The Cutting Edge: Computing / Technology / Innovation : CASE STUDY: How technology changed a business : Client-Server Computer System Streamlines Title Insurance Company
Title companies play an important role in the real estate industry, issuing insurance policies that verify ownership and guarantee there are no liens against a property. They also handle escrow proceedings when properties change hands.
But obtaining and combining the disparate information that goes into title insurance documents can be tricky. A property’s ownership history--its title chain--is maintained in enormous handwritten title books, some dating back a century or more. Tax roll information is obtained from a computer at the county recorder’s office. Property deeds are recorded on microfiche.
A truly integrated system should be able to quickly combine all this information, while taking title officers through each stage of the document preparation process. It should route documents from one worker to the next electronically. And it should coordinate the activities of the title department with the activities of other departments in the company, such as escrow and accounting.
“Computers help with isolated tasks, such as calculating insurance premiums or estimating closing costs,” says Devin Park, president of Trico Title. “But very few companies have put together integrated systems that can handle all aspects of the title and escrow process.”
Doing so was the challenge facing privately held Trico. Its solution involved one of those Information Age buzzwords-- re-engineering --that are repeated so often in business that they start to lose their meaning.
To make its vision of a coherent work process a reality, Trico adopted an entirely new type of computer architecture known as client-server. Client-server gets its name from the way computers are connected in a network.
Typically, desktop “clients,” such as Macintosh computers or Windows-based PCs, share the resources of a common “server,” a larger computer designed especially for storing lots of information. It serves files to the client computers connected to it, and runs central applications that all the clients can access.
Client-server architectures are attractive because of their flexibility: Users can share the resources of the entire computer network, yet each user has his or her own personal computer to perform distinct tasks.
The real challenge is developing the applications that can run on these networks. Older computer applications are designed to process information and store data centrally, on one big computer. Client-server applications, on the other hand, divide up the processing load among many different computers.
Intensive database processing is handled by powerful servers. Report writing and spreadsheet analyses are done right on the client computer, so individual users have maximum control. Data can be stored on clients or server or both, depending on the computing task at hand.
Client-server applications must also be designed around the graphic user interfaces that are common on today’s personal computers. These interfaces make working with computers an active, visual experience. Instead of typing cryptic commands in response to prompts, users take control and let the computer respond to them. They can navigate through colorful windows and perform actions by “pointing and clicking” with the mouse.
To tie all this technology into a cohesive system, Trico needed special application development tools. After testing several products, the company selected Ideo from Sapiens U.S.A. Inc. of Cary, N.C. Ideo applications can access many different types of data and are designed especially for client-server networks. With Ideo, it took just eight weeks to create the preliminary version of Trico’s Integrated Title and Escrow System.
Here’s how it works:
Workers begin by clicking the New Order button on-screen with the mouse, or calling up an existing order by customer name, customer number or parcel number.
Once the property address has been entered, the county tax roll is automatically consulted for information about the current owner and property values. When the purchase price of the property is entered, information from a set of rate tables is automatically consulted, enabling the system to determine the title insurance fees.
The system then selects an appropriate title officer to perform the title search, based on each person’s unique skills and preferences, and routes the open documents to his or her PC.
Title officers see images of the actual deeds and maps displayed on their screens, just as they are accustomed to seeing them in the parcel maps and title books, along with the starter information, tax roll information (updated daily from the county recorder’s office) and property index information (from an off-site mainframe). Having all the information in one place makes it easy for them to complete the process and quickly issue the title insurance policy.
Once the title insurance documents are completed, electronic-mail messages are automatically sent to other escrow officers and accounting personnel to complete the escrow process, with all pertinent information routed electronically.
Trico selected its Santa Maria office as a test site for the new client-server application. After some initial training, productivity increased almost immediately. Other title companies in the area average six or seven policies per person per day. Trico’s Santa Maria group is now churning out 35 to 40 orders per person per day, with a reduction in support people for routine tasks.
“We’ve put data in a form that everyone can use,” Park says, reflecting on the recent flurry of activity. “Ultimately, we hope that usefulness will extend not only to title companies, but to lenders, real estate offices, county recorders and tax assessment offices.”
