Managing Clients

In This Topic...

Clients are the companies or individuals who are listed on the policy as the insured party in case of a claim.

Clients can be created ahead of time through the Clients menu, as detailed here, or they may be created by the end users during the process of creating a submission.

Creating a New Client Company

A client company is a single insured entity that may have multiple users with access to create and manage submissions and policies.

  1. To create a new Client, select Clients in the Main Menu, then select New Company.  The Client Company Information page opens.  Alternatively, the Create Company button is available when viewing the Client List.
  2. Complete the necessary information.  Fields marked with a red asterisk * are required.

    3. Enter the company details.

    Managing Company Select a managing company. The field includes available companies of type Licensee, Insurer, Distributor, Assured (client), and Additional.

    If selecting another client company, this forms a hierarchy structure with the selected client as the parent company. Users in the managing company gain access to data owned by the current company and any subsidiaries, within the limits of their Administrative Level. This access does not include policies, which are only visible to the client companies attached to the policies.
    If selecting a licensee, insurer, distributor, or additional company type, this does not create a hierarchy structure. Instead, the managing company becomes the owner of the current company. Users in the managing company gain access to data owned by the current company and any subsidiaries, within the limits of their Administrative Level. This access includes policies.
      Client companies can also be linked using the Data Access Link Management feature, detailed below.

    Name

    Enter the company name.

    Code

    Enter a unique identifier code for the company.  If no code is provided, the system will generate a code on saving.

    Note that this field can be modified.

    Enter the contact information for the company.

    Phone

    Enter the phone number.

    Fax

    Enter the Fax number.

    Website

    Enter the URL of the company's website.

    Enter the full address of the new company.

    The Banking Information panel can be used to collect company banking information. This data is displayed in the Invoices Report in the billing module, making it available for use in external systems.

    Enable Electronic Funds Transfer

    		Check this box to make the banking information available in the Invoices Report in the billing module.
    Bank Account Type This field is displayed when the Enable Electronic Funds Transfer checkbox is selected. Select whether the banking account is designated as a checking or savings account.
    Bank Account Number This field is displayed when the Enable Electronic Funds Transfer checkbox is selected. Enter the banking account number.
    ABA Routing Number This field is displayed when the Enable Electronic Funds Transfer checkbox is selected. Enter the nine-digit ABA routing transit number.

    The first User can be identified for the company.  On saving the new client company, this information is used to automatically create the first user account under this company.

    First Name

    Enter the user's first name.

    Last Name

    Enter the user's last name.

    Employee Number

    Enter an employee number to identify the user.

    E-mail

    If the user requires access to the system, an e-mail address must be provided.

    Phone

    Enter the phone number for the user.
  3. Click Add to save the company information and remain on the page, click Add & Close to save and return to the client list, or click Close to return to the client list without saving the company.
  4. Once the company has been saved, the Designate as Bill To Party button becomes available.  This button automatically creates and saves a billing profile for the client, and opens the Bill To Party Management page to proceed with the configuration.

    5. Note: When Designate as Bill to Party is clicked the Bill to Party is created under the Default Billing Entity by default. This can not be modified or otherwise undone. For this reason, this feature should be avoided when operating within multiple billing entities. For additional information, see the Billing Entities section.

Managing Client Companies

  1. In the main menu, select Clients, then select Search / List.  A list of all available client companies and individuals is displayed.

    Tip: By default, only Active clients are displayed.  Clear the filter in the Status column to view all clients.

  2. Select an action.
    • Click a link in the Name column to open an existing Client Company record. See the section on Creating a New Client Company for a detailed description of the fields.  All fields may be edited, if necessary.

    • Check the boxes for one or more clients and click Deactivate to disable the selected clients. Inactive clients will remain supported for existing transactions, but cannot be selected for new transactions.

    When viewing an existing Client, the following panels have been added to the page.

    The Products list displays all available master covers that the client company is attached to.

    The Data Access Link Management panel becomes available once the client company has been saved. This feature can be used to create links to other companies, providing access to data owned by those companies and their subsidiaries.

    This list may contain additional links created by the system. These links are created when the current company is the Managing Company of another client company.

