Featured news — posted October 27, 2004

There are thousands more appraisers in the United States with websites with online ordering, workflow management and delivery capabilities today than there were last month at this time. That's because we've bundled a Standard level Appraiser XSite with our new XSite Order Manager, which is best understood as a next-generation Mercury Desktop. And since we don't charge for extra features or version like our competitors, we're giving the bundle free of charge to all Mercury Desktop users.

Thousands of Mercury Desktop owners already had an XSite, so they have been provided with XSite Order Manager free of charge, which will integrate seamlessly and powerfully with their existing XSite. Existing Appraiser XSite owners are being provided free upgrades to Professional or Enterprise XSites, including copies of XSite Order Manager. XSite Order Manager includes all the functions you expect from Mercury Desktop, including all the custom plugins for your clients.

What will life be like for the thousands who had Mercury Desktop but no XSite? You'll get an e-mail with a link to click to set up your new XSite; maybe you got it already. You'll be provided a username and password (which you can easily change later), and see for yourself the intuitive, robust XSites Wizard that gives you control of your online presence. Choose a domain name — what you want your web address to be — and we'll register it for you, no charge (if it's available).

Your new XSite is where your clients will be able to log on and order appraisals from you. Their order information is managed by XSite Order Manager the way it was in Mercury Desktop. You will still download the subject property information directly into your formfilling software. Still keep clients up to date on status. Deliver reports securely online with SureReceipts, or use the custom plugins your clients require. A lot will be the same.

But a lot will be different — and better. With your new online presence, you have a public face to show current and potential clients. They can log on securely to do their business with you. Visitors to your site will see a custom built home page with your company name, a "What is an appraisal?" information page, a "Contact us" page with all your contact info, a page to place an order and a secure client login page.

You'll have access to XSites User Forums — message boards where you can communicate with other XSites users, sharing tips, tricks and asking and answering questions — about anything, not just XSites.

Your Standard XSite, bundled with XSite Order Manager, is built for one thing — to connect you and your clients and give your clients a way to reach you anywhere, anytime to place appraisal orders, get updated status, and receive reports. Your new Standard XSite does not include all the features Professional and especially Enterprise XSites users enjoy — but it still makes managing your orders and deliverables a hundred times easier over the Web. As a Standard XSite user, you can also get a "sneak peek" at what features Professional and Enterprise XSites users enjoy.

In the administration area of your XSite, you'll be able to see all the very cool marketing applications a Professional or Enterprise XSite affords. You'll see all the themes, animated Flash intros and backgrounds (you'll have five themes to pick from in your Standard XSite), and more than 40 pre-written content pages available. You'll see how easy it is to set up the ability to accept credit card orders online, saving C.O.D. and collection hassles (an Enterprise feature). When and if you decide you want to upgrade to a Professional or Enterprise XSite, it's just a few easy clicks away.

And while you're kicking the tires of your new Standard XSite there may never be a better time to lessen the learning curve and upgrade right away. For those who choose to stick with their own Standard XSite, though, life and business just got a whole lot easier. We didn't make this transition to "upsell" you. We did it to do away with the "Mercury" brand in favor of promoting our customers' own identities and values to their clients.

Each XSite retains (or will contain, in your case) its own domain name and look and feel, yet the web services-based transaction management tools operating behind the scenes provide the consistency and open-standards integration previously found only in monolithic, third party networks. Clients can find and interact with you better and more efficiently. WinTOTAL Aurora, the next generation of WinTOTAL coming soon, will feature a ton of amazing integrations with Enterprise XSites, and "getting your feet wet" with a Standard XSite is a great way to start getting used to doing more and more of your business on the Web.

Some Mercury Desktop users have websites already, just not Appraiser XSites. No problem! We'll transfer your domain name, if you choose, for free so it points to your new XSite. And since Standard XSites retail for not much more than Mercury Desktop did, the new features and tools come at a very reasonable price at renewal time — and are almost a must if you've been paying for Mercury Desktop as well as a separate website.

We encourage all of the thousands of new website owners who have joined our ranks of XSites users to visit their XSites User Forums, or the extensive help documentation available by clicking the help icon in the top right of the "My Office" area of your XSite for help getting started. And we welcome you to the brave new online world, where your XSite will be the hub of your business!

Vault 3.0 is here, and you're invited to upgrade your existing Vault service for free (as is always the case with our upgrades) by visiting our upgrade page. Your upgrade will include an Instant Customer Update (ICU) mechanism such as we use with WinTOTAL, so you'll automatically be delivered future updates without having to visit any page or download any files.

That means once Vault 3.0 is installed on your system, it will check for updates whenever you go online to upload files. So it won't be necessary to reinstall the Vault software whenever updates are posted — the program will do it all on its own. Our instant, no-download, no-hassle updates are one of the things that best distinguish us from our competitors, and it only makes sense to make ICU available on the Vault, too.

In addition to ICU, the upgrade will include our SafeStart Technology™ which will make sure any necessary system files your Vault software needs are present and installed correctly so you don't waste time with software hassles. And if you own an Appraiser XSite, you'll now be able to use one username and password for both — one less thing to have to remember. (Your username and password won't change unless you tell it to, and if you don't have any of our other online products it won't change, either.)

We're completely redesigning the look and feel of the Vault 3.0 in the coming month to match the look of the new Appraiser XSites and Aurora, the next generation of WinTOTAL. It will be much easier to use and configure your Vault, so you can work more quickly. You'll get that interface upgrade via Instant Customer Update after you upgrade to Vault 3.0.

GAC plugin for XSite Order Manager online

Pittsburgh-based General American Corp. (GAC), one of the nation’s largest mortgage vendor management companies, recently completed a custom plugin for our XSite Order Manager (formerly Mercury Desktop) product for our nationwide roster of real estate appraisers.

The plugin, available to all of the approximately 17,000 appraiser users of XSite Order Manager, connects directly to GAC’s internal servers and routes completed appraisal reports to GAC. As veteran Mercury Desktop users know, review rules are run on the reports on the appraiser’s desktop side so that errors may be fixed before the report leaves the appraiser’s hands.

That's why a desktop review rules solution is highly sought after in appraisal management today, as central server-based models have not delivered on promised time and cost savings. With customizable review rules error-checking reports on the appraiser’s end, review times and resources are cut and appraisal quality for GAC’s clients enhanced.

“Our partnership with a la mode on our custom plugin allows us to leverage the leading appraisal technology provider to enhance the quality of product and service we provide to GAC’s clients,” said Christopher Behning, Sr. Vice President and CTO of GAC. “At the same time, our nationwide panel of fee appraisers has an additional delivery option for appraisal order fulfillment, meaning they can do business with us whatever way they’re most productive and efficient. That’s a ‘soft cost’ saved and we pass the savings on to GAC’s clients, who also take advantage of a wider field of qualified, technology-savvy GAC fee appraisers.”

Many thousands of you do work for or through GAC and with your custom delivery option through XSite Order Manager you will find doing business with GAC easier and smoother than ever.