Insurance Services Office Adopts Fujitsu Mobile Computers to Streamline Commercial Insurance Risk Assessment
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — February 6, 1995 — Fujitsu Personal Systems Inc. and Insurance Services Office Inc. (ISO) are getting together to automate property risk assessment for the insurance industry.
ISO has developed a mobile computing application, known as FR Toolkit, that the insurance industry is now using in their property risk exposure analysis. Based on the Fujitsu Stylistic 500 pen-based tablet computer, FR Toolkit greatly reduces the time required to process comprehensive property risk assessments.
The system is being deployed by Commercial Risk Services Inc. (CRS), an ISO subsidiary chartered to advise insurance companies on how to underwrite properties based on the risk involved.
At the heart of the ISO system is the Fujitsu Stylistic 500, the world's lightest and fastest tablet computer. The system includes a high resolution color digital camera, Computer Aided Design (CAD) software and a high speed modem. FR Toolkit runs ISO's electronic forms application software, allowing CRS field representatives to significantly reduce the time required to process risk assessments.
""The Stylistic 500 was designed for precisely this type of solution, where high-end decision support capabilities, such as the ability to run CAD programs, are required in a mobile environment," said Lou Panetta, executive vice president of Fujitsu.
"Furthermore, we believe that incorporating standard ports and expansion slots into our products is absolutely essential. The fact that peripheral technologies, namely the digital camera and high speed modem, are key to ISO's solution confirms this belief."
Prior to automating with the Stylistic 500, risk assessment was a time consuming procedure that required an average of 27 days. To assess a property, CRS field representatives would visit the site, manually complete any number of required inspection forms, draw sketches, and take and develop photos, then mail the entire package back to a local office.
There, the forms would be subjected to a rigorous quality check for such factors as consistency, thoroughness, and legibility. Once this process was completed, the package would be mailed to the insurance company.
Now, the Stylistic 500-based FR Toolkit allows CRS field representatives to complete and submit the required forms electronically. It also eliminates repetition and ensures consistency among the nearly 1,000 forms used in the risk assessment industry.
At the site, CRS field representatives simply select the form they need for a given type of inspection, then enter the requested data into the system using the stylus.
The Fujitsu system allows photos and sketches to be performed and stored electronically as well. CRS field representatives use a high definition digital camera to capture images in color, which are loaded directly to the Stylistic 500.
And, while CRS field representatives' former method required them to sketch the sites they inspected on paper, now they can draw their sketches directly onto the Stylistic 500 using a CAD drawing application, eliminating the need for paper completely.
"Our field representatives aren't sitting at a desk when they conduct risk assessments — they're inspecting attics, basements, crawl spaces. Under these circumstances, a compact, light weight pen computer is ideal," said Wayne Lattuca, assistant vice president-CRS Systems at ISO.
"We chose the Fujitsu Stylistic 500 because its fast processor speed and high storage capacity make it the only tablet computer on the market today able to accommodate the CAD and digital photography programs fundamental to our application."
The system also features note-taking software and a split screen function which allows CRS field representatives to jot down handwritten notes as they proceed through their inspection. Afterwards, they can attach a keyboard to the system to enter in the notes.
At the end of each day, CRS field representatives upload the electronically completed forms, digital photographs and CAD drawings to a regional processing center via the fastest modem available — a 28.8-Kbps modem — eliminating the need to mail hard copies and shortening the process by 4 days.
At the regional processing center, color documents are reproduced for the insurer on high quality laser printers. The need for an extensive quality check of the documents has all but been eliminated, and CRS is able to store the information for its own record keeping purposes.
The Stylistic 500 is a 2.6-pound tablet computer designed for mobile workers involved in high-end decision support activities. Powered by an Intel 486DX2-50 CPU, the system features RAM expandable to 20 MB; two Type I/II/III PCMCIA version 2.0 slots; and an 8-inch transmissive backlit, 64-level VGA screen.
It is the only tablet computer to operate on standard Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) batteries, which can be purchased in most consumer retail outlets.
Insurance Services Office Inc. (ISO) is a nonprofit corporation that provides information about the property/casualty insurance business, including statistical and actuarial information. ISO also provides advisory policy forms and a variety of related services.
Fujitsu Personal Systems Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., is a leader in providing solutions for data collection and decision support applications through the development of super portable palmtop, pen-based and communicating computers. Its solutions are designed to meet the needs of applications where light weight, small form factor and long battery life are essential.
The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fujitsu, Ltd. Fujitsu Personal Systems has North American offices in Santa Clara, Calif.; Irvine, Calif.; Chicago; Atlanta, Houston; Dallas; Philadelphia; New Jersey; Rhode Island; Toronto and international offices in England; France; Germany; and Italy.
Product information can be obtained by calling 800/831-3183. Fujitsu Personal Systems Inc. Corporate headquarters can be reached at 408/982-9500.
CONTACT:
Fujitsu Personal Systems Inc.
Jeff Tingley, 408/982-9500 Insurance Services Office Inc.
Christopher L. Guidette, 212/898-6609 Walt & Sommerhauser Communications Inc.
Stephanie Edwards/Cynthia Lempert, 408/496-0900