AMS360 2024 R1 Release Notes

Eight different ACORD forms have been updated with more recent forms. Click on the link at the left to see this list.

[Idea: AMS360-I-2086; AMS360-I-3119]

For a customer claim that has multiple phone numbers associated with it, you may now designate one of those as the primary number, i.e., the first number that will be dialed.

Value: Quickly know the best number to call for a Claim Contact.

[Idea: AMS360-I-551]

The following columns have been added to the Customer Center Claims view:

• Total Paid To Date

• Adjuster Name

• Adjuster Phone Number

• Company

Value: Provided additional information that would assist users in the work they perform with claims.

[Idea: AMS360-I-891]

This feature will allow users to type in the number or text of the NAICS industry from the NAICS list within the Customer Center - Additional Customer Info.

Value: Allows the user to find their NAICS code quickly and easily, while also entering it into the application. The NAICS code also connects to the SIC code field connects to the SIC code box.

NOTE: The area where the NAIC code is located can be expanded by clicking on the bottom right-hand corner and dragging it.

Any invalid NAIC or SIC codes will be removed through the upgrade process. If you have concerns with the data in this field, we suggest you run the MAR Customer Analysis report prior to performing the upgrade; this action will therefore provide you with a list of what was included in that field.

[Idea: AMS360-I-2408]

This feature will allow users to type in the number or text of the SIC industry from the SIC list, while also connecting the SIC code to the NAICS code box.

Value: This will allow users to quickly and easily find their SIC code, and it also connects to the NAICS code box.

New Field: Agency Business Classification

This release offers a new, editable drop-down "combo" field where users can manually type in their business class and also select from the Admin Center-List Setup- Agency Business Classification. This new functionality allows agencies to create their own classification list for businesses.

Value: This will allow agencies to create their own classification list for businesses.

This feature now includes a section that reflects the Business with Agency fields, which were previously accessible to a limited number of users. The Customer Overview page now shows the Business with Agency title with its corresponding fields: Acquisition; Business Origin; and Customer Added Date.

Value: This will allow all users with access to Customers to view the Business Origin and Acquisition Fields

[Idea: AMS360-I-1296]

Education Selection Added to Additional Customer Information

An "Education" selection has been added to Additional Customer Information and to Dependents; it contains the ACORD list of Education.

Value: Records the customer's Education level when needed, and the Education level for their dependents.

[Idea: AMS360-I-1486]

Salutations Added to Additional Customer Information

Formal and Informal Salutation data now appear at the top of the Additional Customer Info pop-up, rather than having to open Customer Setup to see this information.

Value: Easily address the customer with their preferred name.

[Idea: AMS360-I-1049]

Relocation of International Phone Numbers

The International Phone Numbers field has been moved to the end of the Customer Setup form, Dependents and Contacts.

Value: No longer a need to tab over International Phone Numbers, which will save some keystrokes.

[Idea: AMS360-I-1984]

Customer Opens with Single Match on Policy Number

Previously, when searching for a customer by policy number, users needed to click on the customer to open. Now, when users enter an exact match to a policy number, the customer screen opens automatically.

Value: Reduces clicks for users

[Idea: AMS360-I-1138]

When processing a download after assigning it through the download assignment utility, the entered-by-personnel field on the activity will display the name of the individual who assigned the download.

Value: This allows for easier auditing of downloads assigned in the system by distinguishing between user errors and carrier download errors.

[Idea: AMS360-I-1157}

Downloaded accounting transactions will be assigned to a customer, whether the customer is active or inactive.

Value: Even if the customer on the policy is inactive, commissions will be matched to the policy, thereby reducing the effort to match them manually.

[Idea: AMS360-I-2784]

You can now sort "Doc Type" and "Security Classification" items in alphabetical order. Go to a Document view in any of the centers listed below and note that the Doc Type and Security Classification drop downs are sorted alphanumerically:

• Customer

• Bank

• Broker

• Company

• Employee

• Vendor

• Financial

Value: This improvement makes it easier and faster to select elements within these fields.

[Idea: AMS360-I-1024; AMS360-I-1801; AMS360-I-2900]

Change Additional Personnel at Customer Level

Global Change for Personnel Import has added a new import process, "Customer Additional Personnel." This process allows additional employees at the customer service group level to be replaced, added or removed, without having to go into each Customer to make those changes.

Value: This improvement allows users to quickly add employees to specific policies, without having to go into each policy to add new non-primary personnel.

[Idea: AMS360-I-2842]

Defaulting Parent Company as a Writing Company

As a new policy, the Parent Company is only defaulted as a Writing Company when no writing companies currently exist for the Parent Company.

