Development Update – Calender, Development Suggestions, and More!
Hello iBoomerang users!
Welcome to the new and improved development blog. New and improved in the sense that this will now be updated once a month (like clockwork), include more insight into what’s coming for you and your users, and we’re even going to let you start to have a hand in what you’d like to see in your iBoomerang tools. So let’s get started seeing what’s just around the corner here at iBoomerang.
So first off I’ll be the new author of these posts, hi I’m Chris and many of you may have already spoken to me on the phone over at the iBoomerang offices. As a tech support agent I hear a lot of the same suggestions and questions throughout my calls; many of them say one thing: we want more fluidity in our tools. Rest assured we hear you guys loud and clear, and word is getting through to our developers I promise. So what’s coming in the very near future down the pipeline?
AIB Calendar Updates
Your calendar with iBoomerang already does a lot for you: it syncs with your Microsoft Outlook and Google calendar and keeps track of your meetings and trainings. However, it’s about to do a lot more. Soon managers will have the ability to see how their team is doing simply with a glance, managers will be able to see how many appointments their users set and how many of those appointments were met and finally how many customers bought product. This update is arriving within the next few weeks for you so look forward to it.
Template Tool Overhaul
The template tool in your current back office works great, I use it myself at the office daily, but we wanted the user interface to be easier to navigate and more than that we wanted a sleeker design with the speed to match. The new template tool will of course have all the same functionality as the old one but will also come with some new features, one of which we can talk about will be the ability to have it to instantaneous text messaging. This will be useful for users and managers that need to make announcements for their clients. Also the new tool is completely rewritten from scratch so this means at least double the loading speed for you. We’re hoping to launch this after the first of the year.
AIB Sales Forecasting
More in the distant future will be the forecasting tool, allowing a user to see numbers from last year and using a special formula with many different variables we will be able to show you a forecast of what your sales should look like down to the week. This update will be rolled out in 2013 at some time.
Development Suggestions
Finally an update that is available this instant: we give you the ability to reach our developers directly! There’s a button on the right hand side of this blog that allows you to send a ticket in directly to our development team for review. We read every suggestion that comes in and try to incorporate them into future iBoomerang projects. Don’t be surprised if one of your suggestions makes it to a future update!
Here at iBoomerang we believe in constantly improving the experience of our customers at no additional charge to you, we think our tools should be evolving as the business does as well. All upgrades to tools are free to current customers, and that’s our promise to you. Thank you all for taking the time to read this blog and as I said earlier please keep an eye on this space for new and exciting updates from iBoomerang! To help you out a bit we’re also going to put an alert in your back office every time a new blog is up so you can make sure not to miss one. Hope to hear from you guys soon!
Chris Nuzzo
937-387-0804
Agency In A Box Upgrade Is On The Way!
It’s been a while since our last developers blog entry because we have been super busy with a large upgrade to Agency In A Box system! Here’s what you can look forward to…
We’ve rewired the Back Office!
The Back Office is undergoing a facelift to provide a more streamlined user-experience. Not only will the Back Office load quicker and run faster, it will also have a more intuitive interface! This includes a new layout with better organization and faster navigation to make you as productive as possible!
Updated Features For Agent Websites!
A lot of users experienced difficulty distinguishing between Product Types and Application Types in the AIB. And with good reason. They are conceptually the same thing, but the AIB treated them as separate entities. The new AIB will do away with Product Types and Application Types and replace them with “Coverage Types!” These will be the same whether you are selling products on your AIB website or entering business in to the A.V. Tracker™.
Another great update is the navigation system for Agent Websites! We have completely revamped how your website navigation is handled in the system. It’s a lot of coding jargon that you probably won’t care about, so we’ll just say this: It’s way better!
Improved Agent Productivity!
The A.V. Tracker™ is one of the best features of the AIB, providing real-time production data and agent incentives. But sometimes the system can’t keep up with how much agents are producing with the AIB! We’ve noticed this issue and broke up the reports. We made them more simple to find and work with. Best of all, we have updated how Custom Production Reports are handled. You can now create your own Custom Report and SAVE IT! If you want to track how well your downline agents are selling for certain carriers or coverage types each week, just create a report for what you want to track and save it! You can look up exactly who is producing what in whatever way you need!
Much like the navigation system for the Back Office and Agent Websites, we are completely re-imagining Agency Resources in the AIB! We want to make sure the Agencies are giving you the most accurate, up-to-date resources at all times. It’s a little complicated to explain, but in the future, you won’t have to worry about accidentally opening an old file. Also, we are adding resource restrictions! This will make sure all Agency Resources are only available to those people who need them!
Brand NEW Features!!
Here’s what you’re really going to love…
Personal Agent Calendars and Agenda
Imagine handling all of your events/appointments in one calendar in your AIB Back Office. Now stop imagining because it is coming.
What Else?
There are plenty more updates to the system that we could go on about. Some are smaller than others, but you will definitely notice the difference and the updates won’t stop there. They will keep coming!
These upgrades will need to be handled for each Agency In A Box System individually but you can expect these new updates to start rolling out in Q3 2012!
New Feature: Product Link Instructions for Agents!
One of the key features of the Agency In A Box platform has always been the agent website. These websites allow an agent to list all of his or her products with custom links specific to the agent provided by the carriers.
One question has always come up from agents: where do I get my personal link for each product?
