In our 2012 study, "MarketVision: The Employer Viewpoint," companies identified two enrollment services among the items that were most important in choosing a voluntary provider: the quality of enrollment materials/communications, and the degree to which those materials are personalized for employees.

In the same survey, employers were asked which enrollment methods they preferred, and the shift to web-based platforms seems to be complete (the last large-scale survey was two years ago). In the 2,000-lives-and-over segment, most (70 percent) of employers would prefer a web-based platform that was separate from their core enrollment site, while 28 percent prefer an integrated web platform that enrolls all benefits. (Employers could select more than one method as being "preferred.")

In the 10-100-lives segment, 71 percent preferred web (separate from core) while 15 percent preferred an integrated web platform (all benefits). Each of the other methods trailed web platforms by large margins.