(May 19, 2003) - Today at the 2003 ACORD Conference, Microsoft Corp. and the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development (ACORD) announced that ACORD will provide more than 500 insurance forms built using Microsoft® Office InfoPath™ 2003, Microsoft Office System's new information-gathering application.

InfoPath utilizes XML and XML-based Web services to enable insurance agencies to complete forms once and then link the data to other forms, databases, back-end systems, and applications. As part of the forms service, Microsoft .NET Web services can be used to provide additional functionalities, including e-mail, printing, and data-routing.

The InfoPath-based forms are expected to help the insurance industry reduce the processing time and cost of completing transactions, while reducing errors associated with re-entering data multiple times. It also will unify and standardize the way forms are delivered and relate to XML standards such as that of ACORD's, which is the most commonly used standard in the insurance industry.

InfoPath will be available as part Microsoft Office 2003 Professional Enterprise Edition. Pricing is still to be determined.