1. Carriers
Last quarter, Sr. Product Manager, Patrick
Masi, kicked off the new Carrier Quarterly
Release Webinar series. Attendees learned
about Sircon carrier updates such as the new
non-resident licensing work flow, new sync
decision algorithm, and the new browser
support policy. It was a great opportunity to
get some questions answered and learn new
ways to benefit from Sircon. Stay tuned for the
next release webinar coming up in early June!
Producer Express
Automated Agreement Check
When processing an onboarding request, PX
can now automatically check a producer’s
record for an existing, active agreement of
one or multiple specific types. If the system
detects an existing agreement of a specified
type, the request can be routed to the Error
Queue for follow-up.
Besides checking a producer’s existing
agreements by type, PX also can check for
active agreements that are either associated
or not associated with one or more specified
business units.
Producer Manager
Automated Agreement Creation
Now you can add an agreement to a
producer’s record in PM during an automated
onboarding work flow. Agreement information
can be added to multiple producer records all
at once from a spreadsheet via Bulk Business
Data Update.
Both of these capabilities can be configured
by Vertafore professional services.
Compliance Express
Appointment Processing
Depending on an appointment state’s
requirements, CX allows the use of National
Producer Number (NPN) or driver’s license/
DMV number as an appointee identifier,
instead of SSN for transactions entered
online. Now, offline appointment services in
the UFF and XML file formats also have been
updated to allow for the use of the alternate
identifiers (if allowed by state.)
Lookup License Number
To help you obtain a producer license
number—required data when using a number
of CX services—now you can click the Lookup
License Number link when using Virginia
Continuance, Print a License, and Continuing
Education Transcript Inquiry services.
If you encounter any problems or have additional
questions, contact Sircon Customer Support at
877.876.4430 or e-mail us at sirconsupport@vertafore.com
Becoming Sircon
Connected: A Benefits
Guide
Get a competitive edge and find out how to
quantify and explain the benefits of leveraging
the latest in licensing and
compliance solutions.
Sircon®
QuarterlyNewsletter
EVENTS
Thank you for attending NetVU16!
Over 200 Sircon-specific customers attended this year’s NetVU Conference
in San Antonio, Texas including agencies and carriers. With over 2,000
attendees and nearly 1,000 virtual attendees for the opening and
Vertafore keynote sessions, it is now one of the largest and broadest
events in the industry.
Over 450 Vertafore users got hands on experience directly from our
30 available product experts in the TechHub. Not only did attendees
take away tons of information, but our Vertafore staff also learned
from attendees! At the Design and Usability Lab, we listened and
learned to how we can continue to enhance our current capabilities
and functionalities to solve more and more of the industry’s day to day
headaches.
Didn’t get a chance to attend? Click here to see what you missed!
Mark Your Calendars
April25-27,2016
IRI Operations & Technology Conference
San Antonio, TX
The IRI Ops & Tech Conference is the premier forum
for operations and technology within the annuity
industry. Learn how you can overcome challenges in
efficient and cost effective ways.
May16-20,2016
Insurance Summit
Kansas City, MO
The 2016 NAIC Insurance Summit (formerly known as
eReg) combines the best of NAIC and NIPR resources
in a premier conference for insurance professionals.
Learn what’s happening now and what lies ahead in
the areas of producer licensing, financial solvency,
market conduct, communications, technology,
research, and regulatory law.
May23-25,2016
FINRA Annual Conference
Washington, DC
The 2016 FINRA Conference is THE event for
securities compliance. Here you can get the
latest regulatory updates from FINRA, hear
from a wide range of industry, government,
and regulatory speakers, and network
with other securities professionals at the
Smithsonian American History Museum.
Click Here
We have updated our browser support policy for our Sircon solutions. Please click here for more information.
Driving Growth by Optimizing the Agent
Experience
Vertafore and Celent partnered to answer the question — what really matters
the most to agents? Find out how carriers are doing in these areas and where they
should be focusing for future investment.
Sircon Solutions for
Securities Firms
Effectively manage risk and significantly reduce
costs associated with securities and insurance
credentialing and compliance management
solutions.
Read More
Sircon Stats
Did you know that in the last 15 years our customers have used Sircon solutions
to complete over 150,000,000 transactions? Click here to see 8 reasons to trust
Sircon for your licensing and compliance needs.
Click Here to Learn More
Securities Firms
CMS G2
DBM Export Restriction End Date
DBM Export services scheme now supports restriction end dates for all
individuals with restrictions. Previously, only active restrictions were
included in an export file. With this change, customers can import the
actual date the restriction was lifted.
Producer Portal Direct Form Links
G2 now allows producers to initiate new forms directly from Producer
Portal. Previously, this involved a two-step process that could have
caused some confusion, now the name of each form is identified clearly
on the portal home page.
Agencies
Still have a few questions about AgencyEDGE? This quarter, we hosted
our first ever AgencyEDGE Quarterly Release Webinar. Here, we explained
the benefits of connected agent license management, discussed product
updates, and addressed all the questions our attendees had about
AgencyEDGE. Don’t miss out on next quarter’s webinar in June to get
a sneak peak at our exciting new product enhancements and get your
questions answered directly from Sr. Product Manager, Scott Gillahan!
AgencyEDGE
View Agency Licenses
On the View Agency Licenses page and in the Licenses section of an
agent record, a Renew link is available for a license within 60 days of its
expiration date. Now when a user clicks the link, the system will display
a message if the license is not eligible for renewal electronically through
AgencyEDGE.
Lookup CE Transcript & Print a License
While looking up a producer’s CE transcript or attempting to print a
license you can now click a new Lookup License Number link to search
Product Updates
Individual Producers
ProducerEDGE
My Licenses
On the My Licenses section of the ProducerEDGE dashboard, a Renew link
is available for a license within 60 days of its expiration date. Now, when a
user clicks the link, the system will display a message if the license is not
eligible for renewal electronically through ProducerEDGE. This feature will
eliminate the common confusion over why a particular transaction is not
being processed.
Print a License
While attempting to print a License, now you can click a new Lookup
License Number link to search for a producer’s license number without
taking you out of the License Printing transaction. This will help you keep
your work flow moving forward smoothly and as quick as possible.
Apply, Renew, and Print a License
The License Application, License Renewal, and Print a License services
available at Sircon.com now will prompt a user to enter an e-mail address
before submitting a transaction. The system will use the entered e-mail
address to determine if the user has an active ProducerEDGE account.
If so, the user is prompted to log in to ProducerEDGE to complete the
transaction.
How to be an Innovation Leader
Becoming (Even More) Connected
Well-planned innovation is a timeless success driver for any organization. Are you
ready to take the lead in 2016?
This quarter, the Sircon team at Vertafore wants to give you the
tools you need to drive positive change by rethinking your credential
problems to save money and drive growth. This is the time to get
your colleagues excited by helping them understand the business
benefits you can achieve with Sircon.
Why not get started today? Download this Sircon Benefits Guide for
key talking points that will get your colleagues excited about new
credential management solutions from Vertafore.
Click Here to Download
Click Here for the P&C Report Click Here for the L&A Report
One Compliance Lesson You Can Learn from Zenefits
You may have seen Buzzfeed’s first report on a controversy concerning the software company,
Zenefits. In a nutshell, Zenefits provides a “benefits software program” that manages employee
health benefits, time cards, payroll, and other HR related back office tasks. The software is free of
charge, but organizations must replace their current agent with a Zenefits agent, allowing Zenefits to
be paid commissions. Zenefits then...
Agencies: Master Compliance with Connections
Whether you’re an agent or you work in an agency, you’re probably familiar with the processes
necessary to keep your licensing and continuing education (CE) information up to date. In last year’s
“Are You Managing Your Producer Credential’s Efficiently?” post, I discussed how people today
are trying to make this process as efficient as possible; however, we found that the most common
practices...
