MSB's EyeQ Claims Estimating System Attracts Crowds at 2010 PLRB/LIRB Claims Conference and Expo

SAN ANTONIO, April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- MSB, the leading worldwide provider of building cost data and estimating technology to the property insurance industry and a MacDonald, Detwiller and Associates (MDA) company, demonstrated its new EyeQ claims estimating system at the 2010 Property Loss Research Bureau/Liability Insurance Research Bureau (PLRB/LIRB) Claims Conference and Expo, held March 21 - 24, 2010, in San Antonio, Texas. EyeQ is a knowledge-based system designed to increase property estimate accuracy and enable new adjusters to perform as efficiently as their tenured counterparts.

"In recent years, there's been a shift in the market, with a significant influx of new adjusters coming into the industry. We created EyeQ to fill the common knowledge gap in construction and estimating by adding intelligence and real-time automation to the estimating system," explained Jonathan Kost, senior vice president at MSB. "Essentially, EyeQ takes our proven data and best practices, and serves these up in a tool with features that make it easier to use. We went to frog design™ – the people who created the interface for TurboTax® – to bring that same type of intuitive user experience to our system. By melding this interface with a powerful rules engine, we have created a tool that enables both new and experienced adjusters to write more accurate property estimates in less time, and one that makes the whole claims experience more positive to consumers, contractors, adjusters, and insurance carriers alike."

During Expo hours, MSB ran four simultaneous in-booth demonstrations, which continually attracted large crowds. "EyeQ has a built-in rules engine that engages with the user on a real-time basis to guide them based on industry-wide best practices. It automates many of the common processes for more consistency among all of its users," Kost said. "Our customers can use these existing rule sets or we can easily customize these to support their own best practices and workflows."

One of the features that generated the most interest among conference goers was EyeQ's Assemblies. "Assemblies enable adjusters to group the items used in a repair together so they can write these estimates accurately and more quickly than they can with a traditional, macro-based system – and make substitutions easily," Kost said. "For example, let's say an adjuster is replacing a roof with 30-year shingles, 15-pound felt, valley flashing and so on – and they want to substitute 40-year composition roofing instead. In a legacy system, he or she would have to either add the macro, then eliminate the 30-year shingle, and then navigate through the database to find the 40-year composition roofing. Alternatively they could copy the entire macro and save a new iteration of it to make that one change. With EyeQ, adjusters can substitute for any item and change on the fly. The list of substitutions even appears on the screen, so it's literally a click-and-go process. Best of all, this capability leverages MSB's Total Component Database which delivers unparalleled estimating accuracy while making the writing of the estimate easier for the adjuster or contractor."

By creating a booth consisting of multiple demonstration stations, MSB enabled PLRB/LIRB Claims Conference attendees to see first-hand how easy EyeQ is to use. "We've been saying that it's intuitive; we've been talking about how, after one six-hour training, new adjusters can go out in the field and start realizing the benefits of the system. But, seeing EyeQ in action makes the value proposition real," Kost said. "Based on the response we got at the Conference and the calls we've continued to receive, our message came through loud and clear."

About MSB

MSB, also known as Marshall & Swift / Boeckh, is an MDA company and the leading supplier of local building cost information, residential and commercial property valuation technology and services for the property and casualty insurance sector of the United States and Canada. MSB has five offices throughout the U.S. and Canada.

About MDA

MSB is owned by MDA. MDA provides advanced information solutions that capture and process vast amounts of data, produce essential information and improve the decision-making and operational performance of business and government organizations worldwide.

Focused on markets and customers with strong repeat business potential, MDA delivers a broad spectrum of Earth and space based information solutions, including complex operational systems, tailored information services and electronic information products.

MDA employs more than 2,700 people in locations across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The Company's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol TSX: MDA.

SOURCE MSB