There was a time in the not-too-distant pastwhen the main method benefits brokers and agents used to engageclients was a face-to-face meeting. In a break room. Remember?Well, that time has passed like optional health insurance…

Technology has made a profound impact on the benefits industry,and it’s sure to change the way brokers and agents do business fordecades to come. New gadgets, websites, tools and apps are unveiledin the marketplace almost every day. Brokers and agents would bewise to adapt. Ignore new technology and ignore yourself out of aliving.

Emergent technologies are allowing brokers to do a host oftasks—such as enrollments, education and communications—previouslydone on paper with some degree of tedium.

New tech also is helping brokers and agents save clients money,guide employee decisions and provide more information about theiroptions than ever before. Brochures and pamphlets have literallygone online as employees turn to social media, apps, mobile devicesand tablets for their information, while the Internet providesloads of tools, calculators, estimators and updates.

The areas of the benefits industry where new technology has madethe greatest impact are health care, retirement and administration.But technology also has affected the way brokers and agentscommunicate with clients.

“There are some industry leaders who are on the cutting edge,there are some laggards, and then there’s some folks in themiddle,” says Brian Heinke, senior vice president and retirementplans specialist at TrueNorth Inc. in Denver. “If you’re notwilling to change, you won’t be in business that long.”

Going mobile

In health benefits, online tools have changed the way employeesinteract with their plans. Now, any employee can go online and makedecisions about her coverage, locate a doctor, schedule anappointment and even fill prescriptions. Plus, online forums allowscompanies and providers a way to inform participants about theparticulars of their program selection or changes in coverage.

Dave Tolve, administration product leader for Norwood,Mass.,-based Mercer, says his company’s “plan comparison tool”helps employees compare health plans by showing key factors such asout-of-pocket-expenses, deductibles, co-pays and other planfeatures.

Online tools, Tolve says, also help employees select plans thatfit them best. For instance, some of his clients’ employees haveopted for the cost savings and choices made available byhigh-deductible plans, which also helps the employer cut costs.

“There’s a shift to more consumerism,” Tolve says. “With ahigh-deductible plan comes a whole new level of consumerism interms of an employee shopping for services. There’s also been a lotof technology [that helps] employees select a plan and use theirbenefits throughout the year.”

Tolve says online applications have positively affectedworkplace wellness programs by reducing the cost of taking surveysand enrolling in programs.

Mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, now provideparticipants with a new level of independence and convenience. Goneare the days when employees had to check their health plans withthe aid of a computer or handbook—it all can be done from ahandheld phone or tablet.

“It’s especially true when they’re at a doctor—they have toremember what their co-pay is, what their deductible is and howmuch they’re going to pay out-of-pocket,” says Scott McCormick, afounder and director of client services at Float Mobile Learning inMorton, Ill. “If the company has made mobile available, an employeecan log into their benefits account and they can tell the person atthe counter that their co-pay is $50 and check it right away.”

Technology solutions also have found their way into theretirement savings game. Parts of gap analysis now show up inonline retirement accounts. Employees can simply log on and seebalances, adjust their contributions or manage theirinvestments.

“Research has shown that the three things people want to see themost is their account balance, their contribution, and then how ittranslates to a monthly income,” Heinke says. “Individuals alsowant to be able to customize it.”

Though employees are growing more comfortable managing their ownaccounts, benefits brokers and agents will still be needed. Theycan be expected to answer employee questions or provide guidance,which likely will be shared over a social media site or textmessage or even an instant message.

“Technology allows employees to look at their plan and makechanges on their own,” McCormick says. “Employees can changefunds—almost everyone offers that. If someone has an eye onretirement they can use a calculator to understand what they needto retire. You plug in your age, your potential return, your SocialSecurity benefits, and the calculator provides you with what yourlife might be like when you retire.”

For compliance reasons, digital retirement communications mustbe sent via email. But Heinke points out that some providers arestarting to utilize texting to update employees on their accountbalance, for example, while some messaging also is being handledthrough social media outlets, including Facebook and Twitter.

Technology has impacted benefits administration as well. Somevendors and providers provide tablet computers to rooms full of newhires so they can sign up for benefits online. Others have foregonepaper statements in favor of e-communications. Mercer developed atool that will help human resources professionals and benefitsadministrators determine whether part-time workers qualify forhealth care benefits under the Patient Protection and AffordableCare Act.

Organizations across the United States are using social mediaand mobile devices to send information about plan changes, openenrollments and new benefits available to employees.

Organizations with broad national and international footprintsbenefit from the advanced communication tools by being able tocommunicate with everyone in their organization, and in multiplelanguages. And for companies with schedules that include shiftwork, technology helps employees interact with their plans or hearabout their changes at any time of day.

Sources at ADP they try to make life as easy as possible foremployees, which in turn makes life as easy as possible foremployers. For example, ADP developed a tool that allows employeesto view their W-2 statements on a mobile device. “We were blownaway by how many people were using the application,” says DonWeinstein, ADP senior vice president of product management.

Addressing the generations

Some older employees are still likely to favor an in-personmeeting for retirement or signing up for health care, but they’rebeginning to adapt to emerging technology. Younger workers are muchmore interested in online interactions and communications.

“To anybody who provides benefits information to employees, thefuture of information delivery is mobile devices,” Tolve says.“There’s no way around it. You can’t look at it as if it were anice addition to what we offer. It’s the future and it’s changingthe way we do everything.”

With more than 1 billion mobile devices on the planet, it’s easyto see why they’ll come to dominate.

“The reality is, everyone has a smart phone,” Weinstein says.“It’s become pervasive.”

Industry insiders say it’s worth taking stock of anorganization’s workforce to get an understanding of how employeeslike to receive information and their comfort level withtechnology. Brokers and agents are likely to find that employeescover the complete range of preferred communications and enrollmentmethods, even in organizations as small as 50 employees.

“The younger generation is all about the technology,” says EricPete, regional vice president of sales, service and employeebenefits at OneAmerica. “Everything is easy. It’s online. It’stexting. The generation that’s been working for 25-30 years,they’re sometimes reluctant to make that change and embrace atechnology. Four or five years ago, it would have been muchdifferent than now.”

Looking into the future

Look into the future, and it’s easy to see that technology willcontinue to radically alter the way employees and participantsinteract with their benefits. As new technologies emerge, it’s safeto say someone is going to figure out how to use them to makebenefits better and offer more value.

Organizations are aware of the trend, and some are waiting tosee how it shakes out. And Obamacare isn’t making anything moreclear, either.

“We are at a dynamic time in our industry where we have to solvefor education and communications areas where we’re not even awareof what we’re going to solve for yet,” says Brad Cillian, directorof supplemental benefits solutions at IMA in Denver. “We’ve seen amovement in our block of business where employers are in await-and-see area…We’ve got a small employer that’s leaning towardan exchange so they aren’t going to buy a benefits administrationsystem for their benefits if they’re uncertain how their medicalcoverage is going to look like even a year from now.”

ADP’s Weinstein says some new technologies aren’t too far awayfrom becoming reality, and his company is already thinking abouthow to take advantage.

“The next wave that hasn’t hit yet will be more social andcrowd-sourced decision making,” Weinstein says. “One of the mostcommon examples is ‘people like me.’ What do people like me do?What type of benefits plans do people like me opt for? Most people,when they’re making decisions about their health insurance, aren’tlooking to blaze new trails. They’re looking for a good, mainstreamchoice. There’s data out there that could be made available evenwithin the four walls of the company.”

So go ahead, embrace the brave new world. And when you do,here’s a text you can send to your competitors who haven’t. It’sjust four letters: LMAO.