With integration of existing products and services ever more important, Hayden Rieveschl and Alex Taylor have launched Ocusell, a platform that’s modernizing the listing process for real estate professionals, the two said.
Rieveschl and Chief Revenue Officer Taylor found MLS business rules documentation is often inaccurate or outdated, significantly lengthening the integration of new technology. In many cases, the MLS vendor has programmed the business rules for the MLS, but the MLS never provided any documentation.
“The easier we can make it for the MLS to integrate with cutting-edge tech, the more MLS members, buyers and sellers, will benefit,” Rieveschl notes.
Moreover, Rieveschl adds that proper MLSs business rules are vital in allowing MLSs to copyright their proprietary data schema (how information is organized and presented) to protect their data.
“MLSs certainly want to better protect their data, making updated business rules essential,” he said.
Taylor explained, “MLSs will agree to add a new tech solution for its members, not realizing their business rules are outdated because they switched vendors or changed their systems that conflict with what’s in place.”
He gave the example of an MLS that provided its business rules yet had no idea that the API listed in the rules no longer existed. “If a tech firm’s integration was reliant on the API,” Taylor noted, “they would have to start over.”
“This mistake creates a liability and possible litigation risk for the MLS and could unexpectedly increase their costs. In addition, flawed business rules certainly would extend the time to integrate, delaying market deployment,” Taylor shared.
Ocusell is launching a new service that helps MLSs solve their business rules mismatches, allowing them to fast-track deployment of new tech solutions.
“MLSs are accelerating the integration with technology partners,” Rieveschl said. “More MLSs are merging and changing their systems provider or adding others. These trends create a vital and pressing need for accurate, complete and fully updated business rules. MLSs need to add powerful new tools for their members, and they need to do it smoothly and quickly. Ocusell will manage the heavy lifting for the MLS to ensure their rules are always current.”