Value: This improvement ensures greater data quality by decreasing the possibility of selecting an incorrect writing company when creating a policy. The user is forced to select the required writing company.

This features allows Account Current and Pay Commission to pull policies into the statement by the policy's Business Unit and the user's access to the Business Unit on those policies. An agency with multiple divisions can now create a statement based on having Business Unit access to the policy, even if the employee has no access to the customer.

Value: An agency with multiple divisions will now be able to create a statement based on having Business Unit access to the policy, even if the employee has no access to the Customer.

This release adds two pop-up validation messages that warn users they are either missing OSC check-type security, or else the check payment type that was originally used in the check being copied is no longer allowed by the bank they have selected.

Value: These validation messages will send users messages regarding which steps are necessary to successfully copy the check.

A new check-box has been added to "View" options for the "Customer Register" view, as well as for the "Customer Invoices" view. A check-box for "Display Invoices with Logos" will now default to checked. When the box is unchecked and you select an invoice to view, the invoice will load minus the logo.

From the Customer Register view or the Customer Invoices view (in View Options), check or uncheck the "Display Invoices with Logos" box. Then select an invoice to see it with or without a logo, based on your selection.

Value: You can now view an invoice without a logo, which may reduce the time an invoice will take to load, thereby making you more productive.

Customer Setup: Business Option for Name Type Added

Within the Customer Setup process, in addition to the "Individual" and "Family" Name Type, users may now also select a Business Name Type.

Value: Users can now set up customers as Businesses instead of individuals or families, which improves the process of classifying and organizing Customers.

With this release, the "Customer" tab within the Personnel Extract report in My Agency Reports (MAR) now includes the filter for "Other" and also shows 'Other" within the Personnel Type column. Users will also see primary and non-primary Business Types listed for all employees.

Value: Users will now be able to generate the Revenue Recognition by Year report within the "My Agency Reports"application, rather than relying on the old version that was only available in Classic Reports. Improvements made to the new version of MAR will help ensure reports generate more quickly than before.

Policy Grid: Add Right-Click Menu Option to Copy Policy Number

In this release, when you right-click on a policy, you are now provided with a drop-down menu where the "Copy Policy Number" and the "Copy Policy ID" are included. This advancement makes it easier for the user to copy each of those elements.

Value: It is now easier for the customer to copy policy numbers or policy IDs.

Fields Added for Bank Routing and Account Numbers

Vendor Bank routing number and account number fields have been added to Vendor Setup. With banking integration or a bank's bill-pay process, agencies are able to use this bank information to make ACH payments. Two Classic reports are also updated.

Value: With a banking integration or a bank's bill pay process, the agency can use bank information to make ACH payments for the agency.

Certificate Integration: GET AOI and Certificate Holders

A number of endpoints have been added in this release to open further development of the Certificate Management tool.

API - POST: Enhance Basic Policy Information

Earlier in this release, an endpoint to Create Policy was added. To further its usefulness, this endpoint is extended to include the following fields (none of which is a required field):

• “issuedState”

• “policyType”

• “isFilteredByBusinessType”

• “isBusinessNewToAgency”

• “isFinanced”

• “notRenewable”

• “excludeFromDownload”

• “excludeFromPurge”

NOTE: Recipients can issue a request to an AMS360 Web Service (EMS) endpoint to create a new Policy. For further details, see the note below titled "POST / Policy Endpoint.

Agency One: Store Unique Identifiers from Other Vertafore Products

Four new endpoints have been added to EMS to allow external Vertafore applications to align entities in their applications (e.g., customers) with entities in AMS360. These entities are linked via their identifiers.

An agency can now use a third-party vendor for payments, where the vendor can send information to create a receipt within AMS360 as soon as the insured pays the invoice.

Endpoint Extended to Include Additional Fields

The EMS endpoint has been extended to include the following fields (none of which is a required field):

• “issuedState”

• “policyType”

• “isFilteredByBusinessType”

• “isBusinessNewToAgency”

• “isFinanced”

• “notRenewable”

• “excludeFromDownload”

• “excludeFromPurge”

NOTE: Recipients can make a request to an AMS360 Web Service (EMS) endpoint to create a new policy. An initial implementation of this endpoint was added in a prior release. Please see the AMS360 2023R3 Release Notes for further information.

A new EMS endpoint, POST / policy, has been added to allow an AMS360 user to create a new policy for an AMS360 customer.

To accommodate the Copy Check Pop-Up Messages added with this release, administrators will need to go to the Employee Center and add them to the Security Group: “Actions: New Check, All Checks – OSC (Outsourced check)