    1. Select an action.
      • Click a link in the Name column to view an existing link. Note that existing links cannot be modified, but Administrative links can be deleted.
      • Click Add to add a new link.
    2. The Data Access Links window opens. The panels and fields are described below.  Fields marked with a red asterisk * are required.

      3. Company Name Search for and select the client company to link to. By default, this creates an Administrative link, displayed in the Relationship Type column of the link list.
        This forms a hierarchy structure with the current company as a parent of the selected company. Users in the current company gain access to data owned by the selected company and any subsidiaries, within the limits of their Administrative Level. This access does not include policies, which are only visible to the client companies attached to the policies.
      Add to Hierarchy This option moves the selected company and any subsidiary companies into the hierarchy of the current company. This replaces the Managing Company of the selected company, and removes access from the previous managing company. This changes the Relationship Type to Subsidiary.
        Note that Subsidiary links cannot be deleted once they have been saved.
    3. Select an action.
      • When viewing an existing link, use the previous row and next row buttons, ▲ / ▼, to step through the links.
      • When creating a new link, click Add & New to save the link and clear the form to add additional links.
      • When creating a new link, click Add & Close to save the link and close the window.
      • When viewing an existing Administrative link, click Delete to remove the link.
      • Click Close to close the window without saving the link.

    The Users list displays all available users registered for this company.  Click Create to create a new user account for this company.

    Active

    Marks the company as active and available for use.  If unchecked, the company remains linked to any existing records, but cannot be used for new accounts or transactions.

    Created By

    Identifies the date and time the company was created, and the user who created it.

    Last Modified By

    Identifies the last date and time the company was changed, and the user who made the changes.
  3. Click Save to save any changes and remain on the page, click Save & Close to save and return to the client list, or click Close to return to the client list without saving any changes.
  4. Click Designate as Bill To Party to automatically create and save a billing profile for the client, and open the Bill To Party Management page to proceed with the configuration.

    5. Note: When Designate as Bill to Party is clicked the Bill to Party is created under the Default Billing Entity by default. This can not be modified or otherwise undone. For this reason, this feature should be avoided when operating within multiple billing entities. For additional information, see the Billing Entities section.

Creating a New Individual Client

An individual client is a single insured person who may have access to create and manage submissions and policies.

  1. In the main menu, select Clients, then select New Individual.  The Individual Client Information page opens.  Alternatively, the Create Individual button is available when viewing the Client List.
  2. Complete the necessary information.  Fields marked with a red asterisk * are required.

    3. First Name

    Enter the client's first name.

    Last Name

    Enter the client's last name.

    Enter the full address of the new client.

    The Banking Information panel can be used to collect company banking information. This data is displayed in the Invoices Report in the billing module, making it available for use in external systems.

    Enable Electronic Funds Transfer

    		Check this box to make the banking information available in the Invoices Report in the billing module.
    Bank Account Type This field is displayed when the Enable Electronic Funds Transfer checkbox is selected. Select whether the banking account is designated as a checking or savings account.
    Bank Account Number This field is displayed when the Enable Electronic Funds Transfer checkbox is selected. Enter the banking account number.
    ABA Routing Number This field is displayed when the Enable Electronic Funds Transfer checkbox is selected. Enter the nine-digit ABA routing transit number.

    E-mail

    If the client requires access to the system, or if they should receive notification e-mails, then an e-mail address must be provided.

    Phone

    Enter the phone number for the client.

    The Home Page Preferences panel provides settings that control what the client will see when they view the Home page in the current portal.  The client can modify these settings on their Profile page.

    Display Welcome Page Content

    Selects whether or not the greetings and instructions are displayed on the home page for the client.
     

    Note: The Welcome Page content may have been customized to provide important information or instructions.  Please review the content before deactivating it.

    Display SmartView Panel

    Selects whether or not SmartView is displayed on the home page for the client.  SmartView is a Business Intelligence application that allows users to work with data coming from external systems, conduct meaningful analysis, and create interactive visual analytics in the form of dashboards. All fully configurable and customizable.

     

    A default policy dashboard is provided for this option.

    Display Submissions / Policies Panel

    Selects whether or not the client will see the grid containing all available submissions and policies on the home page.
     

