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Insurance Abstract
A method for generating a customized proposal in the development
of insurance plans for a customer is provided. Customer data is
stored within a database in a computer system. This database has
stored insurance plan products. A description of insurance plan
options available to the customer is displayed on a display device
based upon the stored customer data and user selected plan options
obtained from an input device. A customized proposal is generated
based upon a selection made from the presented insurance plan options.
The customized proposal includes a description of an insurance plan,
at least a portion of the customer data, and estimated costs for
the insurance plan. In addition, a computer system and a computer
program product readable by a computer system having computer-executable
instructions that when executed cause a processor of a computer
system to perform this method are provided.
Insurance Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for generating a customized proposal in the development
of insurance plans for a customer, the method comprising steps of:
storing customer data within a database in a computer system, the
database having stored therein insurance plan products; presenting
a description of insurance plan options available to the customer
on a display device of the computer system based upon the stored
customer data and user selected plan options obtained from an input
device of the computer system; and generating a customized proposal
based upon a selection made from the presented insurance plan options
that includes a description of an insurance plan, at least a portion
of the customer data, and estimated costs for the insurance plan.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising a step of printing
the customized proposal.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the generating step comprises
providing insurance company data as part of the customized proposal.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the generating step comprises
providing an insurance plan as part of the customized proposal.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the generating step comprises
providing insurance application form(s) as part of the customized
proposal.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the generating step comprises
providing benefit charts as part of the customized proposal.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the generating step comprises
providing provider information as part of the customized proposal.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising a step of providing
the customized proposal in electronic form to the customer.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the generating step comprises
deriving the estimated costs from information stored in the database.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the presenting step comprises
determining if an offered plan is available to the customer based
upon the user selected plan options or the customer data.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein the description of insurance
plan options includes an indication that a plan may be offered but
is not currently available to the customer based upon the plan requirements
data and either other selected plan options or the customer data
and wherein the indication comprises conditions which are not met
for the customer to qualify for the offered but currently not available
insurance plan.
12. The method of claim 1 wherein the presenting step comprises:
selecting, with the input device, one or more sets of possible insurance
plans from the insurance plan options presented to the customer
on the display device; determining an estimated cost for each of
the selected sets of insurance plans; and generating a customized
comparison for the possible set of insurance plans in the sales
computer system that includes the customer data, the description
of the selected insurance plans, and the estimated costs for the
selected set of insurance plans.
13. The method of claim 1 wherein the available insurance plan
options comprise a plurality of health insurance plans.
14. The method of claim 1 wherein the available insurance plan
options comprise a plurality of dental insurance plans.
15. The method of claim 1 wherein the available insurance plan
options comprise a plurality of life insurance plans.
16. The method of claim 1 wherein the available insurance plan
options comprise a plurality of disability insurance plans.
17. The method of claim 1 further comprising a step of transmitting
the customer data and user selected plan options from the computer
system to a remote server system for processing of a request for
insurance.
18. A computer program product readable by the computer system
having computer-executable instructions that when executed cause
a processor of the computer system to perform the method recited
in claim 1.
19. A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave readable
by a computing system, the computer data signal having encoded therein
instructions for executing a computer process that performs the
method recited in claim 1.
20. The method of claim 1 wherein the insurance plan comprises
a set of insurance plans.
21. The method of claim 1 wherein the storing step comprising storing
the customer data and insurance plan products in a relational database
that is hosted in a networked environment with portions stored in
a remote memory storage device.
22. The method of claim 1 wherein the storing step comprising storing
the customer data and insurance plan products in a relational database
comprising a plurality of modules.
23. A computer system for generating a customized proposal in the
development of insurance plans for a customer, the system comprising:
an input device configured to prompt a user of the computer system
to input customer data; a system memory having stored within a database
input customer data and insurance plan products information including
plan requirements data and plan options; a display device; and a
processor unit, operatively coupled to the input device, system
memory, and display device, that is configured to: (i) present a
description of insurance plan options available to the customer
on the display device based upon the customer data and user selected
plan options obtained from the input device, and (ii) generate a
customized proposal based upon a selection made from the presented
insurance plan options that includes a description of an insurance
plan, at least a portion of the customer data, and estimated costs
for the insurance plan.
24. The computer system of claim 23 further comprising a printer,
operatively coupled to the processor unit, configured to print the
customized proposal.
25. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the processor unit
is configured to provide insurance company data as part of the customized
proposal.
26. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the processor unit
is configured to provide an insurance plan as part of the customized
proposal.
27. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the processor unit
is configured to provide insurance application form(s) as part of
the customized proposal.
28. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the processor unit
is configured to provide benefit charts as part of the customized
proposal.
29. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the processor unit
is configured to provide provider information as part of the customized
proposal.
30. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the processor unit
is configured to provide the customized proposal in electronic form
to the customer.
31. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the processor unit
is configured to derive the estimated costs from information stored
in the database.
32. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the processor unit
is configured to determining if an offered plan is available to
the customer based upon the user selected plan options or the customer
data.
33. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the description of
insurance plan options includes an indication that a plan may be
offered but is not currently available to the customer based upon
the plan requirements data and either other selected plan options
or the customer data and wherein the indication comprises conditions
which are not met for the customer to qualify for the offered but
currently not available insurance plan.
34. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the processor unit
is configured to: (i) select, based on user input from the input
device, one or more sets of possible insurance plans from the insurance
plan options presented to the customer on the display device, (ii)
determine an estimated cost for each of the selected sets of insurance
plans, and (iii) generate a customized comparison for the possible
set of insurance plans in the sales computer system that includes
the customer data, the description of the selected insurance plans,
and the estimated costs for the selected set of insurance plans.
35. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the available insurance
plan options comprise a plurality of health insurance plans.
36. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the available insurance
plan options comprise a plurality of dental insurance plans.
37. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the available insurance
plan options comprise a plurality of life insurance plans.
38. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the available insurance
plan options comprise a plurality of disability insurance plans.
39. The computer system of claim 23 further comprising a logical
connection to a remote computer operatively coupled to the processor
unit, the processor unit being configured to transmit the customer
data and user selected plan options from the computer system to
the remote computer for processing of a request for insurance.
40. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the insurance plan
comprises a set of insurance plans.
41. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the database comprises
a relational database that is hosted in a networked environment
with portions stored in a remote memory storage device.
42. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the database comprises
a relational database comprising a plurality of modules.
43. An insurance sales and configuration system for providing configuration
and sales information for the development of insurance plans to
a customer, comprising: a transportable sales computing system having
a customer data input module for accepting customer data, a sales
tool module, an insurance plan database, a plan configuration engine
module, and a proposal generator module; a communication connection
to a server computing system for providing customer data to the
server and for receiving status and database updates from the server;
and an information and proposal output module for providing and
insurance proposal to the customer.
44. The system of 43 wherein the output module is selected from
the set of output devices including: a visual display device, a
printer, and an electronic file transfer mechanism.
45. The system of claim 43 wherein customer data is selected from
a group consisting of: company data, key contact data, employee
census data, affiliate company data, and salesperson notes.
46. The system of claim 43 wherein the insurance plan database
includes information selected from a group consisting of: a plurality
of offered insurance plans, a set of cost data for the offered insurance
plans, the requirements for the offered insurance plans, and a description
of the offered insurance plans.
47. The system of claim 43 wherein the proposal generator module
generates a comparison of two or more offered insurance plans that
the customer is qualified to purchase based upon the customer data
and information in the insurance plan database.
Insurance Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 09/739,448, filed Dec. 18, 2000, and entitled
"System and Method for Providing Configuration and Sales Information
to Assist in the Development of Insurance Plans", which claims
the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/172,552,
filed Dec. 18, 1999, and entitled "System and Method for Providing
Configuration and Sales Information to Assist in the Development
of Insurance Plans" under 35 U.S.C. 119(e).
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates in general to a method and apparatus
for assisting in providing configuration and sales information to
salesperson and customers, and more particularly to a method and
apparatus for assisting in providing configuration and sales information
for the development of insurance plans.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The sales and configuration of employee insurance benefit
plans represents a complex process that requires a combination of
sales functions such as customer contact, proposal tracking, and
cost/price information, as well as an insurance plan configuration
function that ensures that a customer not only selects the plan
that best fits their needs for a given costs but also configures
a plan that may be provided given insurance plan related rules related
to the combination of products. To be successful, a salesperson
needs to have immediate access to all of the contact and status
information needed to make a successful sale of a product. The salesperson
must also be able to provide a customer with information regarding
the available options for the insurance products that a customer
may consider.
[0004] Because not all products are available or appropriate for
all customers, the salesperson needs to be able to easily and quickly
determine which of the available products would suit the individual
customers needs. Finally, the salesperson needs to be able to easy
transmit the necessary information to other insurance personnel,
such as underwriters, in order for a sale to be finalized.
