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Agency-Company
Organization for Research &
Development is a non-profit industry
association comprised of insurers,
producer associations, vendors and
other interested parties.
ACORD has developed criteria to
implement industry-wide standards for
data transmission and forms. ACORD's
stated mission is to help achieve
greater efficiency for the independent
agency distribution system,
particularly with respect to the use
and exchange of information.
These
refer to the standards set and
accepted by the insurance industry,
that are used to define the data and
regulate how it will be transmitted
between the company and the agency.
Accrual Accounting
The
accrual method of accounting records
income when the sale occurs,
regardless of when you actually receive
the payment. Expenses are
recorded when the goods or services
are received,
regardless of when they are
paid. In other terms, with the
accrual method, income and expenses
are counted when it is expected, and
not when the money is received or
disbursed.
Administrator
is the portion of the program that
enables the SEMCI
PARTNER®
administrator to set various parameters and default settings
necessary to use SEMCI
PARTNER®
and interface with the
company/companies represented by the
agency.
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Agency
Bill
Policies
where the agency invoices and collects
payments are Agency Billed
policies. These policies will be
listed on the agent's account current
statement from the insurance company.
Groups
of user-defined fields that can be
created by an individual agency.
The field is added through the
ADI Fields section of SEMCI
PARTNER®. Once the field has been created, it can then be used to
develop a screen in Screen Designer
and any data entered in these fields
be queried against, allowing you to
locate all clients with that
information.
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ACORD
Level 3. This the standardized data
structure developed by ACORDâ
for data transmission within the
insurance industry.
Application
Service Providers are
third-party entities that manage and
distribute software-based services and
solutions to customers across a wide
area network from a central data
center.
To
copy files to
a second medium (a
disk
or tape) as a precaution in case the
first medium fails. One of the
cardinal rules in using computers
is Backup your files regularly. Even
the most reliable computer is apt to
break down eventually. For SEMCI
PARTNER®
users it is important that you backup all
files under the SIS directory on a
daily basis. To be especially
safe, you should keep one backup in a
different location from the others.
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The
amount of data that can be transmitted
in a fixed amount of time. For digital
devices, the bandwidth is usually
expressed in bits per second (bps) or
bytes per second. For analog devices,
the bandwidth is expressed in cycles
per second, or Hertz (Hz).
The
term of measurement used in referring
to data transmission speed. It
represents about one bit per second.
Thus, a 2400 baud modem can transmit
at the rate of 2400 bits per second.
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Short
for Web browser, a software
application used to locate and display
Web pages. The two most popular
browsers are Netscape Navigator and
Microsoft Internet Explorer.
A
collection of wires through which data
is transmitted from one part of a
computer to another. You can think of
a bus as a highway on which data
travels within a computer. When used
in reference to personal computers,
the term bus usually refers to internal
bus. This is a bus that connects
all the internal computer components
to the CPU and main memory. There's
also an expansion bus that enables
expansion boards to access the CPU and
memory.
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A
modem designed to operate over cable
TV lines. Because the coaxial cable
used by cable TV provides much greater
bandwidth than telephone lines, a
cable modem can be used to achieve
extremely fast access to the World
Wide Web.
Cash
Accounting
The
cash accounting method records income
only when the cash is received for an
invoice, regardless when it was
invoiced. Similarly, expenses
are recorded when a payment is
disbursed, regardless when it was
purchased or received.
Computer
Based Training – an Interactive
Training CD that will assist agencies
in quickly and efficiently training
new personnel, as well as instructing
existing users on how to use the
system to increase productivity.
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Chart
of Accounts
Also
referred to as the General Ledger, the
chart of accounts is a list of all of
the accounts used by an entity.
The list is grouped by a standard
number series for asset and liability
accounts.
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A
unique software, designed to assist
your agency with client servicing
within a paperless environment. CHF
provides a transaction history log of
all manual and electronic updates to a
policy file.
The
Comments page in SEMCI
PARTNER®
can be used as a "sticky
note" area to enter any
information you want. When data is
entered, the word “Comment’
on the comment tab turns red. You can
modify or delete any information in
this field.
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A
database that contains all commonly
used additional interest records such
as the names and addresses of banks
and mortgage companies. These names
can be loaded from the additional
interest records contained on the
policy details screens via the Common
Names Database Load program.
A
log of all communication sessions
detail and daily processes performed
by the system. This includes a list of
all policies that were downloaded,
uploaded
or imported. The log will also
detail any errors that occurred during
the communication session process.
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An
interface
on a computer
to which you can connect a device.
Personal Computers
have various types of ports.
Internally there are several ports for
connecting disk drives, display
screens,
and keyboards.
