business and renewals, with dynamic supplemental data, shared documents, notes, instant alerts and mail notifications, and visibility into the submission process at any time, for carriers and their agents.'Agents get real-time quoting based on carrier-defined business rules, increased quality and volume of new submissions, time savings with automatic application form read/upload, and visibility into the book of business, the vendor says.'FirstBest Agent is offered as a stand-alone solution, or as part of FirstBest UMS.

"Insurance companies like Beacon Mutual, which provide agents with consistently high levels of service and web 2.0 collaborative tools that improve productivity and quality, will remain the carriers of choice," comments Joe Pilkerton, COO and Founder of FirstBest.'"Beacon Mutual is a pioneer in making the strategic move to adopt next-generation interactive agent technology.'FirstBest Agent is easy to learn and use and will significantly improve the carrier's existing market growth and ability to enter new markets."

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio