Synopsis
As the world becomes increasingly mobile, there is a growing demand for quick and easy access to information. With this in mind, a large US insurer facing difficulty in providing information and distributing sales collateral on new product launches wanted to ensure that the field agents do not miss out on opportunities. Coforge was entrusted with the task of developing an iPad application that could house the entire product catalog and also work in offline mode to facilitate agents’ on-the-move. With our deep understanding of the insurance industry and vast experience in creating solutions in the app ecosystem, we were able to deliver value—a superior iPad app on-time and within budget.
The Client
The second largest publicly held personal lines property and casualty insurer in the US, the client serves more than 16 million households nationwide. The company also has personal lines insurance operations in Canada.
Business Challenge
The client wished to expand its mobile offerings and needed the assistance of a solution integrator with iPad application development capabilities. The solution partner was to develop an app that could provide an easy and quick way for field agents to access information based on:
- State preferences (primary state and multiple secondary states)
- Products for relevant lines of business in the primary and secondary states
- Eligibility requirements for a particular line of business
- Predictive synonym-based search for accessing policy documents and sales collaterals
Apart from providing information, the client wanted the app to have the ability to send out PDF documents from agents to prospective customers and view content in offline mode. A superior user experience was imperative to deliver rich information using a clean and intuitive design.
Coforge was chosen as the solution partner and integrator for the mobile app development based on our capability to deliver digital initiatives and our prior experience in similar engagements for clients worldwide.
Our Solution
As the prime solution integrator, we undertook overall responsibility for the project to ensure smooth delivery. The Coforge team applied best practices for the development of the iPad app. After ensuring that infrastructure needs were met, we designed the application using the Xcode interface with Objective C for iOS 5.0. After the application was designed, all the sales collaterals and documents were bundled within the application to ensure that the information was available offline to field agents.
Some of the features of the app are:
- The data received from the client in the form of excel files was converted to XML format using a Java utility.
- The XML and the relevant PDF were added to the application bundle and data was read using XML parser.
- All business level data was listed in the XML file stored in the application bundle. This approach created a loose coupling between the content and the application, providing flexibility to change content without redeploying the application.
- Business levels were bookmarked and stored as a list in the application sandbox.
- Backend validation of access and authorization levels provided centralized control. Validation against static credentials when the application was working in the offline mode was also provided
- Business user-friendly error messages were automatically sent out.
- Production app was uploaded on the Amazon server
Delivering More Value
- More customer satisfaction: The client’s agents could provide correct and current information and policy-related documents to its prospective customers in real-time, enhancing quality of services and cutting down the sales close cycle time.
- More flow of information: Content available in offline mode helped agents in continuing conversations with customers and providing updated information.
- More time savings: T Insurance agents could cross-check eligibility requirements for any specific line of business, saving precious time for both the agent and the prospective customer. Agents could suggest alternative products in real-time in case customers did not meet eligibility requirements.
