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Tech Advice High-Tech Broker vs. Traditional Broker—Is There a Difference? Incorporate Technology Upgrades in your 2004 Goals NAR CONVENTION EXHIBITS NEW HI-TECH REAL ESTATE TOOLS How to Maintain an Effective Database FINALLY A TRUE WIRELESS HEADSET FOR YOUR MOBILE PHONE FINALLY A CORDLESS BUSINESS PHONE THAT WORKS That Perfect Ad-On to Your Cell Phone "Text Messaging" Tablet PC’s and Real Estate- a Fit? Palm Application Accessories Worth the Look Real Estate Agent: Magic Words 'Quality for Cheap' New Low Priced Printers Worth It Cell Phones Attempting to be Computers, is it Time to Buy Yet? GPS Devices a Nice Fit for Real Estate Needs Remember Your Virus Protection
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High-Tech Broker vs. Traditional Broker—Is There a Difference?
By: Hans Hansson – Starboard TCN Worldwide Real Estate
April 1, 2004
Those of us who have been successful in real estate know that to be successful in the long run, we must service the client to our highest capability. Today, real estate agents have many electronic tools at their fingertips. Can a traditional agent who chooses to limit knowledge and use of these tools in favor of continuing to perform personal service and contacts be competitive with agents who have incorporated electronic tools to provide service to clients?
The answer is no—today’s high-tech agent has numerous advantages over the traditional broker.
High-tech agents have greater access to information. An agent using a personal data assistant (PDA) to its full potential can access an entire database of clients, including notes on every deal, with the click of a button. A traditional broker using a Franklin day timer cannot access this information easily. With products such as co-star and loopnet, plus the ability to connect to company servers from home or via a laptop or PDA, an agent can find information on a particular property, news of the industry, and market trends in seconds.
High-tech brokers can stay more current on market trends and daily news that could affect a particular client or landlord. They can direct their clients to online resources that could make their clients more willing to close a transaction faster.
High-tech agents can hunt for property and tenant opportunities using the Internet. A traditional broker must drive around looking for properties to meet a client’s needs, but a broker using the Internet can help clients discover that “hard to find property” in a more timely manner.
High-tech agents can stay in touch with their clients 24 hours a day, 7 day a week, by providing access to their clients through extranet and intranet services. They can deliver digital photos and video tours of buildings within minutes to every decision maker in the process.
Is there a difference? You bet! If you or your agents are still fighting change and resisting incorporating these tools into your everyday business life, you will find your production fading. Soon you will find yourself unable to compete in the rapidly changing reality of modern real estate.
If you have any questions or comments please reply to:
hans@starboardnet.com or 415.765.6897
Hans Hansson-President, Starboard Commercial Real Estate - TCN Worldwide. Ranked as the 8th largest real estate organization in the world.
www.starboardnet.com www.tcnworldwide.com
Incorporate Technology Upgrades in your 2004 Goals
By: Hans Hansson – Starboard TCN Worldwide Real Estate
February 12, 2004
Every successful person establishes their goals at the beginning of the year and creates a blueprint on how to achieve them. What most people do not do is look at technology upgrades at the beginning of the year that will allow them to achieve their goals more effectively.
Over the past year, I have written articles introducing you to a wide variety of technology tools to improve your day-to-day production as a real estate agent. This article will deal with a step-by-step incorporation of these tools into your 2004 goals.
In order to produce a plan for 2004 you not only need a written plan stating your goals, you also need a way to track these goals on a regular basis. A highly effective tool is createaplan.com. Although designed for residential agents, it can easily be manipulated to fit our commercial business. This program allows agents to create their business “pillars” and then track their results so that an agent always knows what needs to be accomplished or improved upon to achieve their eventual goals.
Once you have a plan of building your business you need to look to technology to make each pillar more efficient. First, look at your current desktop or laptop computer. If your computer is more than three years old it is obsolete. With prices so cheap for new computers it is simply not worth it to upgrade existing equipment. Next, is your printer. New printers today are capable of printing almost perfect color pictures at speeds that make multiple copying on a desktop printer worthwhile. Also, new printers are more “ink efficient” cutting down costs per page printed.
