Christian Real Estate Blog

Inman News Article -The Internet is a goldmine of information, but occasionally you hit a wall where you need a real person to answer a question.

Albert Clark saw that wall about seven months ago when he was booking some complicated flights through Continental Airlines online at about 11 p.m. He'd already spent a lot of time entering information about his trips when he had a question about the airline's cancellation policy.

Clark said a button popped up on the Web page he was viewing and asked if he had any questions. He clicked on "yes" and his phone rang in less than two seconds, he said.

The Internet is a goldmine of information, but occasionally you hit a wall where you need a real person to answer a question.

Albert Clark saw that wall about seven months ago when he was booking some complicated flights through Continental Airlines online at about 11 p.m. He'd already spent a lot of time entering information about his trips when he had a question about the airline's cancellation policy.

Clark said a button popped up on the Web page he was viewing and asked if he had any questions. He clicked on "yes" and his phone rang in less than two seconds, he said.

Clark in January launched realPING, a push-to-talk VoIP button that connects Web site visitors with a real estate agent's telephone. VoIP, which stands for voice over Internet protocol, is a technology that enables people to make phone calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular phone line.

Some three-quarters of consumers end up transacting with the first real estate agent to respond to their inquiries, according to the National Association of Realtors, and Clark was betting that a push-to-talk device on a Realtor's Web site would help facilitate that relationship.

"The Internet has spoiled consumers," said Clark, principal partner of the Scranton, Pa.-based company. "They want everything accessible. They are looking at 900,000 homes in California and they want agents to get back to them."

Consumers surfing an agent's site with realPING simply click on the "talk to me now" or "push to talk" button the agent has set up, enter their phone number and receive a call within seconds.

Though agents may not be able to answer the consumer's question at the moment of the call, they can at least be the first responder and "set the table for tomorrow morning's call," Clark said.

RealPING takes it a step further with what Clark calls a "pagepush" capability. During the call the agent can push Web pages, virtual tours and other things directly to the caller's desktop. For example, a caller might ask about homes with pools while on the agent's Web site and the agent can enter a few digits on his or her phone that will push a Web page to the caller's desktop. The page can include listings information, virtual tours, mortgage prequalification information or anything the agent wants to set up.