New version of Laser App hits industry

One of the great quests in the advisory industry is the desire for straight through processing of…

One of the great quests in the advisory industry is the desire for straight through processing of forms, preferably digital forms that make printed paperwork a thing of the past.
It happens to be one of those rare desires shared by both the registered investment advisory market and the independent broker-dealer universe.
That desire is one step closer to reality today with the rollout of Laser App Enterprise 10.
No, it does not mean you are suddenly going to find piles of old fax machines stacked up on the corner (they should really be recycled anyway).
The news does mean firms will find it increasingly easy to bite the bullet and begin adopting — or at the very least moving toward — a paperless office.
By now I believe most every adviser has heard of Laser App’s software.
It is used to automate the process of form-filling and just about every financial services company out there has added forms to their library (28,904 according to the latest count this morning on their form library page).
Their software also helps manage the processing of all this digitized paper too.

New features and enhancements

With this latest version you will find additional data types supported as well.
One example would be “companies.”
“Company” data can be used in insert buttons for “change of broker-dealer” and other forms requiring redundant company names and addresses. The “company” table can be imported and exported like all other data in Laser App.
There has also been the addition of “more granular smart-form functionality” (jargony verbiage taken from the prepared statement).
I asked what that meant exactly and it turns out that smart-form functionality relates to the logic built into digitized forms. That logic is what triggers a not-in-good-order (NIGO) alert or hold on a particular form being submitted by an adviser or client.
Keep in mind that not all forms in Laser App’s library are smart-forms, so the form provider is the one that has to designate whether they were adding that additional logic to make it smart upon uploading a given form.
Getting down to even more nitty-gritty, smart-form upgrades use JScripting [and that does not equate to either Java or JavaScript {click for a bit of history on the subject and why it is confusing} rather it is a Microsoft client-side scripting language].
In a nutshell this will now allow a broker-dealer or product company or whoever is creating the form to specify just how deep a dive they want their field level logic to take and the data it will require for the form to be submitted in good order.

e-signatures and more context

Coming back up for air, existing integrations with e-signature firms have been improved too, including DocuSign Inc. and Signix Inc. as well as the addition of a new integration with EchoSign (an e-signature company acquired by Adobe Systems Inc. last year).
Laser App 10 also provides an enhanced ability to transmit data directly from open forms.
This ability to send both images of the whole form and XML data can assist broker-dealer back offices, fund companies and others to take advantage of more accurate data and avoid errors injected into the process from having to re-key things; these features are supposed to integrate with the systems of other leading document management providers too.
Laser App Enterprise 10 launches alongside a scaled down version of the Enterprise product aimed specifically at carriers, Laser App Lite, as well as a web-enabled “smart client” solution, Laser App Connect.
I spoke to Robert Powell, vice president of sales and marketing at Laser App, briefly following TD Ameritrade Institutional’s rollout of an integration in December.
That integration tied together DocuSign e-signature features and Laser App form-filling with TD’s Veo account management platform. With this integration the time it takes an appropriately equipped adviser to open a client account at TD can be cut from days to minutes. It basically allows an adviser to do everything from a computer over the Internet rather than rely on paper processes (for example, allowing clients to remotely view, complete, sign and submit a form).
“TD Ameritrade is giving the financial community a glimpse into what their future holds,” said Mr. Powell. “The concept of Straight Through Processing has been talked about by the industry for the past five years, but only as a dream — look for other custodians, broker-dealers, and insurance carriers to follow suit.”

For more information visit Laser App online.