No one ever said an MLS conversion is easy, but few have experienced the problems catalogued by Moore Data Management Systems users in Dallas and Cape Cod recently. Both cities have conversions less than 120 days old, and agents are experiencing serious impediments to accomplishing system-based tasks. From slow connections to dial-up cutoffs to incorrect tax roll data, agents are complaining, and loudly. Some want their old systems back, and some just want Moore to take more initiative and "do something." Others want to bypass Moore altogether and go with third-party services. Are they being too impatient? Could it be that they don't understand the issues involved with a large system conversion?

Impatient or not, brokers and agents in both areas have banded together to lodge complaints. In Dallas, an ad hoc committee of agents and brokers confronted Moore representative Todd Colthorp with unsatisfactory results. Colthorp was put on the griddle but was not able to announce immediate solutions to system inadequacies. He did admit that he was "understaffed" and that it was a regional issue. "We are not staffed to handle problems," said Colthorp. He repeated the mantra, "We have what we have, and we are what we are. We will work out a better way."

Last week in Cape Cod, Howard Latham, VP and general manager of Real Estate Information Systems for Moore Data, took the hot seat, fielding similar complaints, with more success. The culprit for many of the connectivity problems in the Cape Cod area is the phone service provider, Bell Atlantic, who has unapologetically missed several scheduled deadlines to install additional ports into the Moore system.

In a recent announcement to Real Times, Latham indicated that MDMS experienced unanticipated growth in its customer base in the affected geographic areas. Actions taken by the company have been designed to provide immediate relief to individual agents, brokers, real estate associations and multiple listing services agencies in specific areas.

Among the steps undertaken are: installation of additional telecommunication lines to facilitate access to the networks; the addition of advanced system and software training for customers; modification of software to better match customer needs; additional technical support personnel; and, assignment of technical troubleshooters to provide customer support.

In an exclusive interview with Real Times editor, Blanche Evans, Latham explained that both Dallas and Cape Cod have "phased" solutions, pieces of the technology suite installed one at a time beginning with PC Access, the software that accesses the MLS database. After that comes MLS Windows, an interface that gives the look and performance of a typical Windows application for the more advanced agent. The final piece is MLS Xplorer, a browser-based application that provides access to additional system features.

The following are excerpts from the interview:

Dallas
( Agents Up in Arms: MLS Conversion Gets Ugly in Dallas )

BE: Is the size of the Dallas MLS (10,000 + users) a problem?

HL: No. What is the common market areas serviced by agents in a territory? That is the defining point of an MLS. In Chicago, we do 27,000 agents.

BE: Why do so many of these agents feel that they went backwards with this new system? Some have complained that Moore sold their MLSs an outdated system, a DOS system. What is your response?

HL: It is a phased roll out. PC Access is not a Dos-based piece. It is a terminal view. PC Access will not even run in DOS. You can only do that in a Windows environment. There were agents using more functions who felt they went backwards. That is where the rollout of MLS Windows and Explorer becomes critical.

You define your market area. Now you can find common pieces of data and communications. When you have the new regional in Dallas (which combined two MLSs composed of 18 associations) we elected to roll out the system in pieces.

Every MLS is different. The MLSs are working to meet the needs of their constituentency The dues structure determines what they buy and how they want to contract.

BE: Did the NTREIS (Dallas/Fort Worth area regional MLS) purchase the top of the line?

HL: Very few agents in the country will have that range of services.

BE: Why have all these applications? Why not just cut to the chase with MLS Xplorer? Why bother with PC Access?

HL: The agents like it (PC Access.) They get in and out, do base print outs. It's a very low learning curve and they are off and running. Some agents don't want the extra features that an MLS Windows would have.

All the agents will have the option to have PC Access, MLS Windows, full mapping, browser capabilities with MLS Xplorer. When you look at the total solution, each agent can deploy the technology options that best fit their need of doing business.

BE: It seems a lot of the complaints by agents stem from a lack of understanding about your "phased" approach.

HL: We chose a phased approach because of the amount of training involved. You want to make sure they have the ability to do base business. Otherwise it is unwieldly. The other piece is there is a settle down period.

When you make changes in the first 60-90 days of installation, you want to settle down so when the other offerings roll out, it will be more stable and functional.

BE: But what about the agents who would have preferred starting with an Internet-based application? Do they have to purchase new software with every phase?

HL: No, when we work with an MLS on a contract side there are a variety of ways to write a contract. Some say they don't want incremental charges going to the agents. Others share the cost of the server between the agents and the agent buys some connectivity pieces.

BE: What about speed and productivity? An Internet solution in Dallas is months away. They are just now in the rollout of MLS Windows.

HL: Right now there are 1,140 users on the MLS Windows system in Dallas. Any agent can get MLS Windows. They choose to activate that function for themselves, and that number is growing on a week to week basis.

Speed is a valid issue. System performance can be affected by the server itself - how it is designed and optimized. The third side is the client piece - the browser, PC Access.

"Where they (the agents) are seeing a slow down is not PC Access. We have to optimize the network and the load on the servers. In Dallas, we've added more telephone lines, another high speed bridge, two new processors, more hardware and are continuing to fine-tune the system as we monitor the load. Where we have put our time money and energy is in telecommunications.

