Back to Basics

Getting all Realtors^® to the Internet in 1999 is a huge task, and leadership understands that unless the members receive worthwhile benefits such as saving time, saving money and increasing revenues from being online, it simply won't happen. Since E-mail is the most potentially productive source of these benefits, it makes sense to focus upon it as the basic entry point to getting connected to the Internet.

The first step is to understand the terminology so that you know what is needed. Most, if not all, of the REALTORSÒ reading this article are already connected to the MLS via computer, and have hands-on experience with that connection. In Houston, Interealty is the provider of the service that enables us to connect with the MLS computer. We could call Interealty our "MSP," short for MLS Service Provider. Interealty furnishes us with a telephone number for our computers to call in order to connect with the Interealty computer in Vienna, Virginia that contains the Houston MLS database.

In exactly the same manner, an "ISP" (short for "Internet Service Provider") is a company that provides a telephone number for your computer to call in order to connect with the ISP's computer. They generally refer to this as a "Direct Dial-up" or simply "Dial-up" account (the technical term is "PPP/SLIP" account). The difference is that the ISP's computer is connected to all the other computers on the Internet instead of the Interealty computer in Vienna. PDQ is an example of an ISP and it is the one that HAR recommends as having the best service at the best price.

Back to the MLS: Once connected to Interealty, nothing would happen if we didn't have a computer program (generally called a "software application") that could communicate with the Interealty computer. This communication process simply converts computer language into an understandable format we can read (data) or view (images). Stellar, StellarView for Windows and Altaira are examples of Interealty software applications that perform this function.

Likewise, if you dialed an ISP's number and connected to its computer nothing would happen unless you also ran a software application capable of communicating with that computer and all the other computers on the Internet. The software that enables us to view Internet sites such as HAR's (www.har.com) is generally called "browser" software since it is designed to facilitate "browsing" through various Internet sites. Netscape and Microsoft's Internet Explorer are examples of browser software.

Back to the MLS: When connected to the MLS, one of the options on the main menu is "Mail." The user can send and receive messages to and from other MLS users. This is an example of "E-mail" or "Electronic Mail." Interealty's software has this e-mail capability built in.

Browsers also have E-mail programs included in the software application. The main difference between browser-included e-mail programs and MLS e-mail is that the browser e-mail can connect the user to anyone else in the world. It also allows the user to send and receive color photos, web pages, word processing documents and more.

Back to the MLS: A public and private ID identifies each agent affiliated with a firm that has an account with Interealty. When an E-mail message addressed to my public ID is received by the MLS computer in Vienna, it stores the message until I connect to the MLS. It then notifies me that I have either general or personal mail waiting. In the same manner, when E-mail is addressed to stepheng@har.com it is received and stored by the ISP that has assigned me that E-mail address. The next time I connect my E-mail software, depending upon how I have set it up, either notifies that I have mail waiting or automatically retrieves it.

Some ISP's provide both the dial-up account and the browser software, which includes E-mail capability. America OnLine, CompuServe and Prodigy are examples. While these may at first appear to be less complicated in terms of getting started, one quite often must step through opening ads promoting online purchases before being able to either access E-mail or click on yet another button to access the Internet. The user is also limited to using only the E-mail program built in to the browser application.

I prefer using an ISP with either Netscape ($49) or Internet Explorer (free and comes with the PDQ CD-ROM installation disk) as it provides a more direct connection to the Internet and you can use any E-mail software you want. You can use the one built in to the browser, or other ones such as Eudora Lite, HotMail, MailExcite and Yahoo! Mail (all free).