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By identifying the key technologies and understanding a little about how they fit together you can save time and money immediately.

If you know how you need you agency to run you can find products and solutions to do the job.

NT Server and Exchange Server

Benefits

NT server represents the building blocks of your network and will allow you to share files, store documents and images safely and allow your whole office access to the network.

These essential services mean you information is centrally stored and can thus be centrally protected no matter who is working on it.

NT server provides robust security for your network and will block unauthorised access to files and services as well as performing backups.

Exchange server allows a full shared diary, contacts and email system and is perfect for group work. It is also used by most phone systems to allow contacts to pop onto the screen when the phone up.

Disasters

Everything else your network does is affected by your NT server so its got to work perfectly. Installing it on an unsuitable machine or installing it without understanding its power means your whole operation could be at risk.

It is impossible to "repair" NT server as it will need to be reinstalled completely to correct problems and this means lost time and considerable expense.

If your actual server computer isn't powerful enough you can cause real headaches and your whole network will slow to a crawl. This is the single most important piece of equipment in your office so don't skimp.

Backup and security features are always misused by agents and this means many are constantly at risk from data loss and hackers. Its difficult to see whats wrong until its too late and competitors have your information or worse, no-one has it.

Property Management Software

Benefits

Managing your properties, clients and accounts together will make your agency more efficient and more profitable as less time is wasted on administration while you can serve more clients with a lower overhead.

Marketing is made easier and mailing lists for print, fax and email are easy to generate.

The best software will also power your website, providing an additional and now vital means of selling your services and marketing your portfolio.

Clients prefer agents who use management software because they can see reports, property information and accounts quickly and efficiently.

Indeed proper use of technology is known to be one of the key factors the public use when choosing an agent.

Disasters

The most irritating aspect of property systems is their instability because they are often cobbled together products.

Sometimes you can use them, sometimes and for no apparent reason there is a crash. Worse, technical support of these products is often impossible because they have rarely come from the same firm as your computers and other software so everyone blames everyone else.

Clients expect a high standard of organisation and if you get a bug or have purchased unstable software you could find yourself unable to access property details, diary entries or worst accounts when you need to.

Clients will immediately notice the drop in productivity and it can be a time consuming exercise to build trust again.

Because there is so much choice in the market with a good number of specialist products many agents purchase one for each of their divisions like management, lettings or sales.

Life doesn't respect such divisions so you could spend your working life moving details between systems or worse trying to weed out duplications or errors.

Bespoke Applications

Benefits

You know how you want your office to function and nothing ever seems to do it all smoothly so your own bespoke solution is your most efficient, cost effective solution.

There is no mixing and matching with a bespoke application so there is no problem transferring records or coupling programs together.

Don't pay for features you don't need and ensure that 100% of your investment is utilised to satisfy your needs using your experience of the market and your business. 95% of the features in off the shelf products go unused and these will account for 95% of the cost.

Give your agency a real competitive advantage so you can offer a unique service. No other agency will have your software or your resulting efficiencies.

Many agents are now plagued with problems and the public are looking for efficiency and service like never before.

Disasters

Your chosen company must understand property and the complex mix of services you need to provide. There is no point educating the company on the basics because you will need all the time you can get to meet your requirements.

Software is only useful if its being used. Once you have committed time and funds you need the product delivered fast. Many bespoke jobs stretch out for too long with no benefit to the agent until the last minute.

Worse, many agents have abandoned projects midway through.

The biggest disaster is not going the whole hog and trying to get a bespoke solution by degrees or by combining several products together.

This kind of splicing products always causes more problems than it solves and the longer you leave it in place the more difficult it gets to escape.

ASP and Linux

Benefits

The Internet is the most effective marketing medium in the property world and many agents have realised that what works in their office works equally well over the Internet.

By combining their property software needs with their website you can achieve unheard of efficiency and present a world class service to your clients 24hrs a day.

You can allow your clients to interact with your business whenever they need to access information, progress of sale or let, pay deposits or view accounts.

These cutting edge technologies can really differentiate your agency.

Because everything is done in secure datacentres you need only an Internet connection and a free browser to accesss your information.

This cuts hardware and software maintenance costs and means you don't need to worry about the safety of your information or equipment.

Disasters

None. Why stitch together so many different products? Until now there was no other choice.

The development of all-in one solutions to everything from property management, internet marketing, internet sites, printing and even faxing has meant agents can now use just one product.

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