Securities Firms: Are you prepared for the FINRA Rule 2210 amendment?
As you may already be aware, the SEC has approved FINRA’s proposal for an amendment to Rule
2210—Communications with the Public, but with implementation deadlines nearing, we’re addressing
a few questions that we’ve heard from our customers to help prepare you! Here’s a quick overview of
the rule: This requirement means that each...
Sircon Listens: What are carriers asking?
Carriers have a lot on their plate. As regulations continue to evolve, a licensing specialist will need
to understand the regulations and figure out how to modify their operational practices without
negatively affecting the agent experience. It’s not a trivial task. The most forward-thinking carriers
look to experts for help, and that’s where Sircon comes in. However, it’s not just carriers getting
information out of Sircon services...
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
Continue Reading
Anatomy of a
Regulatory Change
We talk to our customers all the time about
the difficulties and importance of effectively
and efficiently adapting to regulatory change.
Challenges occur because a regulatory change
generates an extensive web of dependent
and interconnected changes across all
stakeholders involved in getting, keeping,
and verifying that agents, advisors, adjusters,
etc. are authorized to sell and service. Even a
small change can have a large ripple effect of
changes on the industry.
Sircon in the News
Vertafore Announces Sircon Electronic
Adjuster Licensing Services in Texas
East Lansing, MI—Vertafore, the leader in modern
insurance technology, today announced the opening of
resident adjuster licensing services in the state of Texas
through its Sircon solutions.
Last year, Texas processed nearly 20,000 adjuster
license applications and over 33,000 license renewal
applications, with the majority of applications
and thousands of renewals completed via paper
processing. Click here to read more about how Texas is
moving towards electronic processing with Sircon!
Continue Reading
“With access from a laptop, iPad, etc., as
well as the ability to include attachments
such as information related to background
questions, getting and staying licensed will
be easier and faster than ever.”
Sam Meyer
National Account Director for Vertafore’s Sircon solutions
Upcoming Events
We’ve got lots of new and exciting things coming from
our Sircon solutions. Be sure to come see our Sircon
representatives at this quarter’s conferences to get a first
look!
Did you get a chance to attend our Quarterly Carrier and AgencyEDGE
webinar sessions? We’re introducing quarterly webinars to connect
directly with our customers on product release notes, how to best
leverage those new updates, and give you a chance to speak directly
with our Sircon experts to get all your trivial questions answered. If
you missed out, don’t worry, you’ll be able to attend our next agency
and carrier sessions in June! Click here to receive more information
about the AgencyEDGE session and carriers, you’ll receive e-mail
invitations shortly!
Webinars
Quarterly Product Release Webinar Series
WHAT’S UP WITH SIRCON?
STUFF WORTH READING
BEST PRACTICES AND INDUSTRY UPDATES
REGULATION CORNER
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Just last year, NetVU began the Day of Caring to gather conference attendees to
participate in a local volunteer even to kick-start the event. This year, 60 Vertafore
employees and customers gathered at the San Antonio Food Bank to organized food
donations for the 16 counties they serve. This hardworking team of 60 spent 4 hours
working and packed 15,000 lbs of food—providing more than 11,000 meals to families.
Even as the whistle blew to end a long day, volunteers scrambled to try and finish the
last few bins. Each volunteer was an inspiration in their drive to help those in need.
Thank you again to all who participated!
Vertafore Giving Back
Q2, 2016
What browsers and operating systems does PM support?
For use with PM or an of our web-hosted software solutions, we recommend the latest versions of Google Chrome, Internet Explorer,
and Mozilla Firefox. As for operating systems, any system that utilizes the listed browsers is supported.
Please visit our new Browser Support Policy page for more details!
