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Agency One Unveils Insurance Industry Software

Eric Torbenson Staff writer

Agency One has a brand-new product to go with its brand-new building.

The insurance software maker shepherded 300 insurance agents around Coeur d’Alene Thursday in celebration of its release of Agency One 8.0, the latest incarnation of its all-in-one computer package.

“You only get one chance to produce a software product that can dramatically change the industry,” said Gary Paquin, who, along with brother Tony, built Agency One. “We think this is our time.”

The software gives insurance companies a tool for all aspects of their business, from creating application forms to keeping the books. The latest version, launched last week, adds another essential feature: on-line access.

“The big insurers are demanding that their agencies be able to work with them on-line,” Tony Paquin said. “This version puts us with the other major products in this industry in terms of features, but at a substantially lower price.”

Agency One already boasts the biggest market share in the insurance software business, and the Paquins believe this new version will double the number of Agency One clients in 18 months.

The challenge is to write software that can allow the myriad of computer systems at different agencies to talk with the big computers at large insurers like CNA Insurance, which owns Agency One.

Instead of filing out forms and mailing them to the big insurers, agents can process applications and claims from their computers with the new software, saving time and money.

High tech industry continues to grow in Coeur d’Alene and in Idaho, which prompted the Paquins to form the Idaho Technology Association. The association is modeled after other state technology groups in Washington state, for example.

“I think high technology will soon be the biggest employer around here and in the state,” Paquin said. “It’s already among the biggest employers that pay high wages.”

Agency One, now with about 75 employees, likely will expand as demand for the new version goes up, Tony Paquin said.

, DataTimes