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With gadgets being invented and refined to
complement our business needs, it made sense to put together
a list of gadgets we recommend for insurance agents and brokers.
The following items were compiled to be a guide to a more
effective and efficient working environment.
CS50 Wireless Office
Headset ($299)
Manufacturer: Plantronics (www.plantronics.com)
Sick of being stuck at the desk while on
the phone? Go wireless! Roaming free with the CS50 can improve
red ears, and let users pace the office unrestricted. The
Bluetooth enabled CS50 can work for up to 300 ft. Plantronics
promises eight hours of talk time of private and completely
secure conversations.
Electronic Faxes -
eFAX ($12.95/month, $0.20 pp sending)
Manufacturer: eFAX (www.efax.com)
With simple internet access, sending faxes is now a snap.
With eFAX, agents can send and collect faxes whenever needed.
eFAX assigns a local fax number in your area, and when
someone sends a fax, it gets routed to an existing e-mail
inbox. No waiting at the fax machine or hassles with old-fashioned
fax modems. Choose a local or toll-free fax number in over
1,400 cities across the world to receive faxes. Forget
about additional equipment, phone lines or maintenance.
Take advantage of low fax send rates anywhere in the world.
IBM Thinkpad
Tablet PC X Series - X41 ($1,868.95)
Manufacturer : Lenovo (IBM)
Moses would have loved this little gadget. Light as a feather
(3.50 lbs), as thin as 1.14", 180 degrees screen rotation and
wireless connectivity and you are good to go. This is a power
tool for agents on the go.
Google Desktop (Free)
Manufacturer: Google (http://desktop.google.com)
Now where is that e-mail request for a Proof of Insurance? Simply type
in the keywords and a browser window will provide a link to the e-mail you are
looking for. Google Desktop allows users to search your e-mail, files, media,
and Web history through a small, easy to use utility. Google's software Indexes
an entire computer with the same technology it uses to search the Web for its
own search engine.
Strobe XP 200 Scanner ($299)
Manufacturer: Visoneer (www.visioneer.com)
Go digital and paperless. Most
of the large insurance companies now prefer applications and loss runs to be
sent via PDF (Acrobat) rather than fax or mail. Paperport 10 software, included
with most Visioneer scanners, allow you to better organize by using directories
for business cards, forms, and scanned items. This software can help convert
those scanned items into Word, Excel, faxes, e-mail, and images to be placed
in agency management systems.
SiteWizard,
tailored for insurance professionals offers free newsletter
content that you can summarize and insert into your monthly
newsletter to customers. The Insurance package/service
where your web site is customized and handed over to
you after it goes live. You will be trained to maintain
your completed web site online once your new site is
up and running. |
