LONG BEACH, CALIF - After Hurricane Charley’s roar through Orlando in mid-August, massive power outages kept many residents from reaching their insurance agents, whose businesses were disrupted for days.

Thanks to quick thinking and the development of a disaster recovery plan rooted in technology, Nationwide Insurance agent Randy Blackwood and his team were helping clients re-build their lives within hours from a generator-powered motor home. Laserfiche document management software enabled Blackwood’s team to access customer declarations pages, which outlined property values, and forward them with completed claims forms to a Nationwide regional office in Gainesville, FL.

“Randy Blackwood is the first of many Florida Nationwide Insurance agents using Laserfiche to archive client records and policy information,” said Terry Hilliard of Connectivity Business Systems, a Laserfiche reseller based in Titusville, FL “We fondly refer to him as our ‘poster boy’. Now, he and his staff have taken customer service to the next level in the wake of Hurricane Charley.”

Robin Curtis was one of three customer service representatives working long hours to handle the influx of customer claims, getting many lives quickly back to normal. She credited Blackwood’s disaster recovery instincts for the successful effort. He parked his family motor home next to their office building, then set up a computer network inside.

“We wanted to help the customers who were really having trouble. Some had unlivable homes after fallen trees crushed them,” Ms. Curtis said. “The motor home office was often hot and crowded. We missed regular meals and worked long hours to get claim information to Nationwide adjusters for quick handling. It was worth the effort because we could serve our customers in an hour of tremendous need.”

“Without the ingenious solution, clients would have had to wait an additional six days, when electrical service was restored to their office building,” Ms. Curtis said.

With Laserfiche, the Blackwood team had access to all client information, as well as built-in capability to complete claims forms. Though downed phone lines made e-mailing them impossible, the claims forms were easy to print and fax directly to Gainesville from a remote location for prompt handling.

Laserfiche (www.laserfiche.com) creates simple and elegant document management solutions that help organizations run smarter. Headquartered in Long Beach, CA, Laserfiche solutions are used in 23,000 government and business offices worldwide.

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Posted on Saturday, September 25th, 2004 at 1:44 pm under Press Releases. You can comment on this article. trackback from your own site.