Firstly, several agents and brokers said that we are currently in the midst of a busy season in the market, and that the second quarter would be more manageable. We want to make this release and the transition as smooth as possible, and given the amount of work required by agents and brokers to update their listings in the new system, they made a strong case.

Secondly, and more significantly, we believe that our membership is not 100 percent prepared for the changes involved in REsearch 4.3. Our own statistics show that out of over 1,800 active members, only 311 have logged into our beta site. That leaves over 1,500 users who have not reviewed the changes, or may not even be aware changes are coming.

REsearch 4.3 is a critical upgrade that will require members to check and update their listings, prospects, saved searches, and saved formats. So we plan to use the month of March to more aggressively inform and train the membership so they are prepared and know what to do when we move 4.3 to live. In the mean time, we appreciate your patience and understanding in these efforts.

How can I help?

Communication is key to every release. We use our email newsletters, bulletin blog, and other venues to provide information on important changes to our system. Unfortunately, these can often be missed, filtered into “junk mail folders,” or otherwise not shared with everyone who needs to know. Therefore, we kindly urge you to talk to your peers and let them know about 4.3. For example, if your brokerage has a weekly or a monthly meeting, this is a perfect opportunity to make sure everyone knows about the upcoming changes. And as always, if you need any help with this, please contact us and we can provide you all the information we have about the changes, what is expected after the release, and what to do once it’s live.

More importantly, we also urge everyone to try the Beta site located at:

http://rebeta.hawaiiinformation.com/REsearch/HIS/

Here, you can see all the changes and really dive into the new listing input process. This site uses a test database, so you can put in as many ‘test’ listings as you want. Try putting some listings on the listing side, and then try putting some listings in on the rental side. Get a feel for the new forms, and perform searches with the ‘Type’, ‘Subtype’, and ‘Ownership’ fields. And again, if you have any questions or find any bugs please let us know.

We look forward to getting the 4.3 release out in April, and with your help, we can do so with minimal impact on your work.

Thank you!

Bob Schoenthal
Hawaii Information Service Product Manager
bob@hawaiiinformation.com
(800) 628-3121 x153
Cell: (808) 222-3757
Fax: (808) 536-6499

Roster search results display office and/or agent records based on your selections. Additionally, office and agent names and addresses can be displayed, printed, and downloaded in a label format for mailing purposes.

How to Search the Roster

The Roster Search is located on the Search tab drop-down menu:

In the example below we have selected “Kauai” as the territory of choice from the drop down menu:

The results show the agent and office information, based on Agent Territory – Kauai:

If you want to add this new category to build your search, you will find this category under the add fields link, located at the bottom of the page:

And if you have a customized search created, you may now add agent territory or add to an existing format:

As of last week, we “locked” the code, which means that we are no longer adding to the features and functionality of REsearch. From this point forward, we are focused on fixing bugs and identifying any remaining problems with the system.

We received dozens of great requests and suggestions once we began our beta testing period. And our development team thoroughly reviewed, prioritized, and worked to implement as much of them as possible. If you submitted a request that is not reflected in the REsearch 4.3 beta release, rest assured that it remains in our tracking system, and we are already beginning preliminary work on mapping out ‘Phase 2′ of this upgrade.

In the mean time, please continue to use and explore the REsearch 4.3 beta. We would obviously like to find and resolve every bug before the system goes live. Also, using the beta system will ensure you have a better understanding of the changes in REsearch 4.3, so you’ll be able to hit the ground running next month.

Release Scheduling Notice

REsearch 4.3 will go live on Monday, March 1, 2010. However, the transition will require us to put REsearch into “read-only mode” over the preceding weekend. This means that on Saturday, Feb. 27 and Sunday, Feb. 28, you will not be able to modify or enter new listings, prospects, contacts, or saved searches. You will still be able to login and view existing listings, but if you expect to add or modify listings at the end of the month, we encourage you to do so by Friday, Feb. 26. Otherwise, you can wait until REsearch 4.3 is live, and you can add or modify listings using the new data entry forms.