[0005] At the present time, no single product is available to satisfy
all of the above needs of an insurance salesperson. As a result,
the salesperson may need to interact with a multitude of different
tools to do a single sales task. In addition, each of these tools
needs to be separately maintained and updated. Because the tools
are typically separately created, the data contained therein may
not be correct or consistent across all of the needed tools. By
combining all of these functions into a single automated system,
a salesperson may use a single tool that addresses all of his or
her needs. The single tool is more likely to be all maintained and
updated at one time with any inconsistencies identified and eliminated
before a salesperson begins interacting with a customer. Finally,
by combining all of these tools into a single database, the salesperson
may prepare and provide a complete proposal based upon all of the
best information that is currently available which will ensure that
the best configuration of insurance products will be made available
to a customer given a particular set of needs and constraints.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] To overcome the limitations in the prior art described above,
and to overcome other limitations that will become apparent upon
reading and understanding the present specification, the present
invention discloses a method, apparatus and article of manufacture
for assisting in providing configuration and sales information to
salesperson.
[0007] The present invention solves the above-described problems
by providing a method and apparatus for assisting in providing configuration
and sales information for the development of insurance plans.
[0008] A system in accordance with the principles of the present
invention includes a computer assisted method for providing for
assisting in providing configuration and sales information for the
development of insurance plans for a customer. The method collects
customer data within a sales computer system, stores the customer
data within a database on the sales computer system, and presents
a description of the insurance plan options available based upon
the customer data. Based upon this presented data, the customer
or salesperson selects a preferred set of insurance plans from the
available insurance plan options and determining an estimated cost
for the preferred set of insurance plans; and generates a customized
proposal for the preferred set of insurance plans, including the
customer data, the description of the preferred insurance plans,
and the estimated costs for the preferred set of insurance plans.
[0009] Other embodiments of a system in accordance with the principles
of the invention may include alternative or optional additional
aspects. One such aspect of the present invention is that a computer
data signal embodied in a carrier wave readable by a computing system
and encoding a set of computer instructions for providing customers,
and more particularly salesperson, a method and apparatus for assisting
in providing configuration and sales information for the development
of insurance plans.
[0010] Another such aspect is a computer-readable medium having
stored thereon a data structure a set of computer instructions for
providing customers, and more particularly salesperson, a method
and apparatus for assisting in providing configuration and sales
information for the development of insurance plans.
[0011] Yet another such aspect is a system for providing customers,
and more particularly salesperson, a method and apparatus for assisting
in providing configuration and sales information for the development
of insurance plans. This insurance sales and configuration system
for providing a system to assist in providing configuration and
sales information for the development of insurance plans to a customer.
The system includes a transportable sales computing system having
a customer data input module for accepting customer data, a sales
tool module, an insurance plan database, a plan configuration engine
module, and a proposal generator module. The system also includes
a communication connection to a server computing system for providing
application data from the customer and for receiving status and
database updates and an information and proposal output module for
providing insurance information to the customer.
[0012] These and various other advantages and features of novelty
which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity
in the claims annexed hereto and form a part hereof. However, for
a better understanding of the invention, its advantages, and the
objects obtained by its use, reference should be made to the drawings
which form a further part hereof, and to accompanying descriptive
matter, in which there are illustrated and described specific examples
of an apparatus in accordance with the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numbers
represent corresponding parts throughout:
[0014] FIG. 1 illustrates a one possible organization for a distributed
computing system for providing customers, and more particularly
salesperson, a method and apparatus for assisting in providing configuration
and sales information for the development of insurance plans utilizing
one possible embodiment of the present invention.
[0015] FIG. 2 illustrates a interconnection of functional modules
for providing customers, and more particularly salesperson, a method
and apparatus for assisting in providing configuration and sales
information for the development of insurance plans according to
an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
[0016] FIG. 3 illustrates a computing system that may be used as
the sales computing system according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
[0017] FIG. 4 illustrates an insurance configuration and sales
system according to another possible embodiment of the present invention.
[0018] FIG. 5 illustrates a solutions module within an insurance
configuration and sales computing system according to yet another
possible embodiment of the present invention.
[0019] FIG. 6 illustrates a group module within an insurance configuration
and sales computing system according to an example embodiment of
the present invention.
