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So How Can You Plug into the Wireless World? | | BY MICHAEL ANTONIAK
Wireless is a buzzword in technology circles, but as many real estate practitioners have discovered, there’s still a ways to go before the promise of wireless technology actually delivers a practical benefit. Whether you can tap its advantages depends on your company, where you work, and your own initiative.
In fact, it can even come down to how you interpret wireless. Many think first of the “wireless Web” access touted for laptop computers, PDAs, and multifunction cell phones. Wireless can also mean mobile access to local MLS data or a computer network without cables.
“[Real estate practitioners] can benefit from wireless technology in four technospheres: home-office networking, laptop mobility, PDA applications, and wireless telecommunications,” says John M. Ekins, senior partner, Aspen Creek Consulting Group, real estate technology advisers, Salt Lake City.
In each area, infrastructure must first be in place to support wireless. For instance, each local MLS must adopt and implement plans for wireless access and determine which hardware platforms to support. That hardware—laptop, PDA, or multifunction phone—must be outfitted for wireless data access where service plans are available.
For now, the usefulness of wireless capabilities in those devices parallels the usefulness of mobile phones in the early days of cellular communications, when vendors focused on major metro areas. Even there, access could be spotty.
“Wireless phone technology took over when the price became consumer friendly and people became educated in its use,” observes Ekins. “Wireless real estate technology must follow the same path.”
Awareness is already building through efforts of individuals and companies embracing wireless as the next standard in connectivity. In Denver, Alisa Hagner, residential specialist with RE/MAX Alliance-DTC, carries two wireless solutions: the Palm V, with Minstrel modem and omnisky.com service, and a Web-browsing Qualcomm 3035 phone.
“I choose all my tech tools to make it easier for people to do business with me,” Hagner explains. Instant messaging on her Palm has proved such an advantage. “When I’m online with my Palm and someone pages me with questions, I can respond immediately.”
That happened when she was attending a recent seminar. “Two clients contacted me with questions,” she says. “Without leaving the room or worrying about hooking up a modem, I got right back to them.”
Wireless MLS, via her cell phone, helped make a fast sale. Hagner was showing a couple a house when the wife commented on how much she liked the house next door. Coincidentally, by the time they had finished the tour, a For Sale sign appeared in the yard of the adjoining property.
“Standing in the yard with my phone,” she says, “I checked the MLS and got the information.” She contacted the listing agent, arranged the appointment, and closed the sale.
Searching MLS data from a cell phone can be slow but still an advantage. “It’s faster than driving back to the office for the same information,” Hagner says. “Buyers in a hot market can’t afford to wait. If the house is priced right, the first one in is often the one buying it.”
Hagner’s experience makes the case for mobile wireless, but many real estate professionals may first experience wireless in a different way—with the next generation of networks. Prudential Preferred Realty, Pittsburgh, recently equipped its 22 offices with wireless network hubs, linked to the company’s central server over an intranet.
“Instead of buying the salespeople their own dial-up accounts, we decided on one T-1 line at the main office, available to everyone over the intranet,” explains Scott Sosso, e-commerce director. “We took a long-term look at technology, and installing the wireless hubs at each office made the most sense.”
Staff in any of the offices access the network and log on to the Internet from any computer equipped with a wireless networking card and located within a few hundred feet of the server. “They can print without cables,” he adds. “The network will also support wireless MLS access and any other tool that comes along.”
Sosso isn’t sure yet whether a wireless network boosts productivity, but it does shape perceptions that the company is a technology leader. “It’s helping attract salespeople by demonstrating we’re on the cutting edge,” he says. “Now other companies are talking about their plans for wireless. It took us 18 months, start to finish, to get everything in place, so we’re going to enjoy an advantage for some time.”
So How Can You Plug into the Wireless World?
Service providers have the power when it comes to determining when, where, and how wireless options will be made available to you—and at what cost. For more information on
Wireless MLS, contact your local board or MLS, which decides whether listing information will be available, how that wireless service will be delivered, and which hardware platforms will be supported.
Wireless Web-enabled cell phones, contact your cellular service provider. Like all your cellular options, the cellular service company dictates what’s available. Customer service can advise you on which phone models you can use for Internet access, as well as the range of plans that include wireless Web.
Wireless support for PDAs, check the Web site of the PDA manufacturer. Wireless PDA applications still lag behind those for cell phones. If wireless is now an option, at the Web site you’ll find a map of coverage areas or a search engine that lets you check if the service is offered where you work.
Before you sign-on to any of these options, sample the service. Wireless Web by phone or PDA is nothing like logging on with a standard Web browser on a full-sized screen. You may welcome the trade for the mobile convenience, or you may decide you’re better off using a laptop equipped with a wireless modem.
To learn more about Wireless, visit our Wireless Advisor section. For registered users of OneRealtorPlace. | |
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