CCC Announces Collision Industry's First Two-Way Open Systems Interface
11 May 1999
CCC Announces Collision Industry's First Two-Way Open Systems Interface
CIECA EMS 2.0 Standards Used to Bridge Management System Data with Collision
Estimating and Communications Systems
CHICAGO, May 10 -- CCC Information Services Inc.
, the leading provider of solutions to the automotive claims industry,
today announced the successful testing of a two-way bridge between the
company's collision estimating and repair management systems. Using open
system standards developed by the Collision Industry Electronic Commerce
Association (CIECA), the data bridge allows a two-way flow of information
between the repairers' critical information systems. The data-bridge will be
available to customers of CCC's Pathways(R) Enterprise Solution in their next
software update. Delivery of the data-bridge for CCC's Pathways(R)
Professional Advantage management system is targeted for August. Availability
to repairers using management systems from other vendors participating in
CCC's Interface Development Program will be announced by those vendors.
CCC, the leader in standards implementation for the collision repair
industry, was the first information services provider to financially support
CIECA and make systems available commercially that utilized CIECA's Estimating
to Management System (EMS) standards. "Our customers have clearly
communicated that they want products with open-systems design principles,
allowing them the freedom to source products from a variety of vendors and
still benefit from data integration," said Jack Rozint, senior vice president
for CCC. "With Pathways Collision Estimating, any management system provider
can utilize the published CIECA standards to provide two-way interfaces to our
mutual customers."
This new capability streamlines the process of closing a repair job and
delivering the car back to the consumer. Typically, a repairer may spend 20
to 40 minutes reconciling the final repair total from the management system
with the original estimate in the collision estimating system. Historically,
the changes were due to part price increases that occurred between the time
the original estimate was developed and the time the car was repaired. With
CCC's Pathways two-way interfacing, part price increases are electronically
imported back to the collision estimating module and ready for electronic
submission to the insurer via CCC's EZNet network for payment. The result is
greater productivity in the repair facility and better service to the
consumer.
"This represents a major improvement in electronic claims processing that
benefits insurers, repairers and consumers," said Tim Wilder, vice president
and general manager of Kirmac Information Technologies. "When the management
system and estimating systems are able to connect electronically at the end of
a job, we are able to eliminate a time-consuming and error-prone manual
process."
CCC Information Services Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Ill., is the
automotive claims industry's leading supplier of advanced software and
communications systems. Its value-added, technology-based products and
services increase efficiency and facilitate communication among more than
13,500 collision repair facilities, 4,400 dealerships, 350 insurance companies
and a range of business partners.
Kirmac Information Technologies, located in Vancouver, British Columbia,
is the most advanced systems development firm in North America serving the
collision repair industry.
For more information about CCC Information Services, contact Peter Duckler
at HLB Communications at 312-649-0371.