BE: Here is a catalog of complaints about the Moore Maestro system in Dallas. Can we take them one at a time? Incorrect tax roll data - Your representative, Todd Colthorp chose to withhold information from the Dallas agents that tax roll information from neighboring Collin County had not been fixed, after announcing that the system was fine. He admitted to a angry group of agents and brokers that he should have let the agents know the tax problems had not been fixed, but elected not to. Is that the way to do business?

HL: There was an issue with the data in Collin County. One field was wrong - square footage, and we resolved that. We announced the data was clean. Another issue came up that Collin data was still not clean. We thought we may want to take it off the system, but let's determine if the data was inaccurate. The Collin board said the data was accurate because it came from the county. When we announced it, it was reconfirmed that it was good. It was very confusing. We do 400 counties across the U.S. so we are well aware of the importance of accurate information.

BE: Archives - Your rep said that failing to include archive data was "an oversight." What are you doing to fix the problem?

HL: I am going to cause a firestorm on this but it is not standard to bring archives over. The past history between old systems and new systems is very different. There is a high probability of different fields and a lot of duplication. In Dallas, you have two MLSs joining who had different ways of maintaining sold histories and bringing them together for a third new way was a challenge. They have to make some tradeoffs. You have to decide what fields do you want to bring over?

BE: Poor system design - School searches are one of the most popular means by which agents and consumers search for homes. Why does the agent have to key in the school, producing different results if they leave off part of the name? For example, if an agent keys in W.T. White High School, s/he will get one result. If s/he keys in White, s/he will get a completely different set of comps. Why didn't you design it with a pull-down menu so the search results are consistent?

HL: Schools are standardized functions. You have to do two different pieces, a consistent listing input and a search. They have to have a consistent pull down menu. If they key it in, the results could be different. Catch in the listing input and then you have to catch it on the search. One of the systems we designed had that requirement that listing/search data were the same.

What we have deployed is pull down menus, and the local boards have cleansed the school lists. We are implementing that step now, and we will lock those in.

BE: As a systems designer, couldn't you insist that the information be delivered a certain way?

HL: You have to go with what is the current system and unless you go in manually, you take the data as you get it and let it clean up over time.

BE: But aren't some of these "clean-ups" largely preventable?

HL: It isn't as preventable as it seems. You can't look at it record by record. What you suggested is currently happening. The only way school information can get in there now is to correspond to the table.

BE: Agents have complained of inadequate training. In your defense, training is something that is negotiable and NTREIS negotiated to have three hours of training on PC Access, and supplemental training to be done by the individual MLSs. Colthorp said that most of the shortcuts that make the system work faster are not given in the first three hours of training. In hindsight, would you have insisted that the agents get more training up front?

HL: We have found that three hours of initial training is all you will be able to use productively. Before Dec.1 you have to train 10,000 agents on how to use the system before the cutover. The agents won't use the system for several weeks depending on where you are. The retention has not been valuable. Once the agents are on the system, they can get familiar with it and they can always come back to follow up training.

Cape Cod
( MLS Conversion Nightmares Are Happening Nationwide )

BE: Some of the issues in Cape Cod are the same as Dallas, so let's just talk about the issues that are different. Cape Cod agents are complaining that the Realtor.com interface isn't ready. As a result, the MLS is using the old system to update Realtor.com. The problem is most agents aren't submitting their listings to the old system, only to the new one. So, what is being represented isn't the true and current picture of available properties. Why isn't the interface ready?

HL: Realtor.com is a standard interface, and the interface has been activated.

There is nothing inherent in our technology that prevent us from doing Realtor.com. Realtor.com takes information from most of our MLSs on a weekly basis. We have the capability to provide listing information hourly. Realtor.com can't take the information at that frequency. They have started moving some of their sites to a daily basis. One account wants to go more frequently but they aren't able to yet.

CyberHomes was built from the ground up to take information hourly.

BE: Some of the Cape Cod agents believe that they have a totally different system than the one what was presented at the demonstration. Who made the decision to change the system - was it Moore or the Board of Directors?

HL: Again, it was a phased solution. The phased approach perhaps wasn't clearly communicated. They have chosen Virtual MLS, a product similar to MLSWindows, and we showed them a demonstration of Virtual MLS. The only thing that is different is that we have improved it over time.

The infrastructure on the Cape is the problem. We had discussions over the telecommunications issue, of meeting dates of installations. When we ordered additional lines with double the lead times, we had no way of knowing that they (Bell Atlantic) would miss that deadline several times. I had six lines going into one area, and they found that there wasn't enough space on the plywood and now they have rescheduled the installation for three weeks later.

BE: Does Moore have an impossible task? You have tech-savvy agents on one hand demanding faster connectivity and applications and tech-phobic agents on the other. Do you feel you are pleasing no one by trying to please everyone?

HL: Where I get concerned is the view that Moore is behind the times. I have more agents connecting to the Internet than anybody else in today's environment. It is not a promise - we are already delivering. Where we may have an impossible task is that we are already designing systems that allow the technologically proficient agent to perform alongside the agent who does not want to use an advanced tool set. These agents can co-exist on the same system and the slower agent doesn't hold back the agent who wants to use technology.

That is today's technology environment. We give the agents a choice in tools and the speed in which they can migrate to those tools.

Editor's note: This story covers only a section of the Latham interview. Mr. Latham's views on XML technology and other topics will be presented in the future.

Related MLS News & Issues

Published: April 5, 1999

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