Externally, personal computers have
ports for connecting modems, printers,
mice and other peripheral devices.
A
utility on policy changes compares the
original record with the changed
record and records the differences in
History file.
Company
Administrator allows the agency to
control which companies are available
within SEMCI PARTNER®,
their address, communication
parameters, the company's NAIC code(s),
rating parameters, and other
information.
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The
Contacts database is used to keep
track of persons other than clients
who are involved or associated with
the agency, client or perhaps a claim
in some way, such as Body shops,
adjusters, contractors, etc.
Individuals named within a policy
should not be placed in the Contacts
database but on the Individuals page
of the Client folder.
On
DOS systems, conventional memory
refers to the portion of memory that
is available to standard DOS programs.
DOS systems have an address space of
1MB (megabyte), but the top 384K
(called high memory) are reserved for
system use. This leaves 640K of
conventional memory. Everything above
1MB is either extended or expanded
memory.
Credits
Credits
increase liability accounts and
decrease asset accounts.
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This
feature detects any attached TWAIN
device such as a digital camera and
automatically scans an image into
Partner Objects.
The
Reports option allows you to customize
how reports are viewed and printed.
The selections in the Custom Report
Settings group allow the preset
margins for a report to be
overwritten. Default printers and
printer settings can also be made per
report. For most agencies, the default
settings do not need changed. However,
due to variations in printers and
printer drivers, some adjustment may
be needed to align print.
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This
represents the policy status
processing the system performs when
the first user signs onto SEMCI
PARTNER®
at the beginning of the day. The
system compares the computer date to
the policy effective and expiration
dates and changes the status'
accordingly. For example, if a policy
term expired the day before the
computer date, the system changes the
status from active to inactive. Also,
for a future policy term, the status
changes from future to active when the
computer date is the same as the
policy effective date.
Debits
Debits
increase assets and decrease liability
and equity accounts.
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A
component in Windowsâ
that enables you to connect your
computer to a network
via a modem.
If your computer is not connected to a
LAN and you want to connect to the
Internet,
you need to configure Dial-Up
Networking (DUN) to dial a Point of
Presence (POP)
and log into your
Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Your ISP will need to provide certain
information, such as the gateway
address and your computer's IP
address.
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Download
involves the transmission of data
contained on a company's computer to
the agent's computer in order to
update the agency's database with
current information.
Direct
Bill
Policies
that are invoiced directly by the
insurance carrier to the client.
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Digital
Subscriber Line - DSL is a high-speed
data service that brings the Internet
and all it offers to you at speeds up
to 25 times faster than a standard
dial–up connection.
APT
Edits are controlled by each upload
company and used to assist agents with
entering policy information.
The edits are also used to
check the policy for required
information before it is uploaded.
The company will send files,
either on diskette or electronically,
to the agent containing the edit
information.
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E-mail
template allows you to select and pass
a letter created in Letter Editor and
an e-mail address to your MAPI
compliant e-mail software.
A
system designed to prevent
unauthorized access to or from a
private network. Firewalls can be
implemented in both hardware and
software or a combination of both.
Firewalls are frequently used to
prevent unauthorized Internet users
from accessing private networks
connected to the Internet, especially
intranets. All messages entering or
leaving the intranet pass through the
firewall which examines each message
and blocks those that do not meet the
specified security criteria.
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Fiscal
Year
The
fiscal year is the declared accounting
year for a company. The period
must include 12 months, but does not
have to be January 1 through December
31. For example, an agency can
designate their fiscal year from July
1 through June 30.
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File
Transfer Protocol is the Internet
protocol that allows the viewing,
downloading, and uploading of files on
remote computers.
Hyper
Text
Markup Language is the
authoring language used to create
documents on the World Wide Web.
A
common, connection point for devices
on a network. Hubs are commonly used
to connect segments
of a LAN.
A hub contains multiple ports.
When a packet
arrives at one port, it is copied to
the other ports so that all segments
of the LAN can see all packets.
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The
Import Utility will populate the
client database (including
‘Individual’ fields) in SEMCI
PARTNER®.
Values can be entered to populate ADI
fields as long as the ADI field(s)
exists prior to the import. You will
also be able to import contact
information (i.e. address books) into
the Contacts database within SEMCI
PARTNER®.
Fields must be manually matched, field
by field, from one database to the
other, by the user so only the
information that is requested is
imported into the system. Fields that
are not selected for import must be
manually "ignored" by the
user.
Users will be able to mass
delete previously imported files.
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The
Individual page is to keep track of
all individuals associated with a
policy or client. This would include
such individuals as youths that may be
in the household, neighbors with keys,
etc. The information entered can then
be used for such things as sending
email from within SEMCI
PARTNER®
or running $ELLECT Client Query
birthday lists.