That is why we developed a new feature for each product called “Product Link Instructions” for the agency to indicate how agents can get his or her personalized hyperlink for each product.
AIB Administrators find this new feature when creating or editing products under Administration > Products.
Any instructions listed for the product link will be visible to AIB Agents when they go to Website Management > My Products and add or edit a product.
Improved Mailbox Functionality!
We have just finished updating how mailboxes hosted by the Agency In A Box system are maintained in the Administrative area of the AIBs.
New Features!
- Specify if a mailbox belongs to the Agency or to a specific User account!
- Add a description to the Mailbox to remind you what it is used for!
- Users can have multiple mailboxes!
What has changed?
When you go to Administration > Mailboxes, you will see three headings:
- Unassigned Mailboxes
Mailboxes that have been created for your AIB system but, for one reason or another, are not specified to a user account or your Agency. - Agency Mailboxes
Mailboxes that are used by your agency for general purposes, such as: newsletters, enrollment notifications, quote requests, etc. - User Mailboxes
Mailboxes assigned to specific user accounts with their current User Type displayed.
When viewing a User’s profile page you will now see all AIB-hosted mailboxes assigned to the user listed and choose which of the mailboxes (or the user’s personal e-mail address) is preferred for communication with the user.
State License Renewal Date Alerts
Agency In A Box Alerts have been added to let Agents know when a State License has lapsed or nearing its renewal date.
If an agent has any alerts, a red button will display in the top left side of the Back Office indicating the number of alerts the agent has associated with their account. Clicking this button will take them to a full list of alerts.
Since the alerts are in regards to State Licenses, they will also display across the top of their State Licensing page.
These alerts are updated for each agent when they add, update or delete a state license and agency-wide every night at Midnight EST.
Notes System Updated
All notes sections in the Agency In A Box system have been updated to a “threaded notes” style.
Brand New Features:
- Threaded Notes!
Each Note is now added to a list of notes with its own timestamp and user signature. - Collapsible notes!
Expand / Collapse Note Threads!
There are new UserType permissions for handing Profile notes, Admin notes and Contracting Notes. The permissions are as follows:
- Can Delete Profile Notes For… (under Profile Area module)
- Can Delete Admin Notes For… (under Profile Area module)
- Delete Contracting Notes For… (under Contracting Area module)
Notification E-Mail System
Now you have complete control over specific Notification E-Mails sent from the Agency In A Box System!
Available Notification E-Mails:
- Agent Enrollment Process Notification E-Mails sent to…
- The Agent
- The Recruiter
- The Division Owner
- Prospective Agent Enrollment Notification E-Mails sent to…
- The Prospect
- The Recruiter
Brand New Features:
- Create E-Mail Content with HTML & Dynamic Information!
Using our Rich-Text Editor and bank of related-variables, you can complete customize each notification e-mail. - Add CC & BCC Recipients!
Perfect for keeping records of e-mails being sent to your agents!
The section for maintaining these Notification E-Mails is located in the Administrative Area.
There is a new section for UserType Permissions under the “Administrative Area” module to control these new features called “Notification E-Mails.” The new permission is:
- Can Edit Notification E-Mails: (Yes or No)
Application Types and the NEW Application Form
Previously, A.V. Tracker applications had a separate field for Carrier and Application Type, but the two were not connected.
Not anymore!
The Agency In A Box A.V. Tracker just received a HUGE updated with the creation of the A.V. Application Types section of the Administrative Area!
Brand New Features:
- Create Any Number of Application Types to suit your needs!
You are no longer limited to a pre-defined set of types. - Carriers & Products are now linked to Application Types
You control which Carriers are available for each of your Application Types.
Changes to the Submit Application Form:
- The Agent selects an Application Type from the drop-down box.
- The drop-down of Carriers changes dynamically to display ONLY the Carriers within the chosen Application Type that the Agent is contracted with.
- There is a NEW drop-down for Products, which changes dynamically to display the Products under the specified Carrier and Application Type.
There is a new section for UserType Permissions under the “Administrative Area” module to control these new features called “Application Type Controls.” The permissions are as follows:
- Can Create Application Types: (Yes or No)
- Can Edit Application Types: (Yes or No)
- Can Delete Application Types: (Yes or No)
Calendar System Improvements
The AIB Calendar System has been completely rebuilt from the ground up!
Brand New Features:
- Improved Style!
The calendar system is now sleeker than ever! - Editing Calendar and Events no longer requires separate login!
If you’re logged in to your AIB Back Office, you are logged in to your calendar. - Calendar Sharing!
Control over which AIB Calendars and AIB Training Events are displayed on each of your Calendars, complete with color-coding! - Customized Accessibility!
You Control if Calendars are Public, Require Logins To Back Office, or are only visible to specific usertypes! - Three Calendars for FREE!!
Every Agency In A Box system comes with Three AIB Calendars. Additional Calendars are available for order from iBoomerang.com
There is a new module for UserType Permissions to control these new features called “AIB Calendars.” The permissions are as follows:
- Can Edit Calendars: (Yes or No)
- Can Edit Calendar Events: (Yes or No)
New iBoomerang PowerDialer Launched
iBoomerang has launched a new version of its ever-popular and agent-favorite PowerDialer. The new system offers classic PowerDialer functionality with an improved interface that allows users to make quick lead management edits from a single page. Users will also be able to create campaigns from calling lists by uploading an Excel or CSV file from their computer or by building a list from previous leads based on dispositions or lead-type.
