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REAL/Easy FOS -
Front Office System Tour
Start FOS and Log In
 Now,
you are ready to do the tour, you are switched to the Best Realty database
for
the time being. Select the “FOS” icon (above) from your Windows desktop.
You should
obtain the above login screen.
For now, You do not need a
password, Click: 
The FOS Desktop
Whenever you
begin your FOS session, you will be greeted with the above desktop. The
main goal of FOS is to enable complete no-paper automation of your office’s
phone
traffic. So, this desktop is designed to help a call coordinator or duty
desk agent quickly
access the common tasks needed with a single click.
Other tasks such as listing data entry can be accessed in a similar fashion
as in the Back
Office System (BOS) using menus and tools.
There are seven areas or components making up the FOS Desktop. Let’s take a
look at
them.
1. At the top,
the title bar shows the name of the program and version. The name of the
company is displayed, according to the database you are switched to – e.g.
The Best
Realty Company.
2. Next, the
(File) menu bar displayed above, is the same all the time. Setups and most
operations in FOS can be run from the menu bar.
3. The Listing
Search tool bar. You can search the listing table by street name, or MLS
number or by Ad Code. Criteria entered here controls the properties to be
displayed in the
property browse area #7.
4. The property
browse area data display can also be controlled by setting different
Listing Filters to control the display. Here only a certain market area, or
district, may be
desired.
5. The last
browse bar includes List price filtering and Agent filter. The Online Date
filter
is used when importing data from other sources such as Crest Edg.
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6. This is
the quick and easy to use tool bar. A majority of
your work will be done from here. It does not contain
all that is available from the Menu Bar (1.), but most of
it.
Note: The different areas - General, Common, Listings,
Appointments and Communications. |
7. This is the
Property Browse, or main information area of the FOS Desktop. The
information displayed is dependant upon the tab that you click on
8. This status
area show the listing highlighted above. Also listing count, and message
and appointment stats.
Now let’s take a look at a few of these items on the desktop.
Step 1—The Menu Bar
The menu bar is
like any other menu bar in a Windows program. There are drop-down
items for each category.
Click on
File
Above are the
key setup functions. First, you setup your company information, then enter
all of the agent, broker and other contacts that you will be needing for the
call/duty desk.
Next, Click on
Listings
The listings tab
above has all the functions needed to keep your listing inventory data up
to date. If you have internet access while viewing a listing, there options
to display and
print maps from well known web sites.
Click on Appointments
Click Communications.
These functions
are used to setup your PC message, pager and email systems.
Click on Reports
All aspects of
the Front Office operation can be reported on with this tab. In addition,
the
“Top” reports display high activity agents and brokers
Click on Preferences.
Here is where
you can customize your FOS appointment and tracking system. You can
even change some of the screen field labels to help your agents and
operators.
Step 2 — Property Browse/Main Information Area
This area is
showing the basic information on the listing that is highlighted above.
Click
on the 15th Avenue property. Note that for split listings, all agents are
displayed on the
Current Listing line.
Also note that key information such as list date, style, bedrooms, baths,
and more is
displayed right below the browse window. And the next showing information
below that.
Note also the bottom tabs running below the browse area. The browse area is
actually the
first of many pages of information. The Photo tab provides quick access to
photos of the
highlighted listing. The other tabs are for general use during calls include
the IN/Out
Board to help direct calls to agents who are in he office, the Office
bulletin to view office
announcements or tips, the Suppliers tab is used to help lookup and call
sign, mortgage,
title and other companies, the Co-Brokers and Board Roster tabs show phone
and other
information to help you contact co-broker offices and agents to confirm
appointments or
do follow up calls.
In/Out Board & Duty Roster tab
By clicking on
the In/Out Board & Duty Roster tab you can register the daily status
of
agents presence, duties, appointments and messages. If this is kept up to
date during the
day, you’ll be able to easily direct calls to them or know when to page or
email messages.
Co-Broker tab
Above is the
sample co-broker info tab.
Board Roster tab
And, the Board
roster will appear as above. Note that a search box above can help you
quickly find a caller or agent that needs follow-up.
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Populating this browse is accomplished by Add Board
Member, importing data from your co-broker table in
BOS or by importing from a comma separated text
file. |
Step 3 – View Details or
Edit a Listing
You can
double-click a listing or click the Listings category at the left and
select Edit
Listing.
Above is the
main, or “listing general” screen. Key location, price and contract date
information is displayed. Showing and lockbox information is also maintained
on this
screen.
The tabs along the top are used to maintain more information pertaining to
this listing.
Included are other screens to maintain more details about features, photos
of the property,
the listing Agents, the seller and others under Contacts, Descriptions of
the property,
Advertising history, and activity Journal.
Entering a Showing Appointment
From the main
browse screen, select a listing and click on
Book Appointment
Select the Agent you are booking the appointment for from the Agent Name
field. Type the first initial of the last name and select the Agent. If you
have imported
outside agents into your Board Roster, they are available also. Note that
the Agent’s
company information is filled in.
Appointment
Details include time and date, type of appointment, how to access
the property and special instructions.
Now click
on  or
Edit Appointment
Click on the Appointments bar at the left and the click on View
Appointments.
Select the appointment
to edit and click Edit
Click
 when finished
Confirm and email Appointment
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Click on
Confirm Appointment |
Click on the
appointment to be confirmed. If you want to email this appointment
then click on 
If the email address is
missing you will have to enter it here. If you CC to the Listing Agent you
can also designate him as the reply-to recipient. Then click on the
email icon to send.
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This is
what the email looks like
and, of course you can edit it before
sending.
Note: You must have FOS Communicator
Email Server configured
and running to use this
feature.
After sending you can |
Then select the
appointment again and click on 
Where Do We Go From Here
Congratulations!
You have now completed the Beginners Tour of FOS. Items we covered
with you
include:
• Viewing and General Understanding of the FOS desktop.
• Viewing main functions of the system via the menus.
• Observing the areas where you can customize the system.
• How to lookup listings and view detailed and other information to help on
co-broker
and buyer calls.
• How to maintain information so that FOS can help save time and automate
your call
coordinator and duty desk functions.
Now you are ready to start entering information into your system. You should
exit the
Best Realty company and switch back from \BEST to \DATA.
Then, learn how to do the required setups by following the steps in getting
started part of
the FOS help menu. Note further that features like paging are optional and
need to be
setup with your local phone and computer network technicians.
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