Insurance Vertical Affords Systems Integrator ECM Success
This systems integrator expects at least 70% growth this year by addressing the ECM (enterprise content management) needs of its clients.
How would you like to grow your ECM business solely on the referrals of your past clients? Engraphix Imaging Systems, Inc. has been doing so for more than 10 years. The Houston-based integrator credits its success in large part to providing ECM solutions to the insurance agency vertical. An example is a recent installation completed at insurance brokerage firm Lanier Upshaw, Inc.
All of Lanier Upshaw's incoming mail is processed at one location and physically routed to its branch locations. Prior to the installation of its new ECM solution, employees manually scanned incoming insurance documents into folders stored on its LAN. The employees then added annotations, which referenced the save location on the network, into AMS Services' Sagitta agency management software. Customer service representatives would have to close Sagitta, open a separate application, and browse through network folders to find scanned information.
"The IT manager was feeling pressured to get an ECM solution in place to reduce the amount of time it took to scan, route, and access incoming documents," says Brian Vandivere, VP of Engraphix. "However, the firm was sold a system that didn't address its entire business process." In fact, the ECM system was still not functional six months after being implemented.
Engraphix was first introduced to Lanier Upshaw at an AMS Services users' group conference. After other users' group members recommended Engraphix to Lanier Upshaw, Vandivere was called and asked if an ECM solution could be completed in 60 days. "Before promising to meet that deadline, we performed a three-day on-site survey and created a detailed proposal and implementation plan, which Lanier Upshaw accepted. We went from receiving the initial call to a fully functional system integrated completely with Sagitta within 60 days," says Vandivere.
Engraphix' solution included Hyland Software OnBase content management software. The remainder of the installation included Ascent Capture imaging software from Kofax and a Spectrum XF 8090 scanner by Böwe Bell + Howell, which were both purchased through distributor NewWave Technologies, Inc. "Within mission-critical environments, we rely entirely on the Böwe Bell + Howell Spectrum line due to the reliability we've noticed throughout our history of using these scanners," says Vandivere. While Spectrum models equal 40% of the scanners Engraphix has deployed, they account for only 10% of scanner-related service calls.
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The biggest obstacle Engraphix had to overcome was that its solution cost approximately 70% more than what Lanier Upshaw had paid for the competing product. Vandivere remarks that the key to overcoming price objections and winning over companies like Lanier Upshaw is to show how your solution really does cover the client's entire business process. In this case, Engraphix wasn't just providing a way to scan and retrieve documents from within Sagitta. "A pain point with most insurance agencies is identifying and getting key documents to agents in the shortest amount of time possible," says Vandivere.
To address what traditionally has been a completely manual activity for Lanier Upshaw, Engraphix created a custom mailroom module to interface between Ascent Capture and OnBase. This module allows a scanner operator to scan and instantaneously route insurance documents to the correct client service representatives. In addition, accessing the information once it's scanned takes a matter of seconds and can be done from within Sagitta. Prior to the install, the entire process of receiving, scanning, and routing mail could take up to three days.
While the mailroom module Engraphix made for Lanier Upshaw will have to be slightly customized for other firms, the core software remains the same. Engraphix expects to integrate the module as part of installations at three new clients early this year.