Asking the right questions: What to look for when purchasing software
One of the most challenging aspects of the title insurance industry is that each agency must adhere to federal law, state law and underwriter requirements. As a result, the processes and requirements for the management of data, protocols and reporting are going to be slightly different, depending on which state you live in and the underwriters with whom you work.
Your lender clients also have their individual ways of doing business, which adds yet another wrinkle to the process.
All of this is to say that in choosing applications to meet your technological needs, you must have some ability to adapt the technology to your specific requirements to ensure efficiency and maximize the user experience.
To begin the process, it’s helpful to understand the differences between off-the-shelf, configurable, customizable and custom software.
Off-the-shelf applications
An off-the-shelf application is usually a mass market product that is plug and play, with little to no customizable or configurable features. Because it is a fixed product, it is often a less expensive option. But – what you see is what you get. In some cases, you may be buying more than you can really use or may be hampered by the fact that you cannot alter the software to accommodate your specific processes or preferences.
Configurable software
Reconfiguration usually refers to simple changes that can be made to existing software that are pre-determined by a certain set of limited options already embedded in the program. For instance, you can choose your security settings or determine access protocols. Often you can choose the language or layout preferences. What you cannot do is adjust the core functions of the software.
Customizable software
Customizable software allows you to adjust core features and functions of the program to match the way you do business. There are a lot of advantages to having the ability to customize software in the title insurance business. The first advantage is being able to adjust the software to your state’s requirements. But it also allows you to create software that addresses your various lines of business.
In addition to creating your own unique workflows, customizing can also allow you to create specific dashboards and reports tailored to your business needs or customized for your specific regulator or underwriter requirements.
Custom software
Custom software is a program that is built for you from the ground up. This is the most expensive type of software and is often employed by companies who have high security risk and need to create strong fire walls and more robust security protocols.
Also, it’s extremely important to understand how flexible the technology in which you’re investing is when it comes to future advances and new developments. How “future-proof” is it? There are few things worse than the sunk cost that a shiny new technology can become if it’s rendered obsolete within a few years by new technology. Be sure to ask your potential tech partner how they plan for such developments, and how that flexibility is “baked into” their solution.
And finally, no matter what level of software you are contemplating, one of the key questions to ask is how the application will integrate with your other programs to ensure a seamless flow of data and process throughout the life of the title insurance file.
At VizionX, we offer title insurance solutions created by title professionals for title professionals. Our deep knowledge of the industry feeds our passion for excellence, especially with our soon-to-be-released TPS , VizionX TitleOS! VizionX will shortly be rolling out what we believe will become the gold standard for title production technology. Contact us if you’d like additional information or want to stay in the know.
