Real Estate Agents Utilize Treo 600s

Posted By: Ryan Tuesday, November 9, 2004 3:10:12 PM

palmOne today announced that Pacific Union Real Estate, one of the best-known, high-end real estate firms in California, has initially deployed more than 70 Treo 600 smartphones to its agents and has plans to roll out Treo devices to an additional 50-plus agents set to come on board later this year.

The devices are used within the greater San Francisco Bay Area for remote access to real estate and client data. This move to Treo 600 smartphones can have a tremendous impact on the number of deals Pacific Union agents will be able to close, as well as improve their clients' level of satisfaction.

"Yesterday, as I toured at least 35 properties and had up to a dozen potential clients looking for properties, not only was I able to keep in touch via direct email but I had my entire contact and listing database with me on my Treo 600," said Bradford Whitaker, a broker for Pacific Union. "In addition to the contact information, each client has an entire profile entered into my Outlook, which is synchronized to my Treo 600. I no longer find myself making special trips back to the office to respond to email or voicemail. Using the Treo 600 smartphone allows me to service more clients at a higher quality level and a faster pace than ever before."

For 30 years, Pacific Union has been one of the most successful real estate firms in the San Francisco Bay Area. Pacific Union has 580 sales associates and since 2000 have helped 47,000 clients buy or sell their homes. In order to provide excellent customer service, the company's real estate professionals need immediate access to information and applications, including email. This presents a challenge since real estate work constantly requires sales associates to be out of the office. Pacific Union considered many options including Pocket PC-based and BlackBerry mobile solutions, but found they lacked adequate connectivity and synchronization for its needs.

The Treo 600 smartphone serves as a mobile office platform for Pacific Union's agents. For each agent, the Treo 600 acts as a gateway to vital back- office information and a connection point to clients and associates that was previously only available to them when they were in the office. Now that wireless connectivity is widespread, Pacific Union's agents can take full advantage of all that the Treo 600 smartphone has to offer, including phone; email; Internet; and access to the many applications realtors already use, such as mortgage calculators and MLS listings, while away from the office.

Other tools available on the Treo line of smartphones for realtors include maps and driving directions, which are key to finding new properties quickly and easily. Agents also can collect listing information and enter it into the Treo 600 in a fast and intuitive way, which is then synchronized to the central real estate database. For instance, realtors in the field can use applications to show clients monthly payment calculations for different interest rates, price, and down payment scenarios. In addition, the integrated camera on the Treo 600 is useful for attaching a client's photo to his or her contact information as well as for taking quick snapshots of the property a client might be interested in.

"Agents using the Treo 600 have a true competitive advantage, increasing their productivity and providing superior customer service. They gain hours in their day, avoiding unnecessary trips to the office to view MLS listings or access client records. They eliminate calculators, cameras, cumbersome area maps and other paper-based tools," said Gail Moody-Byrd, director of business marketing for palmOne. "Our research tells us roughly 40 percent of real estate agents use a handheld; palmOne is committed to working with leaders in the real estate industry such as Pacific Union to spread adoption of mobile solutions more broadly, raising the level of service available to home buyers and sellers."

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News?

Gekko @ 11/9/2004 6:28:03 PM #

70 Treos sell to a bunch of slimey real estate agents and this is news?

RE: News?

mikecane @ 11/9/2004 7:20:15 PM #

And they are all going to call YOU, too!

RE: News?

Hal2000 @ 11/9/2004 8:25:33 PM #

Call us when a company does 7000.

Zodiac2/T616
2.128 gigs under the hood.

RE: News?

rcartwright @ 11/9/2004 11:33:23 PM #

Hey, unloading a bunch of old product is not too bad.

"The Anglo-Saxon-Scots-Irish people are the most warlike people in history, and their enemies forget it at their peril. "

Let's be fair now

Strider_mt2k @ 11/10/2004 6:42:58 AM #

It did clearly say "More than 70".

Hey waitaminute, it also clearly said "Thousands of Colors" on my M130 too!

RE: News?

Gekko @ 11/10/2004 8:50:28 AM #

And in other news, MikeCon had a bowel movement this morning in the shape of the new Treo 650.

RE: News?

mikecane @ 11/10/2004 10:51:34 AM #

Gekko drags us down to the gutter again...

wow, that is what I call misery

orol @ 11/9/2004 10:49:17 PM #

to make a PR report after a company sells 70 cell phones. wow, palmOne is really heading down to the hill faster then I thought

nokia 9500 will outsell treo 600 in Q4 within one month after it will hit the market in december :)

palmone, what are you going yo offer us ? the loosly T5, Treo650 that still didn't hit the street, or treo 600 which is slowly phased out ? hm

over 1,5 year old clie UX50 is featurewise way better then any given present palmone product.

even TH55/E beats palnone products anytime ..

Super-Lawyer Geragos uses a Treo?

Gekko @ 11/10/2004 2:34:30 PM #

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2004/LAW/11/10/peterson.trial/top.main.geragos.tues.ap.jpg

Palm are targetting press releases to market segments.

Token User @ 11/10/2004 2:39:23 PM #

Palm have approached multiple industry market segments for "success" stories of using their products. This is just the latest.

Is 70 current users, with 50 coming, earth shattering news? No, but it does highlight use to people in their industries. Pacific Union are a major player in real estate in California - if you are a real estate agent, then yes, this is news.

~ "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed." - DV ~

RE: Treo real estate

Admin @ 11/17/2004 3:22:20 PM #

no matter what someone's going to complain :) its enjoyable sometimes.

But yes, that is why I posted this story. I like to point out real world uses of PDAs, especially how certain professionals can become much more productive with a handheld. In this case it is highlighting a single organization's successful deployment and trial, but yet still no wifi.

The Treo is an agents best friend

SSchmitz99 @ 11/17/2004 3:14:15 PM #

I have to agree that realtors can really take advantage of the capabilities of a Palm Powered phone line the Treo. We sell organizational software for realtors and have found quite a few realtors using these new smart phones.

For example, a realtor can show a buyer a home and while they are waking through it take a few quick photos with the Treo and e-mai them to the client. It's a great way to keep organized which house is which.

Scott Schmitz
RealOrganized, Inc.
Organizational Software for Real Estate