For those carriers that do not have XML communication capabilities, InsureZone utilizes a proprietary tool called Bowser to login in to the appropriate carrier’s websites and automatically deliver the information required by the carrier site to request a quote from that carrier. For each submission that requires the use of a carrier web site to get a quote, Bowser (shown in mapping mode at right) opens and drives an instance of Internet Explorer via the exposed Microsoft COM interfaces. Bowser is a dual purpose tool: It is used by our developers to create the mapping logic necessary to calculate or answer each question on each page of a carrier’s website. Once the mapping logic is created, Bowser is also used to populate the carrier’s website for each insurance application that is fed to this tool.

The insurance application data that Bowser uses as its source information is read out of our Oracle database in its proprietary XML format (as shown in the picture at right). Bowser runs in “unattended mode” and does not require or allow interaction by a human as it processes each insurance application. It produces very detailed logs of what it does with each application at each carrier, for every page of the application and for every question on the application. These logs are utilized on an ongoing basis for maintenance and quality assurance. These logs are saved into our Oracle database along with the insurance proposals collected from the carrier’s websites. These logs are reviewed weekly and as necessary for errors and when issues are identified, corrections or improvements are implemented.

Transformation Types
Bowser utilizes various techniques known as “transform types” in order to deliver the exact data that is required by each carrier for each question. Using these “transforms” a developer can create the logic necessary to calculate the answer and exact data format required for each question on a carrier’s website. The simplest transformation type is the “Identity” transform which simply selects a value from the input XML document and enters that information directly into a field on the carrier’s website. The most complicated transformations require InsureZone’s developers to author an XSL Stylesheet which, when applied to the input XML document, produces the required data in the format required by the field on the carrier’s website. By using XSL, InsureZone is able to implement even the most complicated rules without having any limitations placed upon us by the toolset.