Two years ago, many large MLS systems were reluctant to adopt browser-server MLS information management systems, but market momentum and education about how they work and how easy they are for agents to use, has eroded fears for MLS executives. Internet MLS is here to stay for large MLSs as well as for smaller associations.

According to information provided by the Vistainfo, Inc. sales force, it is now the large MLSs which are driving the trend toward Internet-based information management. The 116 largest MLSs in the US and Canada represent approximately 80% of the market, says a spokesperson, with Vistainfo owning approximately 50 percent of the market. Of those, 30 MLS organizations serving about 125,000 agents have converted to RE/Xplorer, the company's Internet MLS system interface.

The largest MLS in the United States, the Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois, serving 28,500 members has just extended its two-year contract with VistaInfo, Inc. The attraction? The multi-million dollar agreement offers continued on-site support and free upgrades to Vistainfo's RE/Xplorer, an Internet-based information system in which agents can easily access MLS information from their computer's browser.

Using Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, agents get real-time access to the latest listing, tax and school information. According to the company, RE/Xplorer is the most popular Internet-based MLS information interface in the United States.

Once the largest provider of client-server legacy systems in the U.S., Moore Data Management, now owned and operated by VistaInfo, Inc., switched its focus to the Internet with the release of RE/Xplorer. Vistainfo's Chairman Tom Gay announced in mid-1999, with the purchase of Moore Data that all systems going forward would be Internet-based. Since then, the company has announced the development of the first national MLS database platform (NMI) using the N.A.R.'s recently released RETS (Real Estate Transaction Standard.) According to a Vistainfo spokespersoon, RETS allows multiple systems to use the same data and to avoid the time and errors associated with multiple entries in different systems. The NMI gives local MLS's a cost-effective alternative of providing service without the expense associated with hardware and site management while maintaining control over the data in the system.

One of the first companies in the country to implement a total MLS cutover from a client-server legacy system to a browser-server system for the Middle Tennessee Association of REALTORS in 1997, MarketLinx Solutions is one of the early pioneers of open architecture MLS systems based on Internet browser technology.

The company has announced signed contracts with the Arizona Regional MLS, the Northern Ohio Regional MLS and the MLS of Jackson, to provide MLS information systems based on its TEMPO™ software to all three boards.

The Arizona Regional MLS, based in the Phoenix area is one of the largest MLS’s in the country with over 14,000 users. The Northern Ohio Regional MLS, serving the Cleveland area, has almost 7,000 users and wanted a system, which would provide their members with access to a database that integrated their own information with that of a separate, nearby MLS in the Akron-Canton area.

Why are MLS executives making the switch to Internet-based systems? Boards and MLS executives are searching for easy-to-learn systems for their agents, and also systems which can easily integrate information as boards merge and expand to serve new jurisdictions.

“We were looking for a true business partner that could provide the browser based MLS software that we needed to move our members onto the Internet”, said Carl DeMusz, the CEO of NORMLS, “but more importantly, we wanted a partner with proven experience successfully installing and operating a complete browser-based system for a large board."

According to ARMLS executive vice president, Bob Rucker, “We were looking for a system that was proven and complete, but also simple for our members to learn and use.

With agents becoming more and more mobile, particularly in the wired cities where online transactions are a way of life, the ability to access MLS data via the Internet and through wireless devices is becoming increasingly important.

Illustrating how quickly things are changing regarding adoption of the Internet, Wyldfyre Technologies, a subsidiary of Homestore.com is working hand in hand to support the Internet MLS information service providers by implementing wireless access for agents. "We are in process of strengthening our MLSPhone and PalmMLS products to deploy markets quicker than initially planned," says Greg Bailey, spokesperson for Wyldfyre Technologies. "Currently MLSPhone is in three markets (five MLS's); West Palm Beach(RMLS), Bay area (RE Info Link, MAX, S.F.), and San Fernando Valley (CrisNet)."

Bailey says that the company is on track to be in 60 markets by Q1 2000.