[0020] FIG. 7 illustrates a benefits design module within an insurance
configuration and sales computing system according to the present
invention.
[0021] FIG. 8 illustrates a proposal module within an insurance
configuration and sales computing system according to one possible
embodiment of the present invention.
[0022] FIG. 9 illustrates a status module within an insurance configuration
and sales computing system according to one possible embodiment
of the present invention.
[0023] FIG. 10 illustrates a library module within an insurance
configuration and sales computing system according to another possible
embodiment of the present invention.
[0024] FIG. 11 illustrates an example proposal generated by an
insurance configuration and sales computing system according to
the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0025] Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and
apparatus for assisting in providing configuration and sales information
to salesperson and customers, and more particularly to a method
and apparatus for assisting in providing configuration and sales
information for the development of insurance plans.
[0026] FIG. 1 illustrates a one possible organization for a distributed
computing system for providing customers, and more particularly
salesperson, a method and apparatus for assisting in providing configuration
and sales information for the development of insurance plans utilizing
one possible embodiment of the present invention. Typically, a salesperson
visits a customer at the customer's office with a portable computer
101 that may interface to a printer 103. Back at the salesperson's
office, a server computer 102 is maintained to provide customer
information to non-sales personnel such as underwriting. The salesperson's
computer 101 and the server computer 102 may communicate this data
with each other over ordinary telephone lines 104. Of course, this
communication may also occur over other communications means such
as the internet. The salesperson will collect all of the customer's
relevant data for use by the server computer 102.
[0027] At the same time, the salesperson attempts to inform the
customer of all of the available products. This information may
be in the form of oral descriptions, printed documents, audio-visual
presentations, and the like. These materials may be stored electronically
upon the sales computer 101 and displayed for the customer, printed
for the customer's review, and provided in electronic form. Because
only some of this voluminous information is needed by a given customer,
an automated mechanism to sort through this material is useful.
[0028] FIG. 2 illustrates a interconnection of functional modules
for providing customers, and more particularly salesperson, a method
and apparatus for assisting in providing configuration and sales
information for the development of insurance plans according to
an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
[0029] The insurance configuration and sales system is a consolidated,
multimedia application that delivers configuration, pricing, quoting,
proposal generation, financial analysis, and marketing encyclopedia
functionality. In its initial embodiment, the insurance configuration
and sales system provides agents and agencies the ability to produce
preliminary quotes (i.e. street rate quotes) for small group products.
In addition, the system provides an ability to track the status
of proposals, store and print sales collateral material and forms,
and demonstrate a product discovery consultation function.
[0030] The insurance configuration and sales system is a component
based, object-oriented design that is distributed across a multi-tier
architecture. This architecture consists of an Application Layer,
a Presentation Layer, a Session Layer, and a Data Layer. This implementation
is a stand-alone version of the application, which is configured
as a "fat client" with all four layers residing on the
client. The Web version of this application (Signature Plus Web
2.5) is configured as a "thin client" with only the Application
Layer residing on the client. The other three layers reside on a
Web server.
[0031] An architecture for the stand-alone embodiment of the insurance
configuration and sales system is illustrated here. The user interfaces
with the application through the Application Layer. This layer consists
of a Visual Basic form and a browser (i.e. Microsoft's Internet
Explorer) ActiveX Control. The Visual Basic form wraps the browser
ActiveX Control and acts as a container for the entire user interface.
This design allows the container to be tailored to the specific
requirements a insurance configuration and sales system while reusing
the browser ActiveX Control. The Visual Basic form provides common
state management and services to all components within the system
while the ActiveX Control provides the window for displaying information.
[0032] A user interface provided by the Application Layer is driven
by Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) generated by the Presentation
Layer. The Presentation Layer facilitates interaction between the
user and the underlying business objects contained in the Session
Layer. The Presentation Layer consists of a Transformer and ActiveX
Script component. The Transformer handles communication with the
browser whereas ActiveX Script technology is used to communicate
with the various business objects. Business objects present information
to the user by generating HTML pages via the Presentation Layer
for display in the browser window. Events generated by the user
in the browser window are conveyed to the appropriate business objects
via the Transformer and ActiveX Scripts contained in the Presentation
Layer.
[0033] The insurance configuration and sales system functionality
is defined by the set of business objects contained in the Session
Layer. These business objects are tailored to meeting the needs
of a specific business process. Each business object responds to
user generated events to provide specific functionality. Each business
object in turn interacts with the semantic data models contained
in the Data Layer. Business objects are grouped, based on the functionality
they provide, into a single unit called a "module."