As always, we would like to thank you and our members and user community for your continued support and feedback as we continue to build better tools to help you grow your business.

Bob Schoenthal
Hawaii Information Service Product Manager
bob@hawaiiinformation.com
(800) 628-3121 x153
Cell: (808) 222-3757
Fax: (808) 536-6499

• Learn our trainers tricks & tips for farming
• Brush up on your basics
• Discover ways to attract new customers

Below are the online classes scheduled for the month of February.  To sign up immediately, simply click on the links below.  Space is limited so please RSVP soon!  If you are going to participate/watch as a group, only one person needs to sign up.

Please note: Once REsearch Version 4.3 becomes live all classes will include the changes made in the release.

Remember, after you have participated, please make sure to fill out the survey or e-mail me your feedback so we can continue to improve upon our training efforts!  Mahalo.

February 1 – 7

New Member Orientation: Wednesday, February, 3, 2010, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/296656691

Manage Listings & Forms: Wednesday, February, 3, 2010, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/418382378

Searching & Formats: Thursday, February 4, 2010, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/548491986

Prospecting, Contracts & Calender: Thursday, February 4, 2010, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/209160835

Customizing & Downloads: Friday, February 5, 2010, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/983321426

Update, CMA, Farming & Labels: Friday, February 5, 2010, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/648564346

February 8-14

Manage Listings & Forms: Monday, February 8, 2010, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/634311403

Searching & Formats: Monday, February 8, 2010, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/376749818

New Member Orientation: Wednesday, February 10, 2010, from 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/518529962

Prospecting, Contracts & Calendar: Thursday, February 11, 2010, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/884450115

Maps: Thursday, February 11, 2010, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/540154194

Update, CMA, Farming & Labels: Friday, February 12, 2010, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/135191035

Customizing & Downloads: Friday, February, 12, 2010, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/383388491

Instructions on how to register for the above webinars:

* To register, please click onto the applicable link located below the class.  The link will then take you to the registration site.

* Please complete all the required fields marked by a red asterisks (First Name, Last Name, Email Address, Phone, Organization AKA Office Name).

* Click “Register Now” to complete the registration process.  Once registered a confirmation email will be sent to your email address to confirm your registration along with a unique web ID number and instructions on how to login to the session on that day.

* If you need login assistance, please feel free to contact our Customer/Technical Support team at (800) 628-3121, press # and then 457.

System Requirements

* PC-based attendees – Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

* Macintosh®-based attendees – Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

Questions? Comments?  I’d love to hear from you!  Please feel free to e-mail me at erin@alohaliving.com or call directly at (808) 748-8759 or toll free 1-800-628-3121 ext. 159.

We will be holding two sessions to accommodate as many people as possible.  However, seating is limited so please RSVP as early as possible.  If you have already submitted your RSVP and have received a confirmation e-mail from me you do not need to RSVP again.

When:

KAUAI: Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m.

Wednesday, January 6th 2010 from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m.

HILO: Thursday, January 7th, 2010 from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m.

Thursday, January 7th, 2010 from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m.

KONA: Friday, January 8th, 2010 from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m.

Friday, January 8th 2010 from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m.

Where:

KAUAI: Kauai Beach Resort (Formerly Hilton Kauai Beach Resort)

4331 Kauai Beach Drive, Lihue 96766

HILO: Hawaiian Island Board of Realtors
26 Waianuenue Avenue, Hilo, Hawaii

KONA: Kuakini Towers
75-5722 Kuakini Hwy, 2nd Floor Conference Room, Suite 216
Kailua Kona, Hawaii

RSVP: By Monday, January 4th by e-mailing me at erin@alohaliving.com.

