January 26, 1998 A Touch Of Data Wireless, pen-based tablet saves time for users By Tom Davey en-based tablet PCs with wireless links are making inroads into the auto insurance industry. Manitoba Public Insurance, which insures all cars in the Canadian province, uses tablets from Fujitsu Personal Systems Inc. to help estimate damage claims. Vendors say other insurers also are implementing systems that use pen-based computing. Manitoba Public Insurance is combining pen-based machines with a wireless LAN for a drive-through claims center, says Jim Clark, VP of sales at Filbitron Systems Group, a Markham, Ontario, reseller that provided the hardware and wireless equipment. Waiting times are being cut, and claimants can view the data as it comes up on the device. "In the past, a claimant had to stand alone while the adjuster left to input data to the PC," says Will Kukelko, director of physical damage for the government-owned insurer in Winnipeg. Manitoba Public Insurance began using the devices late last year; by next month, it expects to have 80 of them is use in its 19 claims offices throughout the province, says Kukelko. Each location processes about 100 claims a day. Claimants drive into a bay at a claims center. Using menus, the adjuster enters the vehicle's license number on the tablet. That data is then transmitted via a wireless network to a server at the center, which communicates with a central mainframe. The system then downloads previous information about the driver and car to the adjuster's PC. After the adjuster appraises the damage, a list of parts, prices, and the labor needed for repairs pops up on the screen. The software is intelligent enough to spot ways to save money, says Joseph Maul, director of cor-porate accounts at Mitchell International Inc., a San Diego reseller that supplied the software. "Overlap logic allows you to deduct labor time on common operations," he says. The software makes other calculations, such as estimating painting time. The Fujitsu Stylistic 1000 tablet is 11 by 7.3 by 1.6 inches. It uses a 100-MHz 486 processor running Windows 95 and has 24 Mbytes of DRAM, a 340-Mbyte hard drive, and an 8-inch color screen. Filbitron provides a wireless modem from Proxim Inc. Pricing for the hardware and software is about $5,000 per unit. Meanwhile, Fujitsu is testing Windows NT on its more powerful Stylistic 1200 model. It has a 120-MHz Pentium processor, 32 Mbytes of EDO RAM, and a 1.4-Gbyte disk drive. Fujitsu expects to ship the NT version in April. Back to News in Review Send Us Your Feedback Top of the Page

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