[0034] Referring to FIG. 2, the sales computing system 101 includes
a customer data input module 201, a sales tool module 202, an insurance
plan info database 203, a plan configuration engine module 204,
and a preliminary proposal generator module 205. The customer data
input module 201 allows the salesperson to enter all of the relevant
information into the sales computing system 101. Once this data
in input into the system 101, the data may be used by all other
modules. This data may include customer contact information for
use by the salesperson as a sales aid as well as employee census
data that is needed to configure the insurance products. The significant
point is that this data is input only once into the system and is
forever available for use by all modules. Since all of the modules
are using this data, accurate estimates of cost and plan availability
may be made as long as this data is accurate.
[0035] The sales tool module 202 includes the customer contact
and proposal status information needed by a sales person to make
a sale. This information is a customer contact database that includes
active and updated status information on the ongoing proposals.
The modules use the same information input by the customer data
input module 201 this ensuring the salesperson has the current information
at all times. This module mfay interface with the server computer
102 to maintain the current information accurately.
[0036] The insurance plan info database 203 is a database of the
products currently being offered for sale. The database will have
descriptions of the products, related costs information, and plan
requirements data. This database is used by the other components
of the system to perform their functions of a single set of common
product data.
[0037] The plan configuration engine module 204 uses the customer's
selections along with the insurance plan info database 203 to construct
a set of insurance plans for consideration by the customer. This
module 204 uses the plan requirements data along with the customer's
own census data to ensure that the plan configured by the salesperson
for the customer is a plan that may ultimately be sold to this particular
customer.
[0038] The preliminary proposal generator module 205 takes the
plan produced by the plan configuration engine module 204 along
with cost data to prepare a formal proposal to the customer. This
proposal may be in the form of a word processing document that may
be saved and edited. It may also contain personalized graphics data
to uniquely identify the source of the proposal as well as the customer
to whom it is being offered.
[0039] FIG. 3 illustrates a computing system that may be used as
the sales computing system according to one embodiment of the present
invention. An exemplary computing system for embodiments of the
invention includes a general purpose computing device in the form
of a conventional computer system 300, including a processor unit
302, a system memory 304, and a system bus 306 that couples various
system components including the system memory 304 to the processor
unit 300. The system bust.dagger.306 may be any of several types
of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a
peripheral bus and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures.
The system memory includes read only memory (ROM) 308 and random
access memory (RAM).dagger.310. A basic input/output system 312
(BIOS), which contains basic routines that help transfer information
between elements within the computer system 300, is stored in ROM
308.
[0040] The computer system 300 further includes a hard disk drive
312 for reading from and writing to a hard disk, a magnetic disk
drive 314 for reading from or writing to a removable magnetic disk
316, and an optical disk drive 318 for reading from or writing to
a removable optical disk 319 such as a CD ROM, DVD, or other optical
media. The hard disk drive 312, magnetic disk drive 314, and optical
disk drive 318 are connected to the system bus 306 by a hard disk
drive interface 320, a magnetic disk drive interface 322, and an
optical drive interface.dagger.324, respectively. The drives and
their associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage
of computer readable instructions, data structures, programs, and
other data for the computer system 300.
[0041] Although the exemplary environment described herein employs
a hard disk, a removable magnetic disk 316, and a removable optical
disk 319, other types of computer-readable media capable of storing
data can be used in the exemplary system. Examples of these other
types of computer-readable mediums that can be used in the exemplary
operating environment include magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards,
digital video disks, Bernoulli cartridges, random access memories
(RAMs), and read only memories (ROMs).
[0042] A number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk,
magnetic disk 316, optical disk 319, ROM 308 or RAM 310, including
an operating system 326, one or more application programs 328, other
program modules 330, and program data 332. A user may enter commands
and information into the computer system 300 through input devices
such as a keyboard 334 and mouse 336 or other pointing device. These
and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit
302 through a serial port interface 340 that is coupled to the system
bus.dagger.306. Nevertheless, these input devices also may be connected
by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, game port, or a universal
serial bus (USB). A monitor 342 or other type of display device
is also connected to the system bus 306 via an interface, such as
a video adapter.dagger.344. In addition to the monitor 342, computer
systems typically include other peripheral output devices (not shown),
such as speakers and printers.
