So Many Apps! How Much You Pay for Software Might Surprise You
Everything is an app One of the more common "let's make fun of the millennials" tropes is the idea that today, people want everything personalized, and on-demand. And like a lot of tropes, there's at least some truth to this — everything from television channels to burrito options are under increasing pressure to be offered a-la-carte, so you can get what you want without paying for what you don't. The bad old days. Hope you enjoyed paying hundreds of dollars per user. The web has been a big cause (and proponent) of this, and in a lot of ways, it's been a huge advantage to small business and entrepreneurs. A-la-carte software systems allow you to quickly spin up a functional, customizable information structure in a few hours, which is pretty amazing if you ever have the opportunity to do it, as I did at my last startup. Need a toll-free number? Accounting system? Time tracking? Done, done, and done. Plus, since all of this stuff is independently purchased, if it any of it becomes obsolete, you can simply dump it without breaking the rest of your system. We've successfully commoditized functionality! In general, this was a sorely needed direction for software. The pre-web era gave us increasingly broad, ill-fitting suites of tools — here's a weird database to go with that word processor you wanted — and charged us for everything. In theory, the different applications would be conveniently "integrated", but anyone who's fought with an old version of something like Microsoft Office can speak to the unexpected challenges that came with this sort of thing. Today, integrations come in the form of at least semi-open APIs, and today, two products from different companies often work together more seamlessly than two 1990s-era applications from the same suite. It's amazing, and best of all, it gives customers options.

Tech Talk: iOS 6 Disappointing, but Worth Downloading
The iPhone 5 isn't the only product Apple is updating this week. On Wednesday, the company released a new version of iOS, the software that underlies its handheld devices. On the whole, iOS 6, as Apple has dubbed the update, is worth downloading. It's faster and offers some compelling new features. But be prepared to be frustrated. Some of the new features are incomplete and one — the overhauled Maps application — is buggy and disappointing. Older iOS devices won't be able to use some of the new features in iOS 6. And two devices that could run iOS 5 can't run iOS 6 at all: the original iPad and the third-generation iPod Touch. I tried it out on my wife's iPad 2, which came out a year after the original iPad and was eligible for the iOS 6 update. But despite being just a year-and-a-half old, the iPad 2 gets only a portion of the new features available in the operating system. Its version of iOS 6 doesn't allow users to make Facetime calls over the wireless companies' data networks, while the new iPad's version does. Nor does it include Siri, Apple's compelling voice command feature, which just got some cool new tricks, including the ability to launch apps and to find sports scores. It also lacks features that Apple decided were appropriate for the iPhone or the iPod Touch but not for any iPad. Among those are Passport, Apple's new application that organizes digital loyalty cards and event tickets, and the camera app's new ability to take panoramic photographs. Those shortcomings aside, there still are plenty of new features in iOS 6 for older devices.

Home Closings Made Easy
DotLoop CEO and co-founder, Austin Allison appeared on FOX Business Network's "America's Nightly Scoreboard" on the Small Business Spotlight segment. This video details a new software solution for real estate agents to use to speed up the closing process, and join the digital movement. DotLoop is  a company that offers a transaction and closing management solution; they "connect the dots and bring people into the loop," hense, the name of the company, DotLoop. In this video, Austin Alison expains how the company began, what it does for agents, how much it costs and the overall benefit of using it. To see the video, click to continue....

A Web Services Lesson from Quickbooks
When it comes to web services, Quickbooks gets it. They understand that the work begins after the sale, not leading up to it. I recently had the opportunity to attend the RIS Media conference. There was a room full of vendors barking about the promised land that would be achieved magically through the adoption of thier products - generate more leads, track this, engage consumers this way, reduce costs here. In preparation for my panel address to the audience, I asked each booth to talk to me about thier support and training services. What happens after the sale? The responses were dim - in some cases, dark. Clearly they were not prepared to answer such questions. Today, as a Quickbooks user, I received my monthly “how to” newsletter. You see Intuit, like most world class web service companies takes a careful look at their call center. They group calls into categories and create a feedback loop to the product managers, developers and other product stakeholders. They use the customer newsletter as a training tool.

Settlement Room by Emphasys
Settlement Room is a user-friendly transaction management system that has been designed for direct use by brokers, agents and teams without the need for transaction coordinators. Most recently Emphasys has made a number of enhancements to the product to improve the user interface making it one of the most user friendly transaction management products on the market today. Settlement room provides transaction workflow management, communication with all parties in the transaction and the ability to schedule tasks for all participants as needed. Tasks can be scheduled using fixed dates or dates based on other events, such as making one task due so many days after another event. The document manager is included with Settlement Room and is not offered currently as a stand-alone. Easily email documents into your transaction websites. Settlement Room provides: The ability to fax documents into your transaction websites Ability to distribute transaction documents from your website Ability to attach transaction documents to orders and emails by just checking a box Ability to set permissions as to who can view any document Ability to store common documents for use in multiple transactions In terms of communication, Settlement Room does a good job of sharing transaction data with everyone involved in the transaction. Communication features include: Ability of all participants to post and read messages Ability to restrict message access to selected participants Ability to schedule messages to be automatically sent by email Inclusion of special tools to automatically request and manage Showing Feedback Ability to Import and manage contact lists, and synchronize with MS Outlook Ability to automatically invite common participants into each new transaction