Once you have your office in order, look at the tools available to improve your presentations. First, you need a good digital camera. Today for under $400.00 you can buy an excellent digital camera at 4 pixels or better that is so slim that they can fit in your suit pocket without creating a “bulge”. Next, look at software applications that can enhance your picture taking into solid presentations of potential properties. Eyecron.com offers the ability to take your photos and add voice to create a voice-over slide presentation that can match a movie clip.
Finally, look at what you are using to keep yourself organized everyday. If you are still using a day timer and have not switched to an electronic organizer, you are not capable of doing the same things to keep yourself organized as the people that do. Simply the act of keeping your to-do’s organized electronically makes this purchase worthwhile. There is no way that you can move your to-do list or appointments or carry around your important files in a Franklin organizer.
I have my entire ACT database in my Palm which is broken down into my new clients, old clients, as well as all of the major firms in my city.
Upgrading can be costly but not upgrading can cost you a lot more in lost production time. At the income levels that a commercial real estate agent should be thriving for, it is a “no brainer” to consider your technology needs as high as the rest of your goal making pillars.
If you have any questions or comments please reply to:
hans@starboardnet.com or 415.765.6897
Hans Hansson-President, Starboard Commercial Real Estate - TCN Worldwide. Ranked as the 8th largest real estate organization in the world.
www.starboardnet.com www.tcnworldwide.com
NAR CONVENTION EXHIBITS NEW HI-TECH REAL ESTATE TOOLS
By: Hans Hansson – Starboard TCN Worldwide Real Estate
December 4, 2003
At the National Association of Realtors Convention in San Francisco last month, new hi-tech tools and gadgets were on display. Unfortunately, the event, along with the tools and gadgets exhibited, were aimed mainly at the residential real estate industry. However, commercial real estate brokers could also use some of these tools.
The tablet PC may eventually become a core tool for brokers. As it becomes thinner and more lightweight, the tablet PC will be ideal for quickly creating tours and gaining virtual access to the office. The device is equipped with 3D and GPS, offering the capability to zoom in on any building in the United States. Users are also able to view the surroundings, along with demographics, crime statistics, parking surveys, recent sales comparisons and much more. Tablet PCs also have touch screens, offering additional convenience.
Database management programs have expanded to include full development tools in addition to databases. These tools create virtual tours, tour packages, and buyer and seller presentations within a client file. One of the best programs at the convention was Top Producers (topproducer.com.) Although this tool is oriented toward residential real estate brokers, most aspects of this program can easily been adopted by commercial real estate agents.
Another great program, which I plan to use for my own goal planning, is Create a Plan (createaplan.com.) This web-based planning program guides the user through their goals, projects expenses to achieve those goals, identifies the pillars of business to address and offers an easy update feature to track your results. The program includes a manager’s report, allowing the user to review agent’s individual results against their goals and to track multi-agents at once with reports that are easy to read.
Many marketing companies oriented towards real estate were present at the event. One of the best of these is Hobbs Herder Advertising (hobbsherder.com). This firm specializes in training agents how to market themselves and how to acquire reliable tools to develop constant business.
The tools readily available for the residential real estate industry compared to the lack of similar tools for commercial real estate agents suggest that the industry has look outside of the box. It should also consider adapting some of these great tools to keep up. The tools will help our agents and brokerage companies become far more efficient and productive businesses.
If you have any questions or comments please reply to:
hans@starboardnet.com or 415.765.6897
Hans Hansson-President, Starboard Commercial Real Estate - TCN Worldwide. Ranked as the 8th largest real estate organization in the world.
www.starboardnet.com www.tcnworldwide.com
How to Maintain an Effective Database
By: Hans Hansson – Starboard TCN Worldwide Real Estate
November 6, 2003
As both real estate manager and broker, I know the difficulties involved in finding the best way to keep a current, accurate database. Over the years, my firm attempted to have the brokers all use the same database. We thought this would give us a number of advantages over our competition. One advantage was a cleaner database. Also, we wanted to eliminate the “shark” aspect of brokerage firms by ensuring the same access to files for everyone. Brokers would know who was working on existing deals and avoid calling on another broker’s client.
