Tools of the trade

The effort to spread high technology throughout the multifamily industry has led to a number of recent team-ups and acquisitions of companies as well as new products and services that seek to take advantage of the increasing use of the Internet as the backbone of mission-critical business activities.

SettlementRoom, a provider of software for managing real estate transactions, announced an agreement with CRES Insurance Services to leverage the companies’ services. CRES will offer preferred errors-and-omissions insurance prices to users of SettlementRoom. SettlementRoom’s Web-based software is used by agents, brokers, agencies, title companies, lenders and builders.

For more information, go to www.settlementroom.com.

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Telkonet, Inc., based in Germantown, Md., announced that its Microwave Satellite Technologies, Inc. (MST), subsidiary had signed an agreement with EchoStar Communications Corp. and its DISH Network to offer all-digital satellite TV service. The new service will be provided under MST’s NuVisions brand and will make its debut in Trump Place in New York City. MST will then extend the service to other Trump properties in New York, as well as additional buildings in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and other major U.S. cities.

Residents of those buildings will be able to use the system to access voice, video (including high-definition television), high-speed Internet and Wi-Fi services. Customers will have single billing for all of the services. The system will use Telkonet’s broadband Internet service, which runs over existing electrical wiring.

For more information, go to www.telkonet.com.

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RealPage, Inc., unveiled new features in its OneSite Web-based software that integrates OneSite Accounting, OneSite Leasing & Rents, and OneSite Purchasing systems. OneSite Accounting includes general ledger, accounts payable, cash management and consolidation systems. The integration will allow users to drill down from Accounting’s general ledger bank deposit summaries, deposit details, and the resident accounting ledger or resident deposit ledger in OneSite Leasing & Rents (the central property management component of the OneSite software suite). Users can also access their accounting and operational information from the OneSite Purchasing purchase approval and control system.

RealPage also announced that it had integrated its OneSite Leasing & Rents Tax Credits – the version of its software for compliance monitoring and reporting for properties using low-income housing tax credits – with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. The integration will allow electronic submission of compliance reports to the state agency.

For more information, go to www.realpage.com.

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The Multifamily Information and Transactions Standards (MITS) initiative has released two new tools for firms that use the MITS standards in their technology. MITS is a set of voluntary data standards covering resident screening, property marketing, leasing, physical asset management, maintenance, and revenue and expenses. The first new tool, the Online Data Exchange Testing Tool, lets users test their software’s performance with the MITS data-transfer process. The second tool, the MITS Messaging Protocol, is a set of best practices for using the MITS standards to create data exchange processes. The MITS releases are the result of collaboration between many of the top firms in the apartment industry, including Equity Residential, Forest City Residential Management, Yardi Systems and RealPage. For more information, go to www.mitsproject.com.