Agency Software

insman · Post by **insman** » Tue Nov 02, 2004 10:12 am

Agency Advantage is pretty popular among agents I know. Strong features for not a lot of money - $175 per month. QuickFile seemed pretty weak and Doris got expensive after being bought by Applied.

insone · Post by **insone** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 1:20 pm

A new one on the market is Nexsure from XDeminsional Technologies. Might worth a look.
Does anyone know anything about this product?

Trojan Fan · Post by **Trojan Fan** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 11:40 am

One of the most flexible systems I have come across is EbixASP, from Ebix. It is very customizable, great support and they are very accomdating to agencies. Ask for their Califronia rep, he knows this market well.

MJC · Post by **MJC** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 2:17 am

InStar has become synonymous with innovation, quality, and value both in the multiple products lines. InStar software has proven to be revolutionary, and it is continually evolving to serve you better. InStar has become the leader in insurance automation as much for its innovation as for its surprising value. Pricing is very competitive and is thousands of dollars less than other systems.

For any agency that has neglected the ACCOUNTING area of their business and desire to get it finally under control, should at least check out the InStar program. InStar strongest advantage over any "Insurance" software is their accounting portion of the program.

This is just my opinion and I could be wrong however, I thought I would at least share from my personal experience during my 30 years in this industry.

Granted, accounting is my area of expertise and I continue to be amazed how little attention is paid to this area of a business.
Quickbooks is a wonderful program but just is not design nor has the capacity to track or provide the audit trail required for "Insurance" accounting.

Food for thought....If the Insurance Commissioner, IRS or an Insurance Company requested your Balance Sheet & Profit/Loss Statement to confirm that you were in trust; would you be comfortable providing this from your present system? Could you provide it? Is it accurate? Is there a complete audit trail?
I discovered that my answer was "NO" to the majority of those questions. Flash on the possible consequence for a second.
If your answers are "YES", please share what software you use (except for Quickbooks or Doris). If not, I highly recommend you obtain InStar Software demo and check out the Accounting portion of this program. Especially those of you that have neglect your accounting or would like to cut the time spent on doing accounting by at least 40-50% to concentrate on sales.

loudmouth · Post by **loudmouth** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 5:51 pm

I'd have to agree with many of the posts regarding this topic. Know your total cost involved with the product you purchase. I made the mistake of buying AMS PRime. The started out with an acceptable monthly fee and then in 3 months after purchase they increased it. The program is great but not worth what I am paying for support. I am now shopping for a new system.

I'm thinking of going to agencypro. This weekend and tomorrow I am going to play with the software and see if i can grow to like it now that I have some real experience with Prime I can compare the two.

insureness · Post by **insureness** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 11:13 am

How about the Nexsure product from XDTI? Any news about this system? Its an on-line system. Cost effective. Loaded w/ functions.
Its newer.

Clozer · Post by **Clozer** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 8:25 pm

I have learned from the posts and from speaking with representives that DORIS seems to be the best without at doubt. They are having a sale.... or cheaper price for April... any questions about this , please e-mail me..... ClintAdam@AAIAFS.com

bobbyj · Post by **bobbyj** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 4:15 pm

You NEED to check out Nexsure (XDimensional Technologies-www.xdti.com). It's the best system and it's completely web based (so there's nothing to load or maintain on your local pc or network). Agencies have switched off of all of the older systems to this platform. It is, however, only offered to agencies with 10 or more employees.

insureness · Post by **insureness** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 6:19 am

If Nexsure is the best, what is the customer base? The company website says its been serving the agent market since '89. And Nexsure has been around since '01. How many customers?

TheInsKid · Post by **TheInsKid** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 9:30 am

We are on Nexsure and the system is on the cutting edge. New platform not like the other systems who lay a new "system" over old tech..
They have about 90 systems on line and have started with the smaller agencies which we are not one of. We are larger and there are at least 3 very large agencies coming on line in the next 60 days. Hartford has a large steak in this group. The system is going thru constant change (upgrading all of the time, leterally every week) and like everything new, it can be a real challenge with this system. If you are not tech savy, then you better not buy it as it will drive you crazy however if you are a tech type of person than you will love it, as we have. We demo'd every other system and put them thru the tests and Nexsure came out on top. Not by far the cheapest but more cutting edge and inovated than anyone else by far. Since it is internet based, you can access the system from anywhere.

oldagent · Post by **oldagent** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 12:36 pm

Thanks for the info InsKid. I did look into the Hartford ownership. XDimensioal is listed as a subsidiary on the Hartford's 2003 financial statement. I'm not a CPA,but I'd guess Hartford's steak is huge now that we are in 2005 with only 90 systems installed to date. Wonder how much hartford owns?

Constant upgrading? sounds more like Fixes.

Hope they make it.....AMS and Applied need some competition.

techsavvyins · Post by **techsavvyins** » Fri Apr 29, 2005 7:50 am

If it was not for the hartford this company would have been dead years ago. Alot of bark with little to no bite. If anyone takes a look at Nexsure ask the rep how many time its been thrown back to them post sale. Word is the app has some advanced features and is flexible but the core agency management requirements (accounting) are immature. Just be cautious. I agree w/ InsKid, if you are tech savvy and an early adopter this system might be attractive.

TheInsKid · Post by **TheInsKid** » Fri Apr 29, 2005 6:11 pm

You are right techsavvyins about the accounting side; the program is somewhat immature but has made great strides in the past 75 days. You have got to remember that this system is in its infancy and like a new baby it will take time to develop. This true ASP platform is outstanding however and is the wave of the future. One of the many things we really like about it is that we are direct input into how the system is built something you do not get anywhere else that I have ever seen.

The system is growing and the fixes are usually not fixes but true upgrading due to suggestions by users. They do fix things as well and the key to the fixes is that they can be completed overnight to the entire system so you do not have to wait for a CD to come your way. The system is very stable in the operation and using the e platform allows you to use the system as no other system. As I have stated previously you have to be tech savvy.

Personally I have not seen any accounting parts on these systems that I really like, this is an area that is usually the weakest part of the systems as least for larger agencies. Accounting seems to be an after thought.

Michagent · Post by **Michagent** » Wed May 04, 2005 10:23 am

InsKid, the nexsure system might be stable but its not clear if the company is. This company might be a hartford sub, but hartford is not required to divulge financial information; therefore, details of the financial status will be difficult to verify.