In the meantime, if you would like to take part in the Beta for REsearch 4.3, you can view the changes here: http://rebeta.hawaiiinformation.com/REsearch/HIS_REORG

If you do any testing, please send us feedback and any bugs you may come across by filling out and submitting this simple form:  http://useresearch.com/bugform/

Please note:  Due to the database change,  you will not be testing with Live data.  Unfortunately we cannot run the new system and an old system on the same database because of the amount of changes that have taken place on the backend.  This will make your testing even more crucial as we need to uncover all of the bugs before we can switch 4.3 over to the live system.

Questions?  Please do not hesitate to contact me at erin@alohaliving.com

Beta Site Address: http://rebeta.hawaiiinformation.com/REsearch/HIS_REORG

If you come across any bugs you can notify us of them using this quick and easy to use form: http://useresearch.com/bugform/

Please note: Due to the database change,  you will not be testing with Live data.  Unfortunately we cannot run the new system and an old system on the same database because of the amount of changes that have taken place on the backend.  This will make your testing even more crucial as we need to uncover all of the bugs before we can switch 4.3 over to the live system.

_________________________________

What’s new in 4.3?

First and foremost is the complete database restructure.  We have done a lot of work to clean and expand the number of fields in the system.  The idea is to give the agent the ability to list a given property in its entirety and as such, we have added several hundred new fields.

Due to the amount of changes that are being made in 4.3, we were also able to further develop two areas that have not had an update in a long time;  Data Entry and Display Formats.

Data Entry:

The first thing you will notice when putting in a new listing is that you don’t choose a form type anymore.  Form types were based on paper forms and locked a user into listing their property as a certain type.  Because of this restriction we found properties being listed 2 or 3 times because it could be a Residential or a Commercial, or a combination of both.  We now have one form to rule them all, and the user can select any and all ‘Types’ the property falls under, making each listing more complete and making it easier to find what you are looking for when conducting a search.

Where are Condos?  After doing our due diligence we found Condo does not properly fall under a ‘Type’ of property but rather is an ‘Ownership’.  To classify your property you will need to choose Type, Subtype and Ownership.  These 3 fields will also help to increase the accuracy to which the property is listed and searched upon.

Because of the number of fields we have added, and because we are now only using one form to cover everything,  you can imagine the listing form has become quite large.  We have done our best to put fields into logical categories which you can expand and collapse, making the entire thing much more manageable.  Further you can select only the categories you want to show up when you print, helping to reduce the amount of paper you use.  And finally if you are really in a rush, you can use the option that will jump you from required field to required field.

We also have added some adaptive pieces to the form.  This means if you are listing a property that has two buildings you can easily add another building to the form.  You also can add as many schools or contacts (private and public) to the listing as you want, allowing you to expand the form even further to fit your listing needs.

Display Formats:

When we looked at how much data was being added and changed, we decided to give our graphic designer a chance to rebuild the display formats.  We wanted to give them a cleaner, less ink heavy look, while creating a layout that was easy to read and find the relevant data.  We have made changes to all the MLS formats, however did not touch the TMK formats in this release.

Listings / Saved Searches / Prospects:

With all the changes to the data,  we have attempted to convert as many Listings, Saved Searches and Prospects that we could.  However we unfortunately could not reach 100% conversion.  Because of this we will need our users to check and update their listings, searches and prospects after we have switched over.

Major Areas of Testing

Data Entry: Please list your properties into the beta site and see if you run into any problems.  List the properties and make them active (don’t worry, as stated this is test data we populated based off the real database) and then try searching for them (make sure to try all different types of properties such as commercial and residential).  You may need to edit your search screen to access all the new fields (we will be creating a new default search screen in a few weeks to help new users have access to all fields).

Some other parts of Data Entry to check:

• Verbiage – Please verify everything looks good and terms and words are correctly used.
• Field Placement – Please examine the different categories where we placed fields, see if these are in fact logical placements or whether they should be changed and/or new categories created.
• Functionality – Do you have any problem moving around the form, interacting with all the pieces?  Do the buttons do what they should, etc.
• Easibility – Right off I understand how a much large form will score low in this area,  however please examine the amount of data and how easy is it to understand where to go for various options, select those options, and generally list your property.  Does it take too long,  does the form not move quick enough, do you like how categories open and close, etc.?
• General Workflow – Given this will become a new piece of an agents workflow, how well does it fit?
• Display Formats:  After listing your properties with as much data entered as possible, search using each of the various MLS Display Formats.

