The groupware keeps track of the activities and makes sure that everyone is working on current information. Lotus Notes 4.5, a new version scheduled for release in September, also includes access to hypertext-based systems such as the World Wide Web on the Internet, a global network of more than 30 million corporate and institutional computer users. The Web, now a favorite marketing tool of high-tech agents, allows users to create documents that include text, graphics, sound and video as well as links to remote databases. The groupware would also allow agents to automate Web searches, a technique which could be used by agents to match risks against a database of rates and insurers. The technology is available to do everything that agents and insurers have been asking for and applications are under development.
Awareness is the key.
The author Len Strazewski is a Chicago-based freelance writer specializing in marketing, management and technology topics. He has written on insurance for Rough Notes, Business Insurance, Crain's Chicago Business and Human Resource Executive, among other publications.