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RRC
RRC enables a smooth user experience and efficient internal processes while eliminating slow, manual tasks
Residential Real Estate Council (RRC) is one of the world's largest realtor member organizations, providing high-quality education, resources, and referrals. RRC is the sole provider of the prestigious designation of Certified Residential Specialist (CRS), held by top-performing real estate professionals. RRC also provides a range of certification programs to help realtors grow their businesses.
The challenge
Slow manual data updates were inefficient and didn't meet member expectations. Providing a smooth, straightforward user experience and up-to-date member information are fundamental to RRC's reputation and credibility as a quality education provider.RRC is affiliated with the National Association of Realtors (NAR), a trade association which maintains a central database of all realtors. RRC has to regularly exchange data with NAR in two key situations which are crucial to the success of RRC's business model:
RRC sends a steady flow of updates to the NAR database about new designations and certifications achieved by its members. RRC looks up information in the NAR database to confirm an individual has an active NAR membership, which is a requirement for registering as an RRC member.
RRC's members work hard to achieve CRS designation - which requires a specific combination of experience, education, and volume of sales - and they sell more and earn more because of it. If their latest professional achievements aren't updated in the NAR database, they are understandably disappointed.
"Before meeting Zato, we were struggling to figure out how to make the software integration work. We used to work with what we thought were pretty sharp developers who knew how to research and figure out integrations with new platforms, but they couldn't make it work."
Previously, RRC staff had to manually log in to NAR's database to update information, which was time-consuming and prone to delays. "We have new information to update every single day, so having to do this manually obviously meant a lot of time wasted," Bob explains.
To improve internal efficiency and member experience, RRC wanted to set up a seamless, user-friendly integration between its own system and NAR's, to automatically update and access key data. However, NAR's database uses IBM MQ, which is challenging to integrate with.
The solution
A custom integration which automates data updates and provides real-time database access Integration experts Zato Source built a bespoke piece of software that enables RRC's systems to communicate effectively with NAR's database. It fulfils two crucial tasks:- Sends automated daily updates on designations and certifications from RRC's reporting system to the NAR database.
- Checks an individual's NAR membership info in real time when they register as an RRC member.
The process of Zato Source building and installing the integration software - which is open source and uses the Python programming language - was fast and straightforward. And despite the challenges of integrating with IBM MQ, it worked straight away.
As well as designing, implementing, and showing the RRC team how to use the software, Zato Source also provides personalized ongoing support to RRC.
The outcome
A seamless user experience and automated processes strengthen RRC's credibility and operating efficiency Now, with Zato sending daily, automated updates, the NAR database always reflects RRC members' latest educational achievements. Members are happy to see the up-to-date information they expect whenever they log in to the NAR database. This fast, reliable service is instrumental in RRC providing the quality user experience its members expect, upholding its credibility as an education provider."Our goal is to make our members' interaction with our system as seamless and as easy as possible, and Zato helps to make that happen."
Because Zato is fully automated, RRC staff have freed up time previously spent on manual data entry. They can focus on other tasks, with the peace of mind that Zato is always working in the background to send and retrieve data from NAR whenever it is needed.
"The Zato integration is a big time saver from not having to deal with that manual data processing. We rarely have to think about it because it just works. Whenever a member signs up on our site, achieves a certification, achieves their designation - all that information is flowing. Our processes are seamlessly working with NAR's database, via Zato. We're very happy with it."
Bob has been consistently impressed with the swift, proactive, and efficient support that Zato Source provides. Any requests for changes or issues arising are dealt with straight away. On several occasions, Zato Source has noticed an outage with NAR's database and contacted NAR to get it resolved before RRC even realized there's a problem.
"Zato Source is always on top of things, from deploying the initial software to overseeing it moving forward. Whenever we need any kind of change made - e.g. adding a new certification - I can reach out to them and they will address things very quickly and professionally. And they're very proactive. They make sure we stay up-to-date with new technologies and security developments."
As the sole in-house IT person in a 35-person organization, Bob has a lot to juggle. He highly values Zato's reliable efficiency - both the software and the support - which makes his life easier.
"As VP of IT, there's a lot of things I have to worry about - a lot of different systems integrating with each other, a lot of things going wrong all the time. We're constantly adding new technology. What's valuable about Zato is that we don't have to worry about it. It just works. That makes my life a lot easier and it allows me to focus on other things that frankly don't work as well."
Zato is so efficient and effective, RRC continued using it even after switching to a new association management system in 2017. Although intended to provide a single system for all RRC's IT processes, the new system couldn't integrate properly with the NAR database - unlike Zato. With another major system upgrade planned soon, RRC is looking forward to a continued smooth integration with NAR via Zato.
"I would highly recommend Zato Source because it's been such a good experience working with them. They're fast, very reliable, and very proactive. It's a really good, easy relationship."
Business Challenge
Eliminating manual data processing and delays when updating or accessing data on members' educational achievements in an external database system.
Solution
A bespoke software integration providing automated daily updates and real-time, user-friendly access to database content.
Benefits
RRC provides a seamless member experience which upholds its credibility as an education provider, and enjoys peace of mind due to an automated, hassle-free integration.
"The Zato integration is a big time saver from not having to deal with manual data processing. We rarely have to think about it because it just works. We're very happy with it."