[0043] The computer system 300 operates in a networked environment
as in FIG. 2 using logical connections to one or more remote computers,
such as a remote computer 346. The network connections include a
local area network (LAN) 348 and a wide area network (WAN) 350.
Such networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide
computer networks, intranets, and the Internet.
[0044] When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer
system 300 is connected to the local network 348 through a network
interface or adapter 352. When used in a WAN networking environment,
the computer system 300 typically includes a modem 354 or other
means for establishing communications over the wide area network
350, such as the Internet. The modem 354, which may be internal
or external, is connected to the system bus 306 via the serial port
interface 340. In a networked environment, program modules depicted
relative to the computer system 300, or portions thereof, may be
stored in the remote memory storage device. It will be appreciated
that the network connections shown are exemplary, and other means
of establishing a communications link between the computers may
be used.
[0045] The embodiments of the invention described herein are implemented
as logical operations in a telecommunications system having connections
to a distributed network such as the Internet. The logical operations
are implemented (1) as a sequence of computer implemented steps
running on a computer system and (2) as interconnected machine modules
running within the computing system. The implementation is a matter
of choice dependent on the performance requirements of the computing
system implementing the invention. Accordingly, the logical operations
making up the embodiments of the invention described herein are
referred to as operations, steps, or modules. It will be recognized
by one of ordinary skill in the art that these operations, steps,
and modules may be implemented in software, in firmware, in special
purpose digital logic, and any combination thereof without deviating
from the spirit and scope of the present invention as recited within
the claims attached hereto.
[0046] FIG. 4 illustrates an insurance configuration and sales
system according to another possible embodiment of the present invention.
The system has a user interface that begins with a main menu module
401 which permits the user to select each of the other modules which
are to be used in the configuration and sale of insurance products
to customers. The remaining modules with in the system include a
solution module 402, a group module 403, a benefits design module
404, a proposal module 405, a status module 406, and a library module
407. Bach of these modules are described in detail below. The modules
work together as a complete system to provide a method and apparatus
for assisting in providing configuration and sales information for
the development of insurance plan.
[0047] FIG. 5 illustrates a solutions module within an insurance
configuration and sales computing system according to yet another
possible embodiment of the present invention. In one embodiment
of a present invention, a "solution" is viewed as one
possible plan selection that may be sold to a particular customer.
Using this construct, the system uses the solution as the basic
entity for a sale that needs to be created, stored, retrieved, viewed,
modified and deleted. The solutions module 402 includes a solutions
menu module 501 that presents a user with the ability to manipulate
these solutions are part of his or her interaction with various
customers. The user uses a set of modules to create a new solution
using an Add a New Solution Module 502. The user uses these modules
to retrieve a stored solution using an Select a Solution Module
503. The user also uses these modules to delete a saved solution
using a Delete a Solution Module 504. At times during the other
processing within the system, a currently selected or created solution
is saved for later retrieval.
[0048] FIG. 6 illustrates a group module within an insurance configuration
and sales computing system according to an example embodiment of
the present invention. The Group Module allows insurance configuration
and sales system user to manage group information. This includes
adding new group information using an Add a New Group module 610
and editing existing group information using a Select a Group module
620. An existing group, once retrieved using the Select a Group
module 620 may be edited using the same modules used to create the
group and store the group data. These modules include an Employer
Data Module 611 for entering information about the employer/customer.
These modules also include an include an Affiliate Data Module 612
for entering information about the related companies for this employer/customer.
These modules include A Key Contacts Info Module 613 for entering
contact information for persons the salesperson will interact during
the sales process with the employer/customer. These modules further
include a Census Info Module 614 for entering employee information
about the employees to be covered by the selected plans. This census
info should include all of the information needed to underwrite
the insurance and process any application so that the data is entered
into a system only once. Finally, these modules include a Notes
Module 615 for entering information about the sales person's contacts
with the employer/customer.
[0049] The insurance configuration and sales system users may add
a new group. The Add a New Group dialog box allows the user to enter
and keep track of information about the group. This information
can be organized and stored so that changes can be made over time,
as they become necessary. The top of the dialog box contains a summary
of group information. The bottom half of the dialog box contains
four tabs that organize the information: General, Addresses, Contacts,
and Census.
[0050] After the user has added group information, the Group module
allows the user to edit group information. The insurance configuration
and sales system users may select Edit Group Information from the
Group module. This displays the Edit Group Information dialog box
for the group whose information was summarized on the Group module
screen. The top of the dialog box contains a summary of the group
information. The bottom half of the dialog box contains four tabs
that organize the information: General, Addresses, Phones, and Contacts.