However, brokers don’t operate this way. The many different database applications available, including Outlook, Access, Act and Goldmine, offer every agent the ability to manage their own database. Agents just don’t want to share their data. Neither do they want their prospects revealed to other agents in the office.
As a result, brokerage companies have a major dilemma: how to provide good data to their agents and the resultant costs of not providing this data. A mailer now costs, on average, about $1. If they are sent with inaccurate mailing addresses, the costs add up quickly. Each wrong address is one less opportunity to receive new business. Also, without a way to effectively update an existing database, the current database will quickly become outdated. But when a new database is purchased, how are the existing files updated without duplication?
Starboard may have found the answer. Recently, we purchased the Dunn and Bradstreet database for our market area. We also purchased monthly updates to keep the database updated with guaranteed 93% effectiveness. In addition, our agents have access to the updated files each month, so they can maintain their databases their own way. This keeps a clean database by which mailing campaigns can be created so our agents can control costs. At the same time, it gives agents accurate data with which they can update their databases.
We control the database for mailing functions; yet provide current, accurate data for cold calling. In doing so, we have effectively cut down on the waste of inaccurate mailing data and increased our chances for new business for our agents.
If you have any questions or comments please reply to:
hans@starboardnet.com or 415.765.6897
Hans Hansson-President, Starboard Commercial Real Estate - TCN Worldwide. Ranked as the 8th largest real estate organization in the world.
www.starboardnet.com www.tcnworldwide.com
FINALLY A TRUE WIRELESS HEADSET FOR YOUR MOBILE PHONE
By: Hans Hansson – Starboard TCN Worldwide Real Estate
March 27, 2002
How many times have you wrapped yourself in your phone cord as you were opening up your mobile phone? Or, how many times have you searched around your neck for your headset and missed your call? Finally, there is a solution.
Jabra’s Free Speak Headset offers a truly hands-free, cord-free headset. It works up to 30 feet away from the phone. Weighing less than one ounce, this unit conveniently fits on your ear and connects to your phone without a cord, period!
What was particularly impressive was the clarity of the connection. Over time it seems like everyone starts complaining that they can’t hear you on a regular headset. This system has easy to use voice controls, and allows for a variety of pick up call options including automatic pick up with a touch of a button.
On sale at Amazon for $135.00
If you have any questions or comments please reply to:
hans@starboardnet.com or 415.765.6897
Hans Hansson-President, Starboard Commercial Real Estate - TCN Worldwide. Ranked as the 8th largest real estate organization in the world.
www.starboardnet.com www.tcnworldwide.com
FINALLY A CORDLESS BUSINESS PHONE THAT WORKS
By: Hans Hansson – Starboard TCN Worldwide Real Estate
March 27, 2002
Finding a cordless business phone that you can walk around the office
with may seem easy to find, but for one reason or another there always
seems to be something wrong. With past model phones either the physical phone is too bulky, the headsets are too big or they only come in a 900 GHz model, which loses reception when you move to the end of the office. Finally a true cordless phone has arrived.
Uniden’s TRUc46 Neo Cordless Phone is a powerful 2.4 GHz model that fits in your shirt pocket or on your belt clip. Its powerful features includes:
Displays that show the name and number of the caller in call waiting even while you are on the phone ~ 100 Dynamic CID/Memory Locations ~ 10 Two-Touch Speed Dial Locations ~ 2 Headsets Included ~ One Touch RocketDial ~ Voice Mail Waiting Indication ~ Distinctive Ring ~ 4 Melody Ring Tones & 6 Ring Tones ~ Vibrate Ring ~ Headset Jack ~ Belt Clip Included ~ Trilingual Menus ~ Large 3 Line Backlit LCD Display
Selling for $90.00 at office depot this unit is sure to make your phone life easier to manage.
