MLS security fears are overblown

Submitted by Steve Byrd on June 13, 2008 - 7:47am.

Ron,

TEMPO 5 aside, you're naive as to how much cheating really goes on. You and your friends may be ethical users, but many are not, and in this down market, unethical people will find unethical ways to save money -- password sharing is one of the easiest.

In markets where these systems have been installed, membership has magically jumped by 10-15%. In your market, that's nearly 5,000 people! The MLS has to use the dues money it receives from members to purchase and maintain and support MLS systems. The more users, the more maintenance, support and bandwidth required. The illegal users getting a free ride cause an unnecessary strain on your resources that the rest of the honest members have to pay for.

So maybe you spend an extra minute a day or maybe (gasp) two logging in with your fob, is it really that big of a hassle?

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Submitted by Editor SDAR on June 19, 2008 - 4:44pm.

Submitted on behalf of Lori Staehling, 2008 SDAR President
This message was sent to SDAR Members

New San Diego MLS, Advancing Technology

In 1991, eleven Associations of REALTORS® in San Diego County worked together to help establish Sandicor to provide a single Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This single MLS has proven to be a valuable resource to real estate professionals and consumers.
Currently, Sandicor is owned by five Associations of REALTORS® serving San Diego County and the San Diego Association of REALTORS® (SDAR) is one of the five. In addition, Sandicor establishes various committees to review suggestions on rules, forms, fields, and other issues. Before any new technology or protocols are implemented they are reviewed and approved by various committees made up of members from each association.
Sandicor’s most recent system was Tempo 3, developed by MarketLinx, the leading provider of information technology to nearly 300,000 real estate professionals. Due to the continued development of new technology, Tempo 3 was at the end of its useful life; therefore Tempo 5 was created to meet the new technology demands of users and consumers. This new system, TEMPO 5, is being used by other associations throughout the country to the benefit of their respective users and consumers.
On May 27, 2008, Sandicor launched TEMPO 5 with additional fields and at the same time introduced SafeMLS; otherwise known as the key fob. Sandicor’s intention was to minimize disruptions with multiple changes by launching one major conversion with all new features. Although this upgrade presented some challenges, Sandicor is confident that TEMPO 5 will provide yet again a valuable resource and data security to real estate professionals and consumers.
“Safety and security will always be key factors in selecting or upgrading the MLS system,” says Lori Staehling, 2008 President of SDAR. “We are encouraging members to continue to report issues and concerns to make the system better. In fact, some additional fields have been put on hold based on user feedback. We realize there are growing pains to any new system or conversion, especially one of this magnitude. We are diligently working together with Sandicor and the other Associations to make TEMPO 5 work well so that members can continue to provide the best service to their clients,” said Staehling.
The following key factors are important to remember for a successful conversion to Tempo 5:
 Continuous training for MLS participants
 Feedback from MLS participants and
 Analysis and response to issues from Sandicor and MarketLinx
Benefits to the TEMPO 5 system are:

 Enhanced custom searches
 Mapping capabilities with driving directions
 Prospecting records
 Ability to create gateway web site
 Direct email link to listings

“We hope the above provides a more detailed explanation on the upgrade to TEMPO 5 and we appreciate everyone’s patience and willingness to work with their respective associations and Sandicor to ensure a successful conversion,” says Staehling.

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