The
ILC is a ‘one time’ charge that
covers the agency’s right to use SEMCI
PARTNER®,
the initial installation support by
S.I.S. and other ‘third party’
licenses included within SEMCI
PARTNER®.
There are other initial licensing
charges for modules supporting upload,
download, accounting and the right to
use SEMCI PARTNER®
in a multi-user environment.
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An
initial load refers to a one-time
process of importing all
clients/policies of a specific company
into an agency management system.
This data is contained in an
ACORD standard format file.
A
form required to initiate download and
upload with one of our company
partners. It details information
needed by the company such as agency
name and address as well as IVANS
account number for sending and
receiving data transmissions.
The
number that identifies your machine as
unique on the Internet. Without it you
cannot use any Internet protocols.
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Integrated
Services Digital Network
is a high-speed digital
telephone service that can
dramatically increase the speed at
which you connect to the Internet.
ISDN can operate at speeds up to 128
kilobits per second, which is five or
more times faster than many analog
modems.
Internet
Service Provider is a company that
provides direct access to the
Internet.
Insurance
Value Added Network Services was
created by IIR/ACORD (now ACORD) to
serve as an industry-wide data
transmission network.
It uses a private network (the
IBM Information Network) and offers
access with discounted pricing, for a
fee, to companies and agencies.
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Local-Area
Network. A group of computers, usually
in one building, that are physically
connected in a way that lets them
communicate and interact with each
other.
Letter
Editor is SEMCI PARTNER®'s
word processor, where you have the
ability to create individual letters
or canned letters (form letters).
These letters can then be
accessed from various areas within SEMCI
PARTNER®.
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Messaging
Application Programming Interface.
Microsoft
and other companies developed MAPI
(pronounced "mappy") to
enable Windows applications to access
a variety of messaging systems, from
Microsoft Mail to Novell's MHS. But
MAPI works on a more everyday level,
too. So-called mail-aware applications
can exchange both mail and data with
others on a network.
Messages
(general agency notes) allow you to
create, update, view or delete a
general note that is unrelated to a
specific client or policy. By
assigning them to someone else in the
agency, a message pops up on their
computer when they have a new message.
In addition to messages you type,
automatic documentation is made in the
Notes section of the message when it
has been reassigned, moved, or has the
reminder date cleared.
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National
Association of SIS PARTNER Agents is
the national users consortium that
provides PARTNER users with one strong
voice, working together with S.I.S,
Inc. to grow agency focused products
and services. The organization
exists to educate and exchange ideas
among its members.
NIC (Network
Interface Card)
NIC,
is
an expansion board you
insert into a computer
so the computer can be connected to a
network.
Most NICs are designed for a
particular type of network, protocol,
and media, although some can serve
multiple networks.
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An
object is a piece of information
(document, spreadsheet, picture,
video, etc.) that is created in
another program (Microsoft Word ™ or
Lotus 1-2-3®, etc.) and embedded or
linked in SEMCI PARTNER®.
A
fully functioning accounting system
developed by S.I.S. which integrates
with SEMCI PARTNER®.
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pcAnywhereâ
is a complete diagnostic/remote access
product that allows S.I.S. to
“see” your computer. It assists in
the installation of SEMCI
PARTNER®,
conducting remote training over the
phone, as well as troubleshooting
hardware or software related issues.
A
type of network in which each
workstation has equivalent
capabilities and responsibilities.
This differs from client/server, in
which some computers are dedicated to
serving the others. Peer-to-peer
networks are generally simpler, but
they usually do not offer the same
performance as a network with a
dedicated server.
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Policy
Marketing is a tool that allows users
to extract specified policy data from
the SEMCI PARTNER®
database. It is designed to quickly
generate lists using basic policy
information such as company, line of
business, effective and expiration
dates, policy status, full term
premium, producer code, company
product code, and/or transaction
status.
When
you change a policy, SEMCI
PARTNER®
saves a copy of the Policy Details
prior to your change.
Should you need to, you can
look back at a policy to verify the
details prior to the change. This is
particularly helpful when a company
makes a change and you want to see how
the policy looked prior to the change.
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A
standardized and formalized set of
conventions or rules used to describe
the format and relative timing of data
to be transferred between two or more
computer devices.
A
server that sits between a client
application, such as a Web browser,
and a real server. It intercepts all
requests to the real server to see if
it can fulfill the requests itself. If
not, it forwards the request to the
real server.
