In the ongoing battle for lead capture supremacy, Cendant has just fired a significant missile with its new LeadRouter^TM software, a product designed to put Cendant real estate brand customers, otherwise known as Century21, ERA, and Coldwell Banker brokers, in charge of lead management.

While the definition of what is a lead is still being debated, Cendant is qualifying any consumer inquiry as a lead, and that lead can be routed through the brokerage via proprietary software which is designed to (1) get information from the consumer, (2) process the information according to rules provided by the broker to the software, (3) put the lead into the hands of an agent as quickly as possible (4) track the leads from all Internet sources on one screen for future marketing (5) and put the broker back in control of lead management and quality service.

For example, Betty Buyer fills out an inquiry on a listing she finds on a brand site, the broker's site, or Realtor.com. The "lead" is routed through the LeadRouter software to the listing agent. If the listing agent doesn't respond to the consumer within 30 minutes (or any time limit set by the broker) or the software encounters a busy signal or voicemail, the lead is routed to the next person "up to bat." As soon as an agent responds, the consumer data collected by the software is converted to voice, and LeadRouter informs the agent of the lead. The agent must log on to the Internet and click acceptance of the lead before time runs out.

The distinguishing feature here is lead management - not the same thing as lead generation. If the broker owns the listing, and the listing generates a lead, the broker also owns the right to manage the lead as it comes in through the brokerage, and not leave it to the whims of agents who don't believe in Internet inquiries, or let their cellphone message centers get full. In short, brokers who use LeadRouter want to insure that leads don't get lost due to poor service.

Through LeadRouter, Cendant is responding to a number of challenges to the industry:

• LeadRouter gives Cendant the franchise organization a significant new revenue stream - approximately $1,500 to $10,000 per participant annually, depending on the size of the broker and his/her brokerage operations.

• LeadRouter gives Cendant a loyalty boost - if brokers are pleased with the lead generation/management results they get by employing LeadRouter, they are less likely to give precious marketing dollars away to other parties. Cendant would see this as putting gold in the enemies' war chest.

• The announcement preempts any other competitors from cashing in on Cendant brand brokers with lead management solutions, particularly Realtor.com. And make no mistake, any site that produces leads is a competitor to the Cendant brand sites, as Cendant views it.

• Brokers are reempowered. They can set their own business rules, and determine their own rotations of who gets leads among their agents.

• Brokers know where the leads come from. They can redirect their marketing dollars to where the leads are coming from.

• Knowing the leads will be given to others encourages agents to respond faster. A disappointing study by Realtor.com showed that 50 percent of online leads went unanswered by agents after 48 hours, yet over 70 percent of homebuyers are turning to the Internet to begin their search for homebuying or selling information. Brokers do not want to lose that business to a competitor.

• LeadRouter can be touted by agents in listing presentations to show a point of difference - how quickly they can respond to an Internet lead.

During the eight-month test run of LeadRouter, origination sources of Internet leads for the brokers were studied. In the LeadRouter pilot, the Cendant real estate brand Web sites (www.century21.com, www.coldwellbanker.com and www.era.com) combined to rank as the leading overall source of online leads to the pilot brokers (27 percent). The brand sites were followed by the pilot brokers' own company Web sites (23 percent) and Realtor.com (18 percent) came in third.

The company says that the average response time an agent gives to an Internet lead is six to seven hours. With LeadRouter, 52 percent of the test group responded within an hour.