Managing the PolicyCenter community
Users represent individuals who are granted access to PolicyCenter. You can view and manage user information in the Administration tab. Use the links in the sidebar to:
- Search or edit users, groups, producer organizations, regions, or producer codes.
- View, edit, or create roles or authority profiles.
- Define attributes that the system can use for making assignment decisions.
Typically, the user belongs to at least one group that represents the actual reporting relationship found in the company’s organizational chart. This group is the main group that the user works in and the supervisor that the user normally reports to. Users can belong to an unlimited number of groups or need not belong to any group. If you define groups based on relationships other than organization, your users may end up belonging to multiple groups. For example, a user might be a part of the West Coast Division and a member of the company wide group of System Administrators.
When you first install PolicyCenter, you may find it more convenient to use the import_tools command to import user information – especially if you have a large number of users. See Importing and exporting administrative data for more information.
Understanding internal and external administration
PolicyCenter administration allows you to manage the information access of both internal employees and external agents. External agents are people that act as intermediaries between clients and insurers that offer policies. You control the access of both internal and external employees by using roles and producer codes. You define the permissions associated with each role and assign them to users.
Within PolicyCenter, an external company of producers, such as an agency or brokerage, is known as a producer organization. You can categorize the employees within an external organization or within your own employer, the insurer, by creating Group objects. Defining the structure of your company’s groups depends on your business requirements. Typically, administrators create groups according to such things as geographical regions, divisions, and departments. You can also categorize people across these boundaries by other attributes such as job classification, for example, all system administrators.
Because managing both the internal company and the external company can become quite complex, in PolicyCenter you can delegate management of external companies to a designated external User Admin. Do this by assigning the User Admin role to a user within that external organization. That user will have permission to administer users and groups within the user’s organization, but will not have access to other organizations. Delegating allows a User Admin to build the set of users and groups that represent an external company. Even though you can delegate administration of these external companies, you still have access and complete administrative rights from the Administration tab.
Creating external users
External users represent people outside your company who may need access to PolicyCenter data. Producers are typically external users who perform tasks such as submitting a policy. External users can also represent people who must be known by the system for assignment purposes, even if they never actually log in.
To create an external user, set the Internal User option set to No on the Basic tab in the User screen. When you create an external user, the fields and available values in the User tabs change. Required fields appear with an asterisk: *. Unlike internal users, external users must be explicitly associated with an Organization. Internal users are implicitly associated with the insurer organization. The tree browser as seen on your Administration tab always shows the user’s home organization (either internal or external). If the user is internal, the tree also shows the last external organization viewed.