Property pictures on the go for agents

By RICHARD WOOD

Real-estate firm Barfoot & Thompson is having a second go at giving agents mobile data.

The new system uses handheld devices rather than laptops, which agents found took too long to start up and were clumsy.

Agents will be able to tap into the company's 8000-property internal database using colour Compaq Ipaq computers, and eventually will use combined PDAs and mobile phone devices.

IT manager Jonathan Hooper said the system was ready but had not gone live.

The company was waiting for the delayed CDMA 1x network, due in July. This would offer speeds of between 40 and 80 kilobits per second (Kbps) and allow pictures of property to show in less than a second. They currently take two to three seconds.

The devices can switch on instantly and use Citrix thin client software to download the data required. The data is not held on the device so is not vulnerable if the gear is lost or stolen.

It has been tested on Telecom's CDMA mobile data network at 14Kbps and Vodafone's GPRS at up to 48Kbps. Testing will begin on CDMA 1x in two weeks.

The Ipaqs can also be used for email and scheduling and are initially expected to be used by leading agents.

Hooper said the top-earning estate agents were more likely to be able to afford the expensive colour screen Ipaqs, and have their support staff arrange meetings and send messages to them electronically.

He hoped to have 50 agents using it. As mobile phones with PDA functionality got cheaper more agents would use the system.

Development work was done by Online Solutions, which handled B&T's regular database and internet offering. Hooper said the project was expected to cost $30,000.