 | 
Mike Antoniak is a freelance journalist, who writes frequently on technology.
| | One neat package
Testing the Waters for Wireless
All the service, on any device is what’s needed for wireless adoption.
REPORTED BY MICHAEL ANTONIAK
Wireless access to MLS data and other Internet resources probably won’t be widely adopted by real estate professionals until they can confidently access these services with any wireless hardware and any carrier service. At least that’s the conclusion from several tests conducted by wireless vendors to determine what real estate professionals want in a mobile platform. In these trials, sales associates were able to sample wireless access to MLS data and contact information over the Internet. Early indications are that the more flexible the option, the more appealing it is to real estate professionals.
“The more devices you support, the better off you are,” observes David Bolt, vice president for technology for MarketLinx Solutions. “If you focus on just one device, you’re limiting your market.” The company specializes in developing systems for delivering MLS data over a Web browser.
Jim Secord, director of product technology for Interealty, has reached the same conclusion: “Everything has to be open and extensible so that real estate professionals will know the wireless service will work, no matter what device they use to access it.” Interealty is a leading provider of Web-based real estate marketing and information solutions, with approximately 250,000 users in the United States.
As a diverse range of multifunction wireless hardware comes to market, real estate practitioners will be able to chose from wireless-enabled PDAs, cell phones, and notebook PCs to access the wireless services—whatever suits them best. “What they use has to be irrelevant,” Secord re-iterates. “The challenge from our end is to make sure the data is properly formatted for any device, in any platform.”
MarketLinx is just one of the companies about to begin crucial tests of this device-irrelevant approach. Within the month the company expects to begin beta testing Pocket Real Estate Wireless for a period of three to six months. Pocket Real Estate software, from Hand e Corp., is already a popular solution for downloading MLS data from the Internet to Palm and Pocket PC handhelds--via cable from a PC-- for later use in the field. The new Pocket Real Estate Wireless will enable users of wireless Web-enabled handhelds and cell phones to retrieve the latest MLS information anywhere, any time, as they need it.
MarketLinx is also working with RealTrac Solutions and the Middle Tennessee Association of REALTORS to make MLS data available to members with wireless Web-enabled cell phones. “Users access our Web site, enter their passwords, and then are able to search the MLS or contact information for other salespeople who use the system with the keypads on their phones,” explains Stuart White, CEO of RealTrac.
And despite the push toward wireless MLS data, vendors are finding that wireless e-mail capability is the feature early adopters rely on most. “The killer application is e-mail,” says Secord. Wireless e-mail applications are available on all of the products discussed in this article.
“Every real estate professional who’s trying to manage time better and be more productive recognizes the advantage of instant access to e-mail,” points out Jagdeep Baccher, president of Emerest Mobile. The company’s technology is being used in another test of wireless MLS and e-mail access, this one in conjunction with the Metropolitan Regional Information Services (MRIS), a regional MLS in the Washington, D.C., area. Tests for other market areas are currently being planned.
“Real estate professionals want to be able to respond to a lead as soon as it is received. With e-mail, the first one to respond is often the one who gets the business,” explains Baccher. When the response can include information about the latest listings pulled from the MLS, it can help earn a prospect’s loyalty, he adds.
Currently wireless e-mail responses are limited to retrieving textual data and sending/receiving simple messages in real time. Eventually attaching images to those responses may prove another practical application of wireless.
“Right now we’re going through a transition period,” concludes Secord. But with more wireless devices and more high-speed carrier networks expected to become available by the end of this year, wireless technology may soon move beyond its test stage and achieve the sort of industry-wide acceptance vendors have been hoping for. | |
|