If you have any questions or comments please reply to:
hans@starboardnet.com or 415.765.6897
Hans Hansson-President, Starboard Commercial Real Estate - TCN Worldwide. Ranked as the 8th largest real estate organization in the world.
www.starboardnet.com www.tcnworldwide.com
That Perfect Ad-On to Your Cell Phone “Text Messaging”
By: Hans Hansson – Starboard TCN Worldwide Real Estate
Febuary 27, 2002
As a real estate agent that is constantly unemployed at the conclusion of any deal, I am sure that you have wrestled with the question, should I answer my cell phone as soon as it rings, whether I am at a meeting, conducting a tour or in heavy lease negotiations? That call could be important, it could be regarding a deal that is in trouble and needs your attention now.
But are you giving your full attention to your business at hand when the phone rings? How do you think your client feels when you are constantly answering the phone in mid- sentence? The answer to this problem is Text Messaging.
Text Messaging is an email message to your phone. All phone services now provide it. It is similar to an instant messaging service. Anyone that has your email address can simply send you an email message that will show up on your phone. This can provide you with immediate news, while avoiding answering a phone and starting to talk while you are conducting business.
I give my Text Message address to my staff and my immediate clients. They know that they can email me a quick message. Text Messaging on most phones ring differently than a regular phone call so you know that a Text Message has arrived. Instead of answering your cell phone you can quickly read the message and then make a determination of what to do next without interrupting whatever business you are involved in at the time. Text Messaging can be set up with quick key responses such as yes and no, so that the sender can be immediately notified back.
There are a number of ways to use this service to improve your efficiency. My assistant, who answers my phone when I am out of the office, will send me messages that includes who calls and for what. I, in turn, can make return calls as I am heading to the office. My staff can text me when there is an urgent need that has to be immediately taken care of and my family knows they can text me in an emergency. I no longer answer my cell phone when I am with another person. Recently, my son was involved in a serious car accident. My wife text me the emergency message and I was able to respond immediately.
This is one accessory that will become an integral part of your day-to-day operations the day that you begin using this service.
If you have any questions or comments please reply to:
hans@starboardnet.com or 415.765.6897
Hans Hansson-President, Starboard Commercial Real Estate - TCN Worldwide. Ranked as the 8th largest real estate organization in the world.
www.starboardnet.com www.tcnworldwide.com
Tablet PC’s and Real Estate- a Fit?
By: Hans Hansson – Starboard TCN Worldwide Real Estate
January 23, 2002
Imagine a machine that combines the writing power of a PDA, the mobility of a laptop and the stability of a desktop all in one. That is what manufacturers are hoping the consumer will believe as a wave of new machines called Tablet PC’s begins to enter the market in a big way.
The first theory is that we would accept the replacement of a keyboard with a pen. This has been tried unsuccessfully before with machines such as the Apple Newton and Apple Emate machines. This time it is Microsoft’s turn to find that magical combination in a machine that will have consumers flooding the market to buy.
These first generation machines are not perfect. They are slower then most laptops and desktops; and, the handwriting recognition software takes time for the machines to learn your style and is not 100% accurate. However, new second generation products and applications are already under development and PC manufacturers are predicting a market size of 1.5 million by the year 2005. Fujitsu, HP, Acer and Toshiba currently all have these machines entering the marketplace. These machines offer folding keyboards and docking stations to convert these machines to laptops and desktops. All machines are running on a Tablet PC version of Windows XP. Prices range from $1,600 on up.
The question for real estate professionals is whether these machines offer any new tools that will entice us to buy these machines? The answer today for me is no.
The ultimate mobile product is to have one machine that we can carry with us that serves as our phone and our computer. Phone companies and PDA manufacturers are coming out with new generation machines that are coming close to offering these tools in one machine that can slip into your shirt pocket. So what else can a Tablet PC offer me that would again force me to carry a machine?