    Note: The Display SmartView Panel and Display Submissions / Policies Panel options are only available to users with the necessary rights to view each feature.
  3. Click Add to save the client information and remain on the page to continue configuration, click Add & Close to save and return to the client list, or click Close to return to the client list without saving the client.

    4. The Client Risk Manager security role is automatically assigned to  individual clients.  The default configuration of this role allows the user to create submissions and manage their own client details.

    Once the client record has been saved, additional panels become available.

    Single Sign-On (SSO) is when a user logs into an external system and then accesses the Bridge Specialty Suite from that system.  The login credentials are passed to the Bridge Specialty Suite and matched up to an existing account.

    Single Sign-On Only

    Checking this option means the current user can only access the Bridge Specialty Suite from the external system.  Single-sign-on users differ from normal users as follows.
     
    • Login is handled through an internal configuration, so the user's password is deleted and the user will not be sent any emails related to the password.
     
    • The user will not have access to the Profile page.
     

    If this option is unchecked, the user can log in through SSO or the standard login page.

    User ID

    This option is used when the external system uses a User ID other than the e-mail address.  Enter the user's ID from the external system, which will be matched to this user account through the single-sign-in process.  When an external ID has been defined, the user will not be able to login through the standard login page.

    When the Bridge Specialty Suite is integrated with external systems such as Insurity, individual accounts are often required for each system.  The primary accounts are where the passwords are maintained, while secondary accounts may be required in the integrated systems to manage local settings.

    In the Authentication field, select which system has the primary account.  At login, the user will be authenticated in the selected system.

    • If Bridge is selected, the primary account is managed within Bridge.  If Insurity services are enabled, they will be available without a secondary account.
    • If Insurity is selected, the primary account is managed within Insurity.  A secondary account must exist within the Bridge system, and must have the same e-mail address as the primary account on the Insurity side.  Any new or existing password related to the secondary account will not be valid.  The other profile information within the Bridge account should be maintained, as it is used to define security rights, contact information, and other user-specific settings.

    The Master Covers list displays all available master covers that the client is attached to.

    Active

    Marks the client as active and available for use.  If unchecked, the client remains linked to any existing records, but cannot be used for new accounts or transactions.

    Created By

    Identifies the date and time the client was created, and the user who created it.

    Last Modified By

    Identifies the last date and time the client was changed, and the user who made the changes.
  4. The Assign Password button can be used to send the client a user password to access the system.
  5. Once the company has been saved, the Designate as Bill To Party button becomes available.  This button automatically creates and saves a billing profile for the client, and opens the Bill To Party Management page to proceed with the configuration.

    6. Note: When Designate as Bill to Party is clicked the Bill to Party is created under the Default Billing Entity by default. This can not be modified or otherwise undone. For this reason, this feature should be avoided when operating within multiple billing entities. For additional information, see the Billing Entities section.

Managing Individual Clients

  1. In the main menu, select Clients, then select Search / List.  A list of all available client companies and individuals is displayed.

    Tip: By default, only Active clients are displayed.  Clear the filter in the Status column to view all clients.

  2. Select an action.
    • Click a link in the Name column to view the information for an individual client. See the section on Creating a New Individual Client for a detailed description of the fields. All fields may be edited, if necessary.

    • Check the boxes for one or more clients and click Deactivate to disable the selected clients. Inactive clients will remain supported for existing transactions, but cannot be selected for new transactions.

  3. Click Save to save any changes and remain on the page, click Save & Close to save and return to the client list, or click Close to return to the client list without saving any changes.
  4. The Assign Password button can be used to send the client a user password to access the system.
  5. Click Designate as Bill To Party to automatically create and save a billing profile for the client, and open the Bill To Party Management page to proceed with the configuration.

    6. Note: When Designate as Bill to Party is clicked the Bill to Party is created under the Default Billing Entity by default. This can not be modified or otherwise undone. For this reason, this feature should be avoided when operating within multiple billing entities. For additional information, see the Billing Entities section.

Tip: Clients can also be deactivated or reactivated one at a time directly through the client record.  See the sections on Managing Client Companies and Managing Individual Clients for details.