Agents Provide Input on New MSB Products at Agent Strategy Council

NEW BERLIN, Wis., April 13 /PRNewswire/ -- MSB, the leading worldwide provider of building cost data and estimating technology to the property insurance industry, held its first Agency Strategy Council meeting on February 3, 2010, in Tampa, Florida. This event is part of an ongoing MSB initiative to increase direct communication with insurance agents nationwide.

"To make our customers, the insurance carriers, happy, we also have to make their customers happy," explained Jerry Fox, Vice President of Agency Operations for MSB. "So, we are reaching out to the agents who use our products to gain their insight, better understand their challenges, and ensure that MSB's future product direction is also, from an agent's view, where we need to go."  

Council attendees included leadership from the Vertafore Users' Group, the Applied Users' Group, as well as representatives from ACORD and Agents Council for Technology (ACT).  "We went to the executives of each group, explained what we were trying to do and asked for participant recommendations.  They connected us with some of the best minds in the industry," Fox said.  "We had the current and incoming president or chairman of both users' groups in attendance, as well as each research and product development committee head."

During the event, MSB representatives discussed future enhancements and previewed two products -- InterChange™ (IC) and Grand Central Express (GCX). Both products, which will launch in Q3 2010, are designed to save agents time and reduce errors by eliminating redundant keying.  InterChange™ is a database with a uniquely broad array of independently researched and verified property information while GCX is a web-hosted network that completes valuations for leads across multiple MSB RCT Express™ web hosting sites simultaneously.

InterChange™ automatically pre-fills input data required for the agents' desktop tools for calculating MSB replacement cost estimates.  GCX enables agents to access all of  their carriers' RCT Express™ web sites, streamlining the convergence  from leads to real business opportunities for participating carriers. "Without GCX, agents have to retype this information three, maybe four times, with a margin of error," Fox explained. "With GCX, it's once and done."

According to Fox, the council participants enthusiastically received both products. "Based on participant feedback, these two products are clearly in sync with the needs of the insurance agencies our customers serve," he said.

In addition to conducting more agent strategy council events, MSB will soon set up a tactical agent advisory group that will focus on actual development projects.  Fox and other members of MSB leadership will also increase involvement with users' groups and other agent-facing organizations.

"One of the best ways we can serve our insurance carriers is to make sure that our tools are easy-to-use, efficient and make life easier for the agents who use them," Fox said.  "By initiating consistent, honest communications and listening to the agent community, we are certain to meet that goal."

About MSB

MSB, also known as Marshall & Swift / Boeckh, is an MDA company and the leading supplier of local building cost information, residential and commercial property valuation technology and services for the property and casualty insurance sector of the United States and Canada.  MSB has five offices throughout the U.S. and Canada. 

About MDA

MDA provides advanced information solutions that capture and process vast amounts of data, product essential information, and improve the decision making and operational performance of business and government organizations worldwide.

Focused on markets and customers with strong repeat business potential, MDA delivers a broad spectrum of information solutions, ranging from complex operational systems, to tailored information services, to electronic information products.

The Company's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol TSX: MDA.

SOURCE MSB