GSBOR's Transaction Desk Help Desk

FAQ: Can I assign a task to another Agent sharing a transaction?

This question has a couple of different parts to it.  But see if you follow me here:

The first step is, under Settings > Activity Plans > My Task Templates > Create a New Task Template: 
Then, when creating the Task Template, select the checkbox to "Automatically assign this Task to Contacts of Type" either select the contact type from the drop down list or create a custom type.  Then, when that contact type is added to a Transaction File and that task template is attached to the file that task will automatically be assigned to that person.

Part 2 of this question:

FAQ: Under Task Templates there is an auto assign (is this where I can assign the task to another agent to complete?)

Answer: YES!

Part 3 of this question:

FAQ: There isn't that option when adding single tasks. 

Answer: The person needs to be a Contact with participant access to the transaction.  Once the person has been added to the transaction file and been given Participant access with permission to view Tasks, that contact will be added to the Assignee box .  This way you can assign the single Task to a participant of the Transaction. Within the Transaction File > Tasks > Add Task, the person will be found in the Assignee box.

FAQ: How do I submit my own "in-house" form to TD?

Answer: E-mail your form to this blog e-mail address or directly to Gregg at Transaction Desk.  Click here for Gregg's e-mail address.  There is a fee for this and it is typically somewhere around $50 per page.  But once you submit the form, Transaction Desk will send you a quote once all of the pages have been received.

A lot of Agents create and use their own "in-house" forms.  If it is a form that is only to be signed by the client, then I wouldn't suggest sending your form to Transaction Desk to upload.  I would just print the form for your client to sign and then fax it in to the transaction via the fax back cover sheet.  Save yourself the $50 bucks.  But that is up to you.

You really only want to send forms to Transaction Desk that have specific fields in the form that are to be filled in.  (Example: A lease agreement or another document that contains fields to be filled in such as: sellers names, an address, or a different determined dates).  Transaction Desk will take your "in-house" form and upload it directly to your TD account where you can access that form and fill it out online within Transaction Desk system or package it together with other forms like contracts and/or listing agreements.

If this doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll clarify.

Making Sharing Transactions with Assistants and/or Other Agents Easy!

If you're an assistant or Transaction Coordinator to another Agent or Broker, using Transaction Desk can be frustrating if you're the one that enters in all of the transaction information and does all of the file maintenance for that Agent or Broker.  But here are a few tips to make it easy to share transactions.

Easy Tip 1, make sure that in both your account and your Agent or Broker account is set up to share transactions with each other.  You can do this by clicking on the "Settings" tab in the main TD home screen.  Then select the "Sharing" box and click "Continue".  Make sure that the drop down box next to "I Would Like To" is selected for "Create a New Share Group" and click "Go".  You can name the group whatever you'd like, but I suggest using the specific person's name for this instance.  Select the person from the box labeled "available users". 

    **Note: if the Agent's name is not listed there, it is because they have not yet logged into Transaction Desk ever, tell them to get with the program and log in at least once to get their name listed!

Select "Full" access and click the "Add" button.  Click "Save Share Information".  Make sure that you do this on both people's accounts so that transactions can be shared equally.

Easy Tip 2, now that the above steps are done...when you're starting a new transaction (whether you create it from scratch or if you import from MLS), as the Assistant or Transaction Coordinator you will go thru the Transaction Wizard.  In step 1 of the Wizard, the very last questions asked is if you are the listing or selling agent or neither.  At this point, you will want to select "Neither" and move on to the other steps in the Transaction Wizard until you get to Step 4 of the Wizard.  Here you will want to select the "Add New Transaction Contact" and click "Go".  Here is where you will want to add your Agent or Transaction Coordinator as Transaction Contact Type.  Therefore, if you list them as the Listing Agent, it will be their name that auto-populates as the Listing Agent on all forms that are prepared under this transaction.

Affiliates Training is Coming! December 5, 2007 at The Board

Affiliates and Third Party Vendors (a.k.a. Title Companies, Home Inspectors, Appraisers, etc.) should be just as involved with Transaction Desk as the Agents, Buyers and Sellers.  After all, they can sometimes have a bulk of the documents that are part of your files, right?

Because Transaction Desk has so many fully functional features to improve efficiency in our business, which includes participation by Affiliates and 3rd Party Vendors, we must give them an opportunity to learn the system too. 

Therefore, on Wednesday, December 5th from 9-11am at The GSBOR Office, Paul Dizmang and Jessica Hickok will be conducting a Transaction Desk Affiliates/Third-Party Vendor Training Module.

This training is open to everyone that would be considered a third party vendor (not just ones that are actual affiliates of GSBOR).  We are relying on all Agents to notify their specific vendors of this class.  Although it is a FREE class, you must still register by calling The Board at (417) 883-1226.

One thing for all Agents to remember is that YOU ARE STILL IN CONTROL OF YOUR TRANSACTIONS.  In our upcoming "Managing Your Transactions" module we will be going over sharing transactions and assigning transaction participants.  If you have questions or comments, feel free to post them here.  In the mean time...don't forget to encourage your affiliates and third-party vendors know of the upcoming class.

FAQ: Red "X" When I Try to Access Forms

Ahhh, the dreaded Red "X" that has shown up as you are accessing forms.  Makes you want to scream, doesn't it?!  As you most likely already know, Transaction Desk only works with Internet Explorer.  You can not access Firefox or Opera or another system.  It kind of presents a problem for those users who are using Macs, but that is what Parallels is for.  The typical Windows user probably won't run into this Red "X" issue, but here is how you fix it for all of you running both Windows and Mac OS who happen to run into this same issue:

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First, make sure that you have Sun Java installed on your machine in Internet Explorer 7 and Adobe 8.