[0051] The Group module allows the user to select an existing group.
The insurance configuration and sales system users may choose Select
an Existing Group from the Group module. This displays the Select
an Existing Group dialog box, which consists of two parts: the top
half of the screen, which displays summary information on the selected
group, and the bottom half of the screen, which displays the Group's
grid.
[0052] FIG. 7 illustrates a benefits design module within an insurance
configuration and sales computing system according to the present
invention. Using the Benefits Design Module 404, the user can select
a plan. The configuration rules for the various plans are set up
in a ConfigPlus Data Modeler and a ConfigPlus Data Editor tools
within an Options Rules Module 704.
[0053] In one embodiment, a user can select a type of plan, whether
it is Health, Life, STD or Dental. The top portion is an HTML page
containing information about each Health Plan and the bottom part
of the screen contains the actual plans that are being configured.
This information corresponds to the one or more Plan info display
modules 701.
[0054] This function allows the user to first select a plan by
clicking on the plans in the bottom portion of the screen. Once
they click on OK, they are taken to a second screen where the user
can add, delete or modify Street Quotes to compare against different
plans. Each Street Quote can only have one Health Plan, one Dental
Plan, one Life Plan and one STD plan. In this screen the user is
also given the ability to add a custom Plan, get access to the group
module and show a cost per employee breakdown.
[0055] The system can be built to recommend a health plan based
on the requirements entered by the user. This function would allow
the user to select a particular type of plan based on soft requirements.
The top portion of the HTML page would contain the user requirements.
The bottom portion of the HTML page would contain the plans and
these get evaluated based on the requirements entered by the user
in the top page. The plan with the best match based on the user
requirements would "bubble" to the top of the grid.
[0056] The options rules module 704 controls the interaction of
the various modules within the Benefits Design Module 404. This
module 704 also includes a Toolbox sets parameters that control
or affect the access or the operation of modules in the insurance
configuration and sales computing system.
[0057] The Toolbox General Information section allows the entry
of company-specific information such as company name, address and
phone number. The Toolbox General Information section also allows
a user to set up and maintain users' names and passwords.
[0058] Local information about insurance configuration and sales
computing system user appears in the printed output of the Proposal
Module. Local information includes demographic and other information
about the company and about users.
[0059] This function allows the user to enter the company name,
address and phone numbers. Multiple addresses and phone numbers
can be stored. Only one of each can be selected at any given time
for a Signature Plus presentation. Each user (typically salespeople)
can have a unique User Name and Password when using the insurance
configuration and sales computing system. Access is also granted
based on the user's role. Only people with a user name and password
have access to the insurance configuration and sales computing system.
In addition, proposals are personalized with the user's name. The
roles are set in the Toolkit.
[0060] The Data Layer is supported by a relational database that
supports two different types of database structures: product configuration
specific and other. Access to these data structures is through an
ADO/ODBC module, and a Configuration Knowledge Run-Time Module.
ADO/ODBC module can be used to access data that is not product configuration
specific and CKRT is used to access the data that is product configuration
specific. The Signature Plus Toolkit is used to configure these
database structures.
[0061] FIG. 8 illustrates a proposal module within an insurance
configuration and sales computing system according to one possible
embodiment of the present invention. The Proposal Module allows
the user to print all of the information presented to a group during
the users' session. This information is organized according to reports
that are generated by each module. Reports are Microsoft Word templates
(*.dot or *.rtf files) that have been set up to accept data from
the database. The templates and the scripts used to pass data are
managed in the Proposal Explorer tool.
[0062] The insurance configuration and sales computing system user
can select from a pre-defined list of reports to create a complete
proposal for the group in the Select Proposal Components Module
811. Reports may not be available if the user did not visit the
related module. This function allows the user to select reports
for printing or previewing.
[0063] In the Proposal module, clicking the Create a New Proposal
link launches the Create a New Proposal module 812. The list of
available reports appears in the left windowpane in a tree format,
organized by module.
[0064] Reports are available for each module for which enough information
was entered or generated to complete the report. Reports are selected
from the Available Reports list in the left window pane and added
to the Selected Reports list in the right window pane. This feature
allows the user to edit an existing proposal.
[0065] The Edit Proposal module 813 uses the same functions as
the New Proposal feature (described above) and allows modifications
to proposals previously created using the New Proposal feature.
