To:     All WinTOTAL Aurora (version 5) users
From: Adam Calvery, VP Appraisal Products, a la mode, inc.
Re:     Aurora:  September update is available

The September WinTOTAL Aurora update is available on our servers.  To download updates, click the Get Updates button on the toolbar in your Appraisal Desktop.  You can read the full release notes below, or on the Aurora Status website here.

Among the highlights in today's update are new AI Report™ forms, the latest build of PDF X-Change (WinTOTAL's free, built-in PDF driver so you don't have to buy a standalone PDF printer), as well as a change in the signing process when a report contains Ad Hoc contacts. 

As a refresher, there are two ways to enter contacts into reports.  The first is by simply choosing a contact from your database, which is recommended, so your billing and delivery will be accurate.  The second is by manually typing in a contact field.  Under this second, manual method, these contacts are added to your Ad Hoc contacts filter in your Contacts Database when the report is saved.  If you're retyping the same contact into reports over and over, rather than using the database, you're manually creating multiple duplicate contacts.  Today's update helps alleviate that.  Now, if your report contains Ad Hoc contacts, when you sign you'll get a small prompt letting you either go back and pick contacts from the database, or proceed anyway.  For those customers that prefer typing contacts into reports manually, this update presents a slight workflow change, and I wanted you to be aware of it.

In other news, Armstrong Standard, the upcoming, “no bells and whistles” version of WinTOTAL, has officially entered its Beta testing phase.  It's now in the hands of formal Beta testers, but you can still download it for free from the lab's website to try it out.  If you're interested in Beta testing Armstrong Standard, just hit the Reply button and let me know.

Also, DaVinci for iPhone will enter its official Beta testing right after the Labor Day weekend.  The sketcher has come along incredibly well, and the data gathering and synchronization is solid.  For you iPhone and iPod Touch users, we think you're going to be very pleased with the ease and speed with which you can gather data, photos, sketches and notes, and then get them back into WinTOTAL seamlessly.  We knew it would garner a lot of interest, but we've been blown away by how much it's received.  We've actually run out of Beta testing slots, and I'd like to thank everyone that's expressed interest.  You won't have to wait much longer to be able to download it from Apple's App Store in iTunes.  We'll keep you posted.

Last, the Mercury Network has taken off this summer, with new lenders coming on board consistently, thousands of orders being placed weekly, and hundreds of appraisers getting their first orders through the system every week as well.  Yet there are still many appraisers with an Appraiser XSite who haven't completed their Mercury Network profile, and are missing out on the possibility of getting these full-fee orders.  To make sure your profile is updated, login to your XSite, click User Management at the top, and for each appraiser listed, scroll down to the Mercury Network Profile section and look for anything highlighted in red.  

That's it for today.  As always, please let me know if there's ever anything I can help with or answer. 

Have a great week,

Adam Calvery
VP, Appraisal Products
a la mode, inc.

WinTOTAL Aurora (v5) – September 1, 2009 Update
This update contains improvements throughout WinTOTAL. 

Contacts PowerView:

• Clicking Edit with no contact selected no longer loads an incomplete contact entry screen.
• There is now a Company Name/Branch filter in the Contacts PowerView.
• Contacts and companies will now be associated when typing into the assign to company field before selecting a company.
• Contacts associated with an XSite user can no longer be deleted.
• Corrected an issue that could cause reports to be linked to incorrect contacts when ad hoc contacts were created.
• E-mail addresses containing apostrophes will now save to contacts.
• Merging duplicate contacts will now reassign XSite orders correctly.
• Opening and closing a signed report will no longer create new ad hoc contacts.
• Using the mouse to select a contact title after using the keyboard will now work correctly.
• Ad hoc prompts are now displayed after free forming a new company with an existing contact.
• An automation error is no longer given whenever the only contacts existing in your database are Ad Hocs and the View Ad Hoc option is turned off.

DaVinci integration:

• Previous builds of DaVinci will now open correctly with .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 installed.
• Swapping the major form in an Aurora originated report from an Exterior Only [Form 2055][03/05] to a URAR [Form 1004][03/05] in DaVinci will now transfer all data correctly.  

General: 

• Importing multiple PDFs into a report under certain circumstances could cause existing pages to be duplicated.  This has been corrected.
• Reports saved with invalid characters in the comparable addresses will now open correctly.
• Available WAF file seats will now be looked up by XSite user associated to WinTOTAL instead of the customer number WinTOTAL is registered to.
• Signing reports without saving them first will now add them to the XSite sync queue and Desktop Billing.
• WinTOTAL will no longer prompt to install Adobe Reader 6 if a default PDF viewer is already set.
• Every page of the UCISAR - Existing Property [Rev. 4/99] form is now included in the table of contents when printing by default.
• Selecting the option to print a file number on each form in the print engine will now place and label the file number on the forms according to the option you chose in the drop-down list.
• Text on multi-line fields now wraps correctly in Armstrong reports that are opened in Aurora.

AppraisalPort Delivery:

• Reconciliation section on the URAR [Form 1004][03/05] now supports multiple checkboxes being delivered through AppraisalPort.

Mercury Network Delivery:

• Mercury orders must be delivered using the Mercury Network Plugin, rather than the XSites Delivery Plugin.
• Mercury Network orders must be delivered through the Mercury Network Plugin in order to mark them as completed.

Orders PowerView: 

• Opening an order will no longer utilize ‘Same as' settings for contacts when they already contain contact data. 

PCV Murcor Delivery:

• Reports containing ampersands in the client name will now deliver through PCV Murcor Delivery correctly.

Printing:

• An updated version of the WinTOTAL PDF driver is included in this update.

WinTOTAL Competitor Conversion Wizard: 

• SFREP reports containing the Real Estate Owned 2008 form will now convert correctly.
• Bradford reports containing the Supplemental Real Estate Owned 2008 and Supplemental REO Extra Listings 2008 forms will now convert correctly.
• Sales History section of Exterior-Only Condo [Form 1075] [March 2005] form and additional comparables pages from Day One reports now convert correctly.
• File Numbers on the major form are converted correctly from ClickFORMS reports.
• The WAMU One Unit Desk Review [7/2008] form will now convert from ClickFORMS reports.

New Forms: 

• Real Estate Owned (REO) Addendum [01/2009][Quantitative]. 
• Summary of Salient Features
• [Form AI-100.03] Summary Appraisal Report - Residential [12/08]
• [Form AI-120.03] Summary Appraisal Report - Land [12/08]
• [Form AI-200.03] Restricted Use Appraisal Report - Residential [12/08]
• [Form AI-900.03] Certifications & Limiting Conditions - Residential [12/08]
• [AI-100.03] Additional Comparable Sites [12/08][manual form only]
• [AI-200.03] Additional Comparable Sites [12/08][manual form only]
• USDA Rural Development Attachment 5B - Single Family Housing Site Checklist [RD HB-1-3550 Att.5-B].

Updated Forms: 

• GP Commercial Appraisal Report [Signature][05/2008][Lgl]
• GP Commercial Appraisal Report [No Signature][05/2008][Lgl]
• GP Commercial Appraisal Report [Signature][05/2008][Ltr]
• GP Commercial Appraisal Report [No Signature][05/2008][Ltr]
• 71A [Rev. 04/2004]
• Appraisal Independence Certification Addendum.
• GLB Privacy Notification [Lgl]
• NFIP Elevation Certificate [FEMA Form 81-31][February 2006]. 
• VA Compliance Inspection Report [VA 26-1839 MAR 2007]. 
• Real Estate Owned (REO) Addendum.