My current Palm PDA offers a color screen, handwriting recognition, access to see and edit word, excel, power point, PDF files and even read books. I can receive text and email messages on my phone, which will soon be able to wirelessly send these same email messages to my palm for better viewing. I rarely use my laptop anymore except to make presentations, but in most cases I can bring a CD to a meeting and use my client’s machine for that. I am now accustomed to a large 17-inch flat screen monitor for my desktop so I certainly do not look forward to viewing documents on a smaller screen just to have a Tablet PC.
The idea of showing property on a Tablet in front of my client or reviewing proposals and other documents would be interesting, but I don’t see all of us running out to buy these machines because of it.
The fact of the matter is that size does matter when it comes to mobile machines. They have to be smaller and thinner not bigger and thicker. We shall see what temptations these machines will offer me to change my mind in the future.
If you have any questions or comments please reply to:
hans@starboardnet.com or 415.765.6897
Hans Hansson-President, Starboard Commercial Real Estate - TCN Worldwide. Ranked as the 8th largest real estate organization in the world.
www.starboardnet.com www.tcnworldwide.com
Palm Application Accessories Worth the Look
By: Hans Hansson – Starboard TCN Worldwide Real Estate
December 19, 2002
The Palm operating system remains a very simple yet versatile organizing system. However, there are literally hundreds of additional programs available that can enhance your Palm experience for both business and pleasure. PalmSource.com and PalmGear.com are two site locations that offer extended searches on a wide variety of these applications. Anything from spreadsheets to keeping baseball scores are available on these sites.
Two sites, Standalone.com and Handshigh.com offer some very exciting tools to support our real estate business. The first program is Date Man, which would replace your built-in date book. With this application you can mark any day on the calendar with appointments, events, to-do tasks or journal entries. With its numerous view features, you can view by the day, week or month. It also allows all of these functions to show on one screen so that you can easily view appointments and your to-do list in order of importance.
The second program is called Super Names, which would replace your address book. This program gives you more detailed information per name. Allowing you to add more telephone numbers, email addresses and important information in a notepad that is attached to each name.
The third program is called Call Tracker. This program manages your calls. It allows you to track and log calls coming in and going out and schedule new calls. You can also add existing calls and even relocate them all in your Date Book. This is probably the most important program I use in real estate. It allows me to see who called first and prioritize my calls better by seeing all of my calls in one view screen and date stamped to know when they called.
The final program found at Handshigh.com is called Slap. This program allows you to quickly convert notes into appointments, address book entries, memos and tasks. With a process called Thought Manager, adding new ideas and helping to better prioritize your day, on-going projects, managing and tracking results will become much easier.
With PDA’s going to more color units, most of these programs are “color supported” which offers the user a very appealing view screen for each of these applications. Like any software applications, these programs are evolving with new updates all the time, so visit these sites often to see “what’s new”. The potential for these types of programs to improve the organization of your day is improving all the time.
If you have any questions or comments please reply to:
hans@starboardnet.com or 415.765.6897
Hans Hansson-President, Starboard Commercial Real Estate - TCN Worldwide. Ranked as the 8th largest real estate organization in the world.
www.starboardnet.com www.tcnworldwide.com
Real Estate Agent’s Magic Words “Quality for Cheap” New Low Priced Printers Worth It
By: Hans Hansson – Starboard TCN Worldwide Real Estate
October 24, 2002
It had been three years since I bought my last personal printer for my office. With larger faster printers available and networked throughout the office, my Epson 600 printer was really used. This week, I found myself without my assistant and had to do my own printing jobs. Of course, my printer would not work and I was forced to replace it immediately.
The advantage or “disadvantage” to my office location is that I have a Comp USA store directly across the street. This is great for problems like this, but not great for my “impulse buying” habits.
I was absolutely surprised at the low cost of printers today. The same entry level Epson machine I bought three years ago for $179.00 now costs $79.00 (Epson Photo 780). Now I understand why the national inflationary index continues to be so low even in the face of higher energy costs, etc…prices for computers and accessories have just “caved”.