Property Info's SureClose Archive
SureClose Archive is a Web-based document storage solution designed to store digital documents post-closing. It can be used by any office that desires to digitally convert their paper files and store them online. SureClose Archive is a very sophisticated, full-featured document management system. Documents can be loaded directly, by fax, scan or through the use of the SureClose print driver. The Print Driver allows users to act as if they are printing a document and actually upload the document into the SureClose system without have to even be logged into the system. Documents can be distributed a number of ways including email and fax. Faxing out, however, requires that users subscribe to eFax on their own and pay those fees separately. SureClose Archive also gives users the ability to search their archive for rapid retrieval of document images.

SureClose Wins Wright Kingdom's Vote
Wright Kingdom Real Estate recently deployed SureClose® within their company, and they have already begun to enjoy the benefits of their decision. Lew Kingdom, managing broker of the firm, spent time researching various transaction management software, available to real estate professionals.  Lew Kingdom choose SureClose for his firm and then recorded a video to spread the word about why SureClose worked for him. He explains the process he went through to decide on SureClose, and the specific technical needs SureClose meets. Continue to view the video...

Eventus CRM
Eventus is a deep, feature rich set of tools, falling into the CRM (customer relationship manager) category. During our review we were impressed with the number of well-thought-out organizational, management and lead generating tools included with this system. Developed by MLS system provider, Technology Concepts, Inc., creator of "My Place Connection," the level of integration in this product reflects a strong understanding of how brokers and agents work as well as what consumers are looking for today. A brief overview of the Eventus system includes: Agent lead generation Agent customer/collaboration and sharing Data collection and analytics Full Client Resource Manager Agent/client communications center Roles based access Broker/Agent/Client portals Full MLS technology The system, at its core is a CRM system . But, the CRM components have been built on underlying MLS technology and a well thought out Web platform that can serve the entire company, an agent team or a single agent.

Try Homefeedback - 6 Months Free!
For a limited time, Showing Suite, Inc., and Homefeedback will be offering a free 6-month demo of the new Homefeedback system for brokers. They have a patent pending on this system that automatically turns the tedious task of contacting the showing agent into hands-free, by syncing with your electronic lock boxes. Showing Suite has the leading national average of 71% on the return rate!

How To Make Your Website Howl!
Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, WolfNet Technologies specializes in Internet technology and consulting for real estate companies located throughout North America. WolfNet's services include award-winning web site design, company Intranets, IDX/VOW search solutions, online marketing strategy formulation and implementation, lead management and tracking, custom application development, and general consulting. The Pack at WolfNet has been hard at work and they are pleased to announce several exciting product enhancements coming soon to their WolfNet powered MLSFinder.com® property search! Here is a summary of what’s in store:

What’s the Deal With Windows 7?
These days, it seems like I can’t go anywhere without hearing about Windows 7. With that in mind, let’s take a brief look at why everyone seems to be completely enamored by the software. For Windows Vista users, the change is pretty gradual. Windows 7 borrows many of the user interface enhancements that were first introduced in Vista. For XP users, however, the change is dramatic. Speaking as a lifelong Windows user, I can say that like many, I avoided Windows Vista due to the negativity surrounding it. Since making the jump from XP way back in January (when the public beta became available), I can’t imagine going back to XP mainly due to the advancements in the user interface. If you haven’t already heard about the new features and changes in Microsoft’s latest operating system, here’s a brief rundown:

iHomeFinder IDX
iHomefinder is a well established IDX search solution available to agents in many of the largest markets in the United States.  It is likely that they already have data in your market, so check with your MLS. Their product offers all of the key features of property search that are important to REALTORS and their clients.  Their base product offers search by city, zipcode, price and other standard form based criteria.  Lead generation on their solution follows established paradigms in IDX services including save a listing to favorites, save a search, and registration for automatic listing alerts. They offer a full service back office solution for agents to access their registered users, gain insight into their search behavior, property interests, and contact information.

Birdview IDX
Birdview offers a full-featured IDX service to real estate agents and is available in most markets across the nation. With Birdview IDX, all of the local IDX/MLS listings can be displayed on a real estate agent website for consumers to browse. Birdview offers the ability to search multiple counties and cities at one time and offers many lead generating tools like save a search, listing notification, schedule a showing, and save listings to favorites. Birdview updates the listings on each website as often as every 15 minutes in most MLS markets through the use of the RETS or Real Estate Transaction Standard.