It is possible to password protect access to the edit proposal feature
using the Proposal Explorer tool. The password is the salesperson's
password.
[0066] This feature allows the user to print reports that have
been selected for printing. Using the New Proposal or Edit Proposal
features, the user selects the reports that will be printed by the
Proposal module. These reports appear under Selected Reports in
the right windowpane of the Proposal module screen Any printers
installed for the Windows operating system are compatible with insurance
configuration and sales computing system print engine.
[0067] FIG. 9 illustrates a status module within an insurance configuration
and sales computing system according to one possible embodiment
of the present invention. Using the Status Module, the user can
find out the status of the Quotes that have been submitted to the
server system 102. The status module 406 has a status display module
901 to permit user to retrieve and review the available status information.
This module 901 may communicate with the remote server system 102
to obtain information not found locally on the sales computing system
101.
[0068] The status module 406 also has a status input module 911
to permit user to add new information to the available status information
and has a status remote info module 912 to permit user to retrieve
and update the available status information.
[0069] FIG. 10 illustrates a library module within an insurance
configuration and sales computing system according to another possible
embodiment of the present invention. The library module 407 presents
users with a set of selections using a library menu module 1001.
In the menu module 1001, the user selects either the view library
materials module 1010 or the compare products module 1020. The view
library materials module 1010 provides its own menu of selections
which include Company Data Module 1011, Products Data Module 1012,
Application Forms Module 1013, Benefit Charts Module 1014, Collateral
Sales Material Module 1015, and Provider Info Material Module 1016.
Each of these modules provides customers and sales personnel with
documentation which is typically given to customers to act as reference
materials about the insurance plans being considered.
[0070] The Company Data Module 1011 includes documentation regarding
the insurance company providing the products. The Products Data
Module 1012 includes detailed documentation regarding the insurance
plans available from the salesperson. The Application Forms Module
1013 includes a set of electronic forms which pay be filled out
on the computer or printed and completed to purchase the insurance
plans offered to a customer. The Benefit Charts Module 1014 includes
a subset of the Products Data Module 1012 that provides a set of
charts summarizing all of the insurance plans in a common format
to permit an easy comparison of benefits provided by each plan.
The Collateral Sales Material Module 1015 includes other sales material
useful in the sale of insurance products to customers. For example,
the Collateral Sales Material Module 1015 may determine if an offered
plan is available to the customer based upon other plans selected
as part of the preferred set of insurance plans and/or the customer
data. As such the other sales material may include an indication
that another plan may be offered but is not currently available
to the customer based upon other plans selected as part of the preferred
set of insurance plans and/or the customer data. In addition, the
other sales material may include an indication of what conditions
are not met for the customer to qualify for the offered but currently
not available insurance plan. The Provider Info Material Module
1016 includes documentation of the health care provides who are
included within each plan. These documentation materials are typically
stored in a common electronic format which will permit easy dissemination
of the information. In the preferred embodiment, these materials
are provided in an ADOBE .PDF format that is readily available on
a wide variety of computing systems. As such, the salesperson may
make these electronic file available to customers for review and
printing. Other data may be presented in HTML and related graphic
and audio-visual formats that are viewable on web based platforms.
[0071] FIG. 11 illustrates an example proposal generated by an
insurance configuration and sales computing system according to
the present invention. This eight page proposal represents the sales
proposal information that is given to a customer based upon all
of the user data input into the system as well as the particular
plans that have been selected by the prospective customer.
[0072] The insurance configuration and sales computing system is
supported by three other applications; sales computing system Toolkit,
Configuration Plus, and User Administration. The Signature Plus
Toolkit allows the configuration model viewed through sales computing
system to be updated and changed. It allows the sales organization
to: easily manage complex data models for configuration, pricing,
and other functionality and customize the look and feel of the entire
sales system, from graphics and drop-down lists to color palettes
and fonts, using common, open-platform programming languages such
as Visual Basic and Java. In addition, these tools allow a user
to import data from across the company, customize that data to meet
customer needs, and easily update it independent of other company
functions or third-party vendors.
[0073] The user may also change and update the sales computing
system on-line Help feature to address the sales force's specific
questions, ensuring that they can use the full capabilities of the
sales system with confidence and link the sales enterprise to other
enterprise applications.
[0074] The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of
the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration
and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit
the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications
and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is
intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims
appended hereto.
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