NATIONAL LIFE OF VERMONT

NATIONAL LIFE OF VERMONT
National Life of Vermont (NLV) is a dynamic and emergent financial services organization offering a comprehensive line of life insurance, annuities, financial and retirement planning product; as well as pension design and administration and a variety of investment services. The flagship of the enterprise, National Life Insurance Company, was established in Montpelier, Vermont in 1850 and is licensed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. From its inception, National Life has been an innovator of life insurance in America, having introduced a number of improvements that are now regular features of policies sold by a number of insurers.

THE SITUATION:
It is no surprise then NLV was looking for a more efficient and cost effective way to manage policy documentation and support its customers. Prior to adopting an electronic document management system, NLV was storing all client contracts and related information on microfiche. As the microfiche machines required increased maintenance and costly upgrades, NLV began to look for alternatives. It needed a solution that would not only cut costs, but also simplify the 36-step process required to retrieve policyholder information.

THE SOLUTION:
National Life of Vermont implemented the OnBase integrated document management solution for electronic storage and retrieval of all policyholder information, including insurance applications and customer correspondence.

Currently, NLV uses OnBase COLD (Computer Output to Laser Disk) to process 800 reports per day. NLV receives 70,000 incoming pages per week consisting of insurance applications and other correspondence. Over the course of a year, this equates to over 1.5 million incoming documents, with volumes expected to increase. With such a paper burden, NLV also employs OnBase Document Imaging to scan all insurance applications and index the images based on an associated policy number, thereby eliminating microfiche entirely. Based on a set of keywords, all information associated with a policy can be instantly retrieved. To maintain offline records and backups, NLV uses OnBase CD Authoring to move nearly 25,000 images to CD daily.

Additionally, the NLV Record Center has implemented the OnBase Document Import Processor to convert 750,000 images from microfiche for storage in OnBase. The OnBase Document Import Processor is also utilized to archive NLV's statements with their respective indices that are converted to TIFF images prior to import. Using a Microsoft SQL Server database, NLV is licensed for 260 client stations running Windows NT.

According to Dick Brockway, director of forms management and purchasing at NLV, the combined capabilities of OnBase and Microsoft has simplified its business process tremendously. For example, this intelligent integration allows NLV to store customer correspondence created in Microsoft Word directly into the OnBase system. Brockway remarks, "We are a Microsoft shop, and we were able to build on that functionality through the implementation of OnBase. Microsoft and OnBase have enabled us to exceed our current storage and retrieval objectives in a very short period of time while providing the flexibility for future growth." Currently, NLV is looking at extending the system to agency operations as well as utilizing OnBase Workflow to automate the new policy implementation process.

THE RESULT:
By completely automating its Records Center, NLV has reduced its customer service costs by 50 percent, eliminated microfiche completely and currently provides customers with immediate response to policy inquiries-all this despite a 300 percent increase in volume. The OnBase and Microsoft solution has cut the 36-step process of retrieving information down to four steps and is helping NLV further solidify its position as an innovative leader in the insurance arena.