New Identity-Based System eiminates an agency’s need for multiple passwords to carrier sites
This month, ID Federation release Sign On Once, a new tool for agencies which allows an agency’s staff to use one login in which to securely access multiple carrier business partners. Using token technology to authenticate a user’s identity, a staff member using one password can logon to any carrier to carry out any type of transaction from quoting, to submissions to account management. ID Federations says SignOn Once will offer greater security protection to agencies versus the common practice of multiple passwords for each carrier’s system.
“With SignOn Once, the ID Federation aims to greatly simplify workflow and processes, saving hundreds of hours per day for everyone involved in the business of insurance, including — most important — agency users,” said Gray Nester, senior vice president of BB&T, an ID Federation board member.
Basically, SignOn Once works by providing each user a unique identity token which based upon that person’s own distinct credentials. That token is then certified for that particular user and is the basis point which facilities the ongoing access to each participating and certified SignOn Once carrier or solution provider. [pullquote]While the process is streamlined and seamless for the user, there are multiple checkpoints and verifications behind the scenes as users move from site to site.[/pullquote]
An additional benefit to agencies aside from getting rid of employee’s password “sticky notes” is that similar to Real Time/Download, using an application tool like SignOn Once can reduce significantly the time that agencies, carriers, and solution providers spend on managing passwords. It can also enhance the security of connections as well.
“Technology offers tremendous advantages to all parties in an insurance transaction,” explained Teresa Addy, business technology analyst at EMC Insurance Companies and a leader in the development of SignOn Once. “But requirements such as signing on to individual websites of various carriers and recalling numerous passwords have worked against agency efficiency.
“SignOn Once can change all of that and boost efficiency at the same time,” stated Addy. “With SignOn Once, our goal is to allow insurance professionals to spend more time with the value-added work of serving prospects and clients and less time working on managing passwords.
The software company Vertafore which provides agency management systems to many independent agents has made SignOn Once available for it’s early adopters.
“Vertafore has worked with leading carriers to create a solution based on the efforts the ID Federation group has been working hard to build,” said Mark Craig, Senior Vice President of Product Management for Vertafore. “The customer experience Vertafore has created eliminates the need for password management and maintenance for the carriers in support of ID Federation—it’s a great win for our agency and carrier customers everywhere.”
How can an insurance carrier or solution provider get SignOn Once?
ID Federation is now inviting , insurance carriers and solution providers need to become a member in order to participate in SignOn Once. To do so, ID Federation recommends completing the following three steps:
- Joining ID Federation. (Membership information and benefits are available at SignOnOnce.org or by contacting info@SignOnOnce.org.)
- Completing the process for certification as a SignOn Once carrier or solution provider.
- Implementing SignOn Once.
The ID Federation has published a Trust Framework spelling out operating agreements for business, legal, and technical rules to define and govern use of SignOn Once.
The Cost?
ID Federation has a sliding scale for the cost of SignOn Once based upon the size and type of insurance business interested in purchasing the tool. Here is rundown of the prices from their website:
What is ID Federation?
Formed in 2011, ID Federation is a 501(c)6 non-profit born out of a collaboration of insurance professionals within the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America’s Agents Council for Technology, the Real Time/Download Campaign, ACORD, and other technology user groups and communities. It is a volunteer group who’s mission is to benefit independent insurance agents by “…providing the insurance industry with common legal and technical standards that will remove the need for IDs and passwords while improving security and ease of doing business.”