Today, printers for under $250.00 can print high quality individual 4X5 photos. The quality is so good that you cannot tell the difference between these print jobs and a regular film print. The Epson Stylus Photo 925 can print borderless six color printing jobs on 8 by 11 paper. Resolution ranges from 2880x720 dpi for cheaper machines under $100.00 to 5760x720 dpi for the Epson Photo 925 for under $250.00.
The three machines I would recommend are the Epson Stylus Photo 925 ($250.00), the HP Photo smart 130 ($179.00) and the Canon S520 ($149.00). These machines all offer photo printing and up to 16 pages of black and white printing per minute. They all offer a software package that allows you to create photo albums and some basic photo editing. All three units have input trays that hold 100 sheets of plain paper. They also can print two-sided prints, posters, envelopes and transparencies.
These machines are not meant for heavy use. Printing cartridges are expensive. Depending on the model, black-ink costs around 4 cents a page vs color at 27 cents a page. This is certainly a lot cheaper than using a copy store for printing needs.
For real estate agents, these machines present a quick and affordable solution for photo tours that can either be printed, or by using “stock” photo editing. can be emailed as photo albums or as a web page.
These machines also offer such good quality and speed that you can become more efficient by simply printing to a machine that is in your office or workstation rather than have to walk to a company printer that may be in use by another party.
If you have any questions or comments please reply to:
hans@starboardnet.com or 415.765.6897
Hans Hansson-President, Starboard Commercial Real Estate - TCN Worldwide. Ranked as the 8th largest real estate organization in the world.
www.starboardnet.com www.tcnworldwide.com
Cell Phones Attempting to be Computers, is it Time to Buy Yet?
By: Hans Hansson – Starboard TCN Worldwide Real Estate
September 13, 2002
Just about every “techie” has been waiting for the new generation of devices that will allow a person to carry only one device that would incorporate their cell phone and the pocket organizer and have access to the web and email. We want a device that is slim enough to carry in our shirt pocket yet large enough to actually see what is on the screen. Two new products attempt to do just that. T-Mobile has introduced their new product called the T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition. This is the first truly integrated Pocket PC/phone combo based upon a Compaq IPAQ platform. Sprint has introduced the New Handspring Treo 300, which integrates a color Palm OS organizer, and their PCS phone into a very versatile productive tool. Both machines work on GSM networks, which allows use in European countries and with an additional add-on in Asia.
Both of these units provide two very different ways of accomplishing the same thing. The T-Mobile unit is designed with two convenient one-touch access buttons that are conveniently located at the base of the screen. One icon allows you to use the unit as a phone while another button allows you to use the unit as a record memo device. With the addition of Microsoft’s Pocket PC the phone accesses web and email functions integrating the units phone capabilities with ease. Sprints Treo 300 uses a thumb keyboard, along with a stylus pen for accessing functions. Unlike the T-Mobile model, where there are limited third party applications to choose from, the Treo allows you to install almost all color enabled applications to suit your very need with a simply push of a button.
The biggest negative to both machines and services is the access speed to the Internet; these units are still slower on a cell phone then a normal computer dial-up. Waiting for the information to come up while viewing such a small screen, I quickly lostinterest. Viewing email is also a problem. Skipping through spam mail to get to what you want to really read is again slow and cumbersome. Opening up attachments is either not available or again slow and hard to read. Personally, until voice recognition is introduced to these types of machines with higher speed access, I believe incorporating full use of the Internet in a device that you can carry on your “person” is not here yet.
If you have any questions or comments please reply to:
hans@starboardnet.com or 415.765.6897
Hans Hansson-President, Starboard Commercial Real Estate - TCN Worldwide. Ranked as the 8th largest real estate organization in the world.
www.starboardnet.com www.tcnworldwide.com
GPS Devices a Nice Fit for Real Estate Needs
By: Hans Hansson – Starboard TCN Worldwide Real Estate
August 22, 2002
Since as early as 1989, global positioning devices have been available in a variety of forms. Unfortunately, a number of the early products were simply too cumbersome to use, as well as, too expensive for the market at large. Today, there are a number of devices and services that are worth a look.
