New new things at Connect

San Francisco - Z57, a San Diego-based Internet services company today introduced a its new Web site software package, Agent Plus 4.0, which the company said was developed specifically for real estate practitioners, home buyers and sellers and real estate industry affiliates. The announcement was made at a press conference held as part of Inman News Features' Real Estate Connect conference being held here today through Friday.

Z57 President Steve Weber said the company's new software package features eight content management functions, 11 lead generation elements, a listings manager and a print flyer program, plus other functions. The product is IDX-compatible, and can be integrated with the Web sites that Z57 develops for real estate agents, brokers and brokerage companies. It also works for Virtual Office Web sites, Weber said.

Other announcements at the press conference included:

Redwood City, Calif.-based NextOwner announced the launch of Reach Each 1, an e-mail branding system designed to enable real estate agents to stay in touch with personal networks of clients and other agents. The product allows agents to create, edit and send seemingly personalized messages to large numbers of people without having to write each message individually, according to NextOwner CEO Lois Landau.

First American Real Estate unveiled a new version of its RealQuest.com product, which combines detailed property profiles, legal and vesting information, sales and financing information, document images, assessor maps, automated property valuation models, comparable sales analysis and street map images.

Lenders and appraisers can use RealQuest.com for borrower prequalification, loan underwriting, fraud detection and investigation, lien release information, property and ownership information and appraisal review, according to a company statement.

GE Interlogix President Greg Burge brought a collection of Supra keyboxes to the press conference and discussed the company's new keybox technology. The company has introduced the Supra iBox, which now has integrated infrared technology for accessing keyboxes on for-sale homes.

Burge said the iBox allows agents the option of using common architecture personal digital assistance platforms such as Palm OS-compatible devices to open the new keyboxes. He said a list of such devices that currently are compatible with the iBox will be posted on Supra's Web site in early October and that iBox will be compatible with Microsoft CE devices next year, even though only a small percentage of real estate practitioners utilize such devices.

Also announced was DataQuick's migration of its PropertyFinder service to the Microsoft.Net platform. The move aims to give mid- to large-sized customers the opportunity to private-brand the product into their own applications. DataQuick is a provider of U.S. property information.

OnStaff President Jeffrey Evans announced the company is introducing a staffing vendor management system called Staff Q.

Burbank, Calif-based Staff Q provides brokerage companies with a computerized system to track and manage their temporary employees and permanent workforce, Evans said. The system will encompass the entire staffing process from applicant screening to invoicing and will be available on the Internet.