After submitting a state appointment through PM, how can I follow up on its approval status
Producer Manager offers a few ways to track the status of a producer state appointment request, but check out these two:
• Run an Appointment Activity Inquiry: This powerful report is available in PM under the Express Services/Inquiries
menu. Search for your appointment submission date or one of a choice of appointee identifiers. The report results will tell
you the current status of the request, as well as many other useful details. You can generate the results in a spreadsheet
format for further analysis.
• Set up the PM Message Center to automatically alert you or any interested party by e-mail whenever an appointment is
approved by a state: Find the Message Center under the Express Services/Administration menu. You can set up Message
Center to notify you when a state denies a request as well. Message center also works for state actions on appointment
terminations and license applications.
When Vertafore implemented PM for our company, they took care to configure the system to exactly
suit our needs. Can I get a list of all of PM’s flex points?
We maintain a comprehensive list and descriptions of PM’s configuration points in the online help system. Simply click the help link
at the bottom of the page in PM, then search the help for “Configuration Options.” The list is grouped in helpful categories such as
“External System ID’s” and “Automated Data Reconciliations (syncs).”
Producer Manager
Our company uses the Bulk Appointment Processing utility and it’s a real time-saver. Are there other
bulk processing capabilities we could be using?
Yes, we have many! If you need to submit batches of background check requests to your BI vendor, such as during an onboarding
blitz, you could be using the Bulk Background Investigation utility. Other bulk utilities can update batches of producer records in
PM with specific pieces of data. They include the Bulk Business Unit and Bulk E-mail Address Update utilities. Need to bring down
a lot of producer relationships in a hurry? The Bulk Appointment Termination Processing, Bulk Business Unit, and Bulk Agreement
Inactivation utilities can help.
Contact your Sircon representative for more details!
Did you know that last year the Sircon online help system assisted in answering 22 questions and opened 56, 756 browser windows? See what
the online help can do for you today!
Over the next few months, we will be sharing best practices, insight, and all you need to know about the Anatomy of a Regulatory Change
featured on our Sircon blog, written by Sircon experts—the ones that dedicate their time to ensuring our customers are compliant. Click
here to subscribe so you don’t miss out!
Click Here to Subscribe
Vertafore and Celent present the Agent
Satisfaction Survey Results to answer the
question — what do agents want? Click
here to find out what drives agents to
work with certain insurers and discover
how you can get the competitive edge.
Running Start 2016
Every year, SILA and Vertafore partner to show businesses how they
can hit the ground running in the new year. Successful carriers,
securities firms, agencies, and education providers constantly evolve,
hurdling over obstacles to keep their business humming. This takes
savvy professionals who have fingers on the pulse of change and
know how to leverage it for a competitive edge.
SILA and Vertafore partnered to discuss:
• New SILA best practices for licensing and registration
• The latest regulatory developments and how to leverage them to
your advantage
• How to drive business value through technology and related
services
• SILA & Sircon initiatives to automate, simplify, and standardize
processes
• New educational resources and how to get involved in working
groups that affect industry and regulation.
Click here to see what you missed!
Driving Growth by Optimizing the Agent
Experience
Producer Sales Authorization
Producer Manager customers know the importance
of maintaining accurate producer credentials and
relationships. But how do you know those are the right
credentials for this producer to have?
Sales can’t wait for compliance. Learn how you can
switch your onboarding profiles to self-service and
expedite that process with real-time, actionable insight
into the authorization status of each producer.
Click here to learn more about Sircon Producer Sales
Authorization.
Click here to subscribe to our blog and receive
information on how Auth Profiles can benefit you.
Coming Soon for Carriers
Vertafore Announces Iowa’s
Implementation of Electronic Education
Services through Sircon Compliance
Express
“Thanks to Vertafore, we are pleased to offer Iowa
Insurance CE providers the ability to submit their
provider and course applications and renewals
online. Vertafore implemented an intuitive and
workable electronic solution for these processes
very quickly. The efficiency of the entire course
application process has improved due to these
changes, and the feedback from the education
providers who have used the service has been very
positive.”
Joel Norris
Business Development Manager, Pearson VUE