As a “born and raised” San Francisco real estate broker I have always prided myself on the fact that I know how to find any street in the city. You take me out of the city boundaries I know general streets and will eventually find my way. You take me to the surrounding counties I would know certain streets and landmarks but would certainly need assistance to find a particular location. GPS devices change all of that.
I recently purchased a new automobile with the On-Star system. On-Star is so simple and reliable that anyone will find it useful the first time you use it. You simply press a button and wait for an On-Star representative to come on the line. You can ask them directions to a specific address, a specific business, hotel, store, etc. Since they know exactly where you are, they personally stay on the line guiding you to your destination. If you lock your keys in the car, you can call On-Star and they can automatically open your doors for you. If your car is stolen, On-Star can track its location for the police. Other services provided include a satellite phone service, concierge service and emergency roadside assistance. Prices vary depending on what features you choose but the range is between $500 and $800 per year.
GPS devices can now be added to your PDA devices, as well as purchased as add-ons to your vehicles. Garmin (http://www.garmin.com) offers some excellent choices including their Street Pilot III GPS device. This vehicle navigation system offers turn by turn text and voice guided directions making driving in un-chartered locations a breeze. If you make a mistake and make a wrong turn, this device automatically plots new directions to get you back on your way.
Rand McNally has an excellent GPS device for your palm pilot. Maps and directions are easy to use even on such a small viewing device as a Palm.
It is also a great equalizer tool for newer real estate agents that may not yet be totally familiar with getting around their marketplace. Check it out.
If you have any questions or comments please reply to:
hans@starboardnet.com or 415.765.6897
Hans Hansson-President, Starboard Commercial Real Estate - TCN Worldwide. Ranked as the 8th largest real estate organization in the world.
www.starboardnet.com www.tcnworldwide.com
Remember Your Virus Protection
By: Hans Hansson – Starboard TCN Worldwide Real Estate
June 20, 2002
How serious is a virus to your system and to others it may infect? So serious that it could wipe out your email service and worse: your hard drive. Today, viruses and worms come to us through Internet web pages, downloaded zip files and through email. If you do not have scanning virus protection software running to remove these “creatures” from your computer, you risk destroying valuable information and services to yourself and others.
What is the best virus protection software to buy? There are a number of good choices but Norton Anti-Virus and McAfee Virus Scan stand out as probably the best for ease of use and installation. Prices range between $35-$40 for basic programs. Each service provides free updates for a period of time and then you are asked to update your subscription for a small fee. These programs are not perfect. Some viruses will go undetected, while some products do not actually kill a particular virus but quarantines it.
Some basic things that I have learned the hard way: First, depending on the age of your virus program and operating system, if you leave your machine on all the time and do not reboot occasionally, your virus protection software updating system may not update itself. This will leave you vulnerable to new viruses not previously known to your virus protection software. Second, virus updates could show up on your screen while you are working on something important. Do not make the mistake of canceling out of updates. You will most certainly forget to go back to update and then you risk infecting yourself with the latest and greatest virus or worm of the week.
One of the things we have been wrestling with is putting virus protection software on the network and passing out protection and updates through our main system. Right now we have installed individual virus protection on all our agents machines and updated subscriptions manually. Network virus protection software is not cheap… it runs over $1,000 and it is not perfect. Our agents run on different platforms from Windows 98, Windows XP to Mac OsX, and we have found compatibility issues with the network virus protection software and cannot support everyone equally. By taking the responsibility to update each machine in the office, we are at least controlling that every agent’s machine has active virus protection software and is being updated regularly.
If you have any questions or comments please reply to:
hans@starboardnet.com or 415.765.6897
Hans Hansson-President, Starboard Commercial Real Estate - TCN Worldwide. Ranked as the 8th largest real estate organization in the world.
www.starboardnet.com www.tcnworldwide.com