2006: The Year in Review
Monday 08 January 2007
E-Billing and Online Payment Proved a Great Success
We are dedicated to constantly improving our services and the value of the tools we provide, and in 2006, we made major enhancements in both areas. We instituted E-billing, introduced anti-fine features, rolled out value-added features, and were still able to offer rebates and incentives to our subscribers.
E-Billing Proved a Great Success
We started 2006 after a successful first attempt at instituting an electronic billing and online payment initiative. Nearly 23,000 subscribers--almost 90%--received their E-Bill (and a final traditional paper invoice) and paid online in December, 2005.
Then in May, 2006 MFRMLS cut out the paper altogether and conducted its first exclusively electronic billing cycle. Online payers received a significant online payment discount. E-Billing and online payments were designed to reduce operating costs, allowing us to fund the rich resources that make the MLS a valuable tool for your business.
Fine Reduction Features
It’s important to all subscribers that MFRMLS provides reliable, accurate listing data. Fines help reduce violations, but fines are no fun for our subscribers and they are no fun for MFRMLS. In an effort to reduce fines, features such as Compensation pop-ups and Tax Autopop were developed, and a new Photo Policy eliminating multiple fines was instituted.
With the new policy, listings fined for not having a photo default to "Association Loaded" to avoid subsequent fines.
Compensation Pop-Up
The compensation pop-up was introduced as a reminder to include compensation in the correct format: dollar amount and/or percentage of sales price. This helped reduce fines for our subscribers.
Tax Autopop
Tax Autopop is a valuable feature that reminds you of proper formatting of Tax ID’s, which enables you to link directly to county tax records, and automatically fills out several of the required listing fields, including Legal Description.
New Photo Policy – No More Multiple Fines
Most MFRMLS subscribers understand that a listing without a photo is subject to a fine. You can indicate on a new listing whether the photo will be Broker Loaded or Association Loaded. If you choose the latter, the MLS will take the photo and load it for you within the grace period. Subscribers who chose "Broker Loaded" and fail to load a picture within 7 business days face a fine as before—but under the new policy, once the fine is levied, the property will default to "Association Loaded" and an MFRMLS photographer will load the image. This new policy eliminates all multiple photo violations for individual listings.
Value-Added Features
Most subscribers are not fully aware of all the value-added features included with their MFRMLS membership. In 2006, the following four features were added.
Rateplug
In September, MFRMLS subscribers became able to include mortgage rate quotes from up to three preferred lenders when E-mailing listings to clients. The lenders loved the increased visibility, and the clients enjoyed having customized payment estimates based on current interest rates, asking price, property taxes, and insurance.
Supra KeyBox Integration with MLXchange
MFRMLS provided access to the Supra KeyBox technology from MLXchange, allowing you to display KeyBox settings, Make KeyBox assignments, and display KeyBox showing activity reports without leaving MLXchange. This allows MLXchange to continue to be the hub for all your real estate activities.
ShowingTime Improves
ShowingTime is a wonderful tool that allows instant access to showing instructions without picking up the phone. It also allows you to request showing instructions online. Now it’s even easier to use ShowingTime, because it’s included as an option in the “Showing Instructions” field’s drop-down menu.
MFR Secure - Phase II
Phase II of the MFR Secure program more fully realized the potential of the security provided by the Loginkey ™ . This initiative, including concurrent login limitations, inactivity time-outs, and general session timeouts, was designed to prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to the valuable information contained in your MLS – private information you pay for.
Incentives and Rebates
Even with all the new features and services, the Board of Directors authorized subscribers who paid online and on-time to receive up to $100 in incentives and rebates, based on when they last paid Participation Fees.