Agent Office releases “Personal Edition” Beta

Hi everyone!

You may have recently received an e-mail announcement from Emphasys regarding the “newest version of AgentOffice.”

Although the e-mail does mention that this new version is only for users of Outlook 2007 and for agents working alone (not on a team), I think it may create some confusion for those of you who are current AgentOffice owners/users.

What is going on?

Well, I am happy to say I had a long conversation with Mike Byrne with Emphasys who is in charge of the AgentOffice division a few weeks ago. He explained the strategy behind the new release and I will try to explain it to you in as few words as possible.

First of all, AgentOffice: Personal Edition is NOT an upgrade to the current AgentOffice, desktop program. Nor, is it a web-based version of the existing AgentOffice program.

AgentOffice: Personal Edition is a completely NEW program with virtually no relation to the old/existing program. Therefore, it does NOT convert your existing data.

Also, the announcement you received is to TEST the new beta (pre-release) version of the COMPLETELY NEW program. Frankly, it’s better to think of it as testing a completely new piece of software written and designed by a completely new team of programmers than to think of it as a new generation of AgentOffice.

This new program installs into Outlook 2007 and is not a stand-alone application. The only web aspect of the program is that it has the ability to upload your data (Backup) to be archived in the event of a catastrophic computer crash. The major benefit of this approach is that it will virtually eliminate the extremely difficult goal of seamlessly integrating your AgentOffice: Personal Edition data with your Smart Phone or PDA.

This is a “smart” move as it eliminates the need for Emphasys to have to write interfaces to all the existing PDA platforms and of course all the new ones that keep popping up. As every Smart Phone developer knows, they have to synchronize to Outlook or they’re toast. Also, this should eliminate many of the e-mail issues/limitations of the current AgentOffice/Outlook interface.

What does this mean?

As Mike Byrne and I both agree, the current platform that AgentOffice runs on is antiquated in its ability to grow especially as it pertains to the world of Web 2.0. Continuing to add more and more features to the current desktop application would be a move in the wrong direction. This new direction, that virtually “marries” AgentOffice to Outlook, is an interesting one and it is too soon to know if it is the correct one. I have seen it attempted before with limited success. I will say this: I think it is a far better approach than going to a purely web-based approach like Top Producer. If you know anything at all about me, I have a real problem with the limited functionality, speed and workflow of web applications and particularly dislike the loss of control of my own data that it requires.

What should you do?

Absolutely NOTHING. I have been reassured by Mike that Emphasys will continue to support the existing AgentOffice program as they have a HUGE user base that loves the program and relies on it daily to close more real estate transactions than just about anything else in the business. Also, this is a fragile time in the real estate business and as we enter Spring, this is worst time of the year to go switching databases.

AgentOffice: Personal Edition is a SINGLE-USER program so there is no opportunity for those of you who have a team or a personal assistant to even consider it. There is no sales module so you will have to sign up for another Emphasys product, Settlement Room, just to close your deals.

What’s the GOOD news?

Don’t get me wrong. It’s all good news. After two years of virtually no improvements to AgentOffice, it’s good to see that Emphasys is investing in a replacement for what has been an incredible program for over 15 years.

The previous owners of the program, Fidelity or FNRES did very little to improve the program and may have done more damage than good. This HAS to happen. But, for an existing AgentOffice user (especially a team) it is two steps backward.

AgentOffice: Personal Edition is laying the foundation for a future, multi-user platform that could be the next best thing in real estate, but it’s at least another year out. I really hope Emphasys can pull it off; that’s why I am beta testing it FOR YOU.

HOWEVER, if you are the adventurous type who loves to tinker around with software and want the chance to put your two cents in as the program develops, I say jump in and test drive AgentOffice: Personal Edition along with me. Just don’t plan on using it for your business.

HOWEVER, if you own AgentOffice, are a single agent (with no need for a partner or assistant) and have never really figured out how to use it (because you just won’t sit down and go through my step-by-step videos on AOexperts.com) you might want to jump in as well… As long as you don’t mind the occasional crash of Outlook that I seem to be getting since installing AgentOffice: Personal Edition! (I am not being critical of the program, this is to be expected when beta-testing ANY new software program).

Happy Computing!

Jim Casey