(For those new to the column, Forward Migration is our term for companies moving from Wintel machines to Macs — or at least adding or increasing the number of Macs they use. A forward migration kit is an overview of Mac OS products for a particular occupation, such as dentistry, accounting, etc.)
This week we’ll look at insurance software for the Mac. Some of the products mentioned came from MacCentral readers, but most were found at Apple Products Guide, an invaluable resource. Let’s’ look at the products in alphabetical order:
Agent’s Aide
Agent’s Aide by CG Software is a commission-tracking tool for insurance salespeople.
AntiquesOnTheMac
AntiquesOnTheMac Collectors’ Edition by James Harley is hyper-relational software for the management of antiques and art collections. It has inventory records that include fields for designating all acquisition information (source, cost, agent cost, shipping cost, attachable scanned bill of sale); appraisal history; exhibition history; insurance history; location; category; heir; de-accession information; and an attachable picture. The application offers extensive multi-criteria inventory listing, full accounting and descriptions up to 30,000 characters.
Courticiel
Courticiel by INFO ADAPT’SERVICES of France is software for insurance brokers. Apparently, it’s only distributed in France.
Crystal Ball
Crystal Ball by Decisioneering Inc. is a risk-analysis add-in module for Excel. According to the folks at Decisioneering, all you need to do is define probability distributions for uncertain variables; determine which cells you want forecast; and set a number of trials, usually in the hundreds of thousands. Crystal Ball does the rest for you. It plugs in random numbers for each variable conforming to the distributions you defined, calculates outcomes, and then plots the results on a frequency-distribution chart that lets you see the probability of any range of results. Sensitivity Chart ranks assumptions according to the influence they have on model outcomes.
Jessie/Assur
Jessie/Assur by Jessie Informatique of France is software for managing a company’s insurance including audit, claims and insurance products. It’s localized for French.
Lightpaper Software Technology
Lightpaper Software Technology by PaperFree Corp. is a real-time implementation of the Property/Casualty Insurance Industry’s National Standard Paper and Electronic Data Standards. Or at least it used to be. We were unable to contact PaperFree.
But if you do and can track down LightPaper Software Technology, it will purportedly let you see the Standard Forms on screen and save the data. The data is automatically verified against the Industry’s EDI Standard (ACORD Automation Level 3) as it’s entered by the user. No batch processing is required following data entry. The resulting files are Industry Standard EDI Transactions ready for transmission to any communicating partner capable of processing the Standard. End User unique and/or Insurance Carrier unique data is supported in accordance with the National Standards. The technology supports “required” data fields to ensure complete data sets. Industry Standard Forms can be printed blank or after they have been filled in with your data — pre-printed forms are also supported.
Medical Records
Medical Records by Jim Russell Productions is a FileMaker Pro template written to manage medical expenses, insurance payments, deductibles, etc. It’s customizable, letting you sort bills by patient, provider, unpaid bills or “waiting for reimbursement.” Alas, as with Lightpaper Software Technology, we were unable to contact the makers of this product so it may no longer be offered.