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Proxy
servers have two main purposes: (1)
Improve Performance - Proxy servers
can dramatically improve performance
for groups of users. This is because
it saves the results of all requests
for a certain amount of time. Real
proxy servers support hundreds or
thousands of users. (2) Filter
Requests - Proxy servers can also be
used to filter requests. For example,
a company might use a proxy server to
prevent its employees from accessing a
specific set of Web sites.
RAS (Remote Access
Server)
A
server that is dedicated to handling
users that are not on a LAN but need
remote access to it. The remote
access server allows users to gain
access to files and print services on
the LAN from a remote location. For
example, a user who dials into a
network from home using an analog
modem or an ISDN connection will dial
into a remote access server. Once the
user is authenticated he can access
shared drives and printers as if he
were physically connected to the
office LAN.
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Sometimes
called a bridge, rating integration
allows the user to enter data into
various rating packages without having
to rekey the information. Policies are
quoted and information is brought over
to SEMCI PARTNER®
and stored for upload to the company.
ReachOutâ
is a complete remote access product
that allows S.I.S. to “see” your
computer. It assists in the
installation of SEMCI
PARTNER®
and conducting remote training over
the phone, as well as troubleshooting
hardware or software problems.
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$ELLECT
is a query engine that allows users to
extract various client and policy data
from the SEMCI PARTNER®
database.
This data can then be used to
generate reports, graphs or marketing
lists.
Single
Entry, Multi-Company Interface refers
to the ability to enter data once into
the agency management system and to
transmit this data to multiple company
systems without having to re-enter
this information.
Also implied by SEMCI
is the ability to return data to the
agency system after processing by the
insurance company.
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A
computer or device on a network that
manages network resources. For
example, a file server is a
computer and storage device dedicated
to
storing files.
A print server is a computer
that manages one or more printers, and
a network server is a
computer that manages network traffic.
A database server is a computer
system that processes database
queries.
A
user can scan a signature and store it
in SEMCI PARTNER®,
where it is saved as a bitmap and can
be inserted into forms or letters.
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The
Snapshot page allows you to quickly
and easily view a summary of the
client, including all policies,
claims, notes, objects, forms, etc.
that belong to the client. The View
Style can be Regular, Compressed, or
Grouped. The View Filter allows you to
view everything attached to the Client
or only recently changed items. Recent
is specified as a number of days
within the Customize, Other
tab. You can view the detail of a
specific item listed in Snapshot by
clicking on the hyperlink for that
item.
A
dedicated phone connection supporting
data rates of 1.544Mbits per second. A
T-1 line actually consists of 24
individual channels, each of which
supports 64Kbits per second. Each
64Kbit/second channel can be
configured to carry voice or data
traffic. T-1 lines are a popular
leased line option for businesses
connecting to the Internet and for
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
connecting to the Internet.
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This
SEMCI PARTNER®
feature provides the user with a tool
to update ACORD tables with
user-defined or company specific
coverage codes and descriptions within
the Policy Details. This program will
be especially helpful if you are
manually entering Policy Details into
the database.
Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol are
the common software protocols used by
all computers on the Internet. TCP is
the protocol that controls the
transmission of data packets across
the Internet and IP is the addressing
protocol that routes data to its
intended destination.
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Filing
paper records by date rather than
numerically or alphabetically.
TWAIN
is an industry standard used in image
acquisition from scanners, digital
cameras and other imaging devices.
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Upload
involves the transmission of data in
the agency management system to the
company's computer.
Uniform
Resource Locator is an Internet
address, as well as a standard method
of naming files on the web. It is
similar to a DOS pathname, but instead
of a disk drive letter, an URL begins
with a protocol name, such as
‘http’ followed by a colon and two
forward slashes. Following that is the
name of Internet server that the file
is stored on, known by a unique domain
name, followed by the directories that
hold the file, separated by a forward
slash. The filename comes last, as
shown in the following example:
http://www.sisware.com/faq/terms.htm
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Wide-Area
Network is a computer network that
spans a relatively large geographical
area. Typically, a WAN consists of two
or more local-area networks
(LAN’s). Computers connected to a
wide-area network are often connected
through public networks, such as the
telephone system. They can also be
connected through leased line or satellites. The largest WAN in
existence is the Internet.
The
directory in which you are currently
working. Pathnames that do not start
with the root directory are assumed by
the operating system to start from the
working directory.
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Extensible
Markup Language or XML
is a system for defining, validating,
and sharing document formats. It
allows designers to create their own
customized tags,
enabling the definition, transmission,
validation, and interpretation of data
between applications and between
organizations.
This
refers to the IBM Information Network
account setup for receiving files.
Also known as your mailbox.
Method
used to compress a database file. Some
popular utilities are Dynazip and
WinZip. back
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