August 31, 2007

Been a little quiet, I wish I could get some type of Syndication feed from ASI to run in this space to keep things fresh and up-to-date. Nonetheless, TAM has version 8.5 out and 9.0 is definitely coming down the pipe. Presently it is unclear if the Liability Certificate problem is addressed with this patch, although it is said to be in version 9.

Applied has version 8.1 out and readily available, which is the first patch release for the 8.x series of their flagship BMS WinTAM. Version 8, despite being a major integer incrementing upgrade has not "wowed" many users, instead eliciting jeers and complaints due to being somewhat bug-ridden. Some of the bugs were quite serious resulting in significant data loss for some agencies. The 8.1 patch should address the major bugs and I have not heard any real horror stories about it.

8.x introduces a scanning/barcoding component akin to the Apres solution, but without utilizing an external database and without being feature-rich. Some have noted the scanning system has trouble picking up the generated barcodes at 200x200 dpi forcing users to bloat file sizes by increasing the scan resolution. It remains to be seen if the technology will improve over time with additional patching.

Well that would have to be news, since, well, here it is - swougas.org, another arrow in the quiver of the savvy Insurance broker. We will try to make this resource as useful to SWOUGAS members as humanly possible, yet maintain an appealling interface than is both fast and functional. This news section will contain SWOUGAS specific news and information, the main page has an RSS news feed from Canadian Underwriter.

That is about it for now, you can voice your questions and comments regarding this site, but sending an email to the webmaster via the contact page, or the SWOUGAS executive on the members page.