Try this example:

create table NameTest (IDValue int identity, Name varchar(50))
create table IDValues (IDValue int)
go


insert into NameTest  output Inserted.IDValue  into IDValues 
   values ('Steve Goff'), ('Katy Goff'), ('Kevin Goff')

select * from IDValues

Note what's happening here...the OUTPUT statement lets you "tap into" the state of the rows as they are inserted....you can OUTPUT the results of an INSERT and even OUTPUT them into a table.

If you don't use the INTO, and just OUTPUT Inserted.IDValue, it will send the value(s) you inserted directly as a result set.

So this lets you get immediate feedback on what was inserted. Let me know if that helps...

(Note....if you're only ever looking to get one value based on your identity key...you can also use SCOPE_IDENTITY...the nice thing about OUTPUT is that it allows you to bring back other calculated columns from the original INSERT)