Explore EARS ® is a third party interface that allows a company to order MVR Reports and receive accident and violation information on a monthly basis.
Note: In order to use this functionality, some implementation planning is required prior to use.
System Settings: You will need to set the following system settings in the Integration / EARS folder:
"Enabled:" Values are "True" and "False." This is used to determine if you will be using the Explore EARS product for ordering MVR Reports and receiving accident / violation information on a monthly basis. Set this value to "True" (Enable).
"Global User or Workflow Queue:" Determines the user or workflow queue that will receive diary items in the event that the configuration is either invalid or missing. This is specific to your implementation. For queues, use the negative value for the workfow_id (e.g., -2).. For defining a user, insert the users_id.
There are three (3) main components to the interface which include:
Process EARS Import File
Apply EARS Imported Violations
Create EARS Export File
This is an End of Day process that should default with a check mark to run each day. Diamond imports the records contained in the file into the database. The records are then held in a queue for processing. The system allows the selection of risks to be controlled by means of a database configuration. The following options can be configured for the file import process:
Create an Archive Copy: When this option is enabled, the system keeps a copy of the import file in the Blob table. (Note: After the file has successfully been imported, the physical file is deleted. The entire file must be successfully imported before it can be deleted. An "atomic" transaction is used.)
General User or Queue ID: This option identifies the user or workflow queue that receives messages from the export process. If a problem is found, the system creates a Diary item containing the details and assigns the item to the entity defined in this option.
Import Directory: This option identifies the directory where the import file is located. (Special Note: This directory must be accessible by your Business Server.)
Import File Name: This option contains the static file name provided by Explore for the import file.
Rejected File Name: This option holds the static file name provided by Explore for the rejected driver file. (Note: The assumption is made that the rejected driver file will reside in the Import directory.)
Rejected File User or Queue ID: This option is used to identify the user or workflow queue that receives notification for each driver returned in the rejected driver file. The system creates a diary item for each driver returned in the file that contains a reason for rejection. The Diary item is assigned to the entity identified by this option.
An historical record is created each time the import file and / or rejected
driver file is imported.
This End of Day process should also default with a check mark to run each day. When run, it applies any imported violations from EARS to the associated policies. The system then attempts to apply any violations whose current status is imported. (Note: The system currently supports both the Standard EARS Output Format and the Comma-Delimited (CSV) EARS Output Format.) The Standard EARS Output Format is the recommended format.
There are four (4) methods available for applying violations to policies:
Process Violations Immediately: All violations (major and minor) are applied to the associated policies by means of a Renewal Underwriting transaction.
Process Violations at Renewal: All violations (major and minor) are applied to the associated policies when the Renewal transaction is created.
Delay Minor Violations Until Renewal: All major violations are applied to the associated policies by means of a Renewal Underwriting transaction. All minor violations are applied to the associated policies when the Renewal transaction is created.
Delay Minor Violations: All major violations are applied to the associated policies by means of a Renewal Underwriting transaction. All minor violations are applied to their associated policies at the specified number of days prior to the expiration date of the policy (e.g., the effective date of the next Renewal) by means of a Renewal Underwriting transaction.
The following options can be configured for the violation application process:
Delay Lead Days: This option holds the number of days prior to the expiration date of the policy (e.g., effective date of the next Renewal) that triggers the application of any minor violations returned from Explore (Note: This value can vary by company / state / line of business.)
Apply Violation Method Type: One of the four (4) methods mentioned above of applying violations to the associated policies. (Note: This value can vary by company / state / line of business.)
Transaction Remark: The Transaction Remark used for submitting the Renewal Underwriting transaction. (Note: This value can vary by company / state / line of business.)
Transaction Reason ID: The Transaction Reason used for submitting the Renewal Underwriting transaction. (Note: This value can vary by company / state / line of business.)
User or Queue ID: This identifies the user or workflow queue that receives Diary items for each violation that cannot be applied to an associated policy.
In order to apply violations to the policies correctly, the system must be configured to map the violation information imported from EARS to the corresponding values in Diamond. The following options can be configured by company / state / line of business for each violation code imported from EARS:
Accidents / Surcharge Type ID: This corresponds to the Accident Surcharge Type table in Diamond.
Accidents / Violations Type ID: Corresponds to the Accidents Violations table in Diamond.
Apply Points: This is a flag that indicates if the points from the imported EARS violation should be applied to the violation record in Diamond.
Is Major Violation: This is a flag that indicates if the imported EARS violation is considered to be "Major;" used to apply violations differently based on "Major" versus "Minor."
Major Surcharge Type ID: Corresponds to the Major Surcharge Type table in Diamond.
Minor Surcharge Type ID: Corresponds to the Minor Surcharge Type table in Diamond.
Surcharge: This is a flag that indicates if an imported EARS violation record should be surchargable in Diamond.
Violation Conviction Type ID: Corresponds to the Violation Conviction Type table in Diamond.
Violation Source ID: Corresponds to the Violation Source table in Diamond.
This End of Month process should default with a check mark to run at the end of each month. When this process runs at month end, it creates an export file that contains all of the active drivers that currently exist in the system. The system allows the selection of risks to be controlled by means of a database configuration.
The following options can be configured for creating the export file:
Create an Archive Copy: When enabled, the system keeps a copy of the export file that is created in the Blob table.
Export Directory: This contains the location of the directory where the export file is created. (Note: This directory must be accessible by your Business Server.)
Export Record Buffer Size: This option controls the number of records held in memory before being written to the file on disk. It allows the process to be moved up or down in regards to memory usage.
General User or Queue ID: This option identifies the user or workflow queue that receives messages from the export process. If a problem is encountered, the system creates a Diary item containing the details and assigns the item to the entity identified in this option.
Explore Account Number: This is the Explore account number. (Note: This value can vary by company / state / line of business.)
Only Export Rated Risks: This option is used to indicate if only those risks identified as "Rated" are included in the export file. (Note: This value can vary by company / state / line of business.) Additionally...the associated Driver Exclude Type records must have the is_rated flag enabled together with this option.
User or Queue ID: This option identifies the user or workflow queue that receives messages from the export process. If a problem is found, the system creates a Diary item containing the details and assigns the item to the entity defined in this option. (Note: This value can vary by company / state / line of business.)
An historical record is created each time the export file is created.
Special Note: EACH company is responsible for transmitting the file to Explore.