Details to check on Display Formats:

• Data:  Please check the completeness of the data on the formats.  Is there anything you listed on the form that is now appearing on the full display format?  Did we leave off any important information on one of the smaller formats that absolutely must be there?
• Verbiage:  Again please check us on spelling and correct use of words and terms.
• Field Placement:  We again tried to group data in logical categories and areas where we felt it held the most relevance.  If you find something that is in the wrong area or just doesn’t make sense,  please let us know.Print:  How good does it print?  Is it something you will be comfortable handing a client?  How can it be improved?

I thank you again for being part of this first round of Beta testing.  Please keep all bugs and feedback as constructive and as complete as possible.  The more details you can provide us (including screen captures) the better.  We strive to make this a solid release and your help will really help us to achieve that goal.

Questions?  Feedback?  Please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Bob Schoenthal

Product Manager | Hawaii Information Service

E-Mail: Bob@HawaiiInformation.com

Phone: 808-748-8753

So if you are taking the time to hold an open house, take a few extra moments to enter the details into REsearch as well, and reap the benefits. As the number of open houses entered into REsearch grows, and as both real estate professionals and consumers take greater advantage of them, we will continue to make open house searches more sophisticated and widespread across the web.

And if you don’t have the upgraded Full IDX, and want to take advantage of this new feature, contact Colleen Yasuhara at Colleen@AlohaLiving.com or by calling toll free at 1-800-628-3121 ext. 151.

Here’s how open house listings in REsearch work:

Step 1: Enter Your Open House In REsearch

To enter your Open House into REsearch simply click on the “Add Open House” button on the Open House navigation bar (on your REVO home page), and then enter the information into the pop-up box. Enter your name where it says “With Whom,” as well as any pertinent information you want consumers and or agents to know in the fields below. You can even set reminders to help you keep on track. Now how easy and convenient is that!

Step 2: Check it Out on AlohaLiving.com and the Property Details Pages of your listings!

Once you hit OK, all of the information for your Open House will soon show up on Aloha Living and listing property details pages automatically. Customers and colleagues alike will be able to search for and access your Open House information using the links on the AlohaLiving.com and Hawaiiinformation.com homepages, as well as through the various home searches once more Open Houses are entered.

Here is what you will see using the search on AlohaLiving.com:

And here is what it looks like when using your personal IDX* to search:

*Open House Search is only available with a Full IDX Suite

Last chance to brush up on your REsearch skills before 2009 ends!  Sign up for one of our other online training classes this December and…

• Learn our trainers tricks & tips for farming
• Brush up on your basics
• Discover ways to attract new customers

Below are the online classes scheduled for the month of December.  To sign up immediately, simply click on the links below.  Space is limited so please RSVP soon!  If you are going to participate/watch as a group, only one person needs to sign up.

Remember, after you have participated, please make sure to fill out the survey or e-mail me your feedback so we can continue to improve upon our training efforts!  Mahalo.

November 23 – 27

Orientation: Tuesday, November 24th from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM HST
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/174421562

Enter & Manage Your Listings and How to Utilize Forms: Tuesday, November 24th from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM HST
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/806466874

December 1 – 4th

Basics to Searching & Formats: Tuesday, December 1st from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/673337843

Prospecting, Contacts & Calendar: Tuesday, December 1st from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/542656642

ORIENTATION: Thursday, December 3rd from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/505362554

Enter & Manage Your Listings and How to Utilize Forms: Thursday, December 3rd from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/799592459

December 7 – 11

Update, CMA, Farming & Labels: Monday, December 7th from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/510504306

Maps: Monday, December 7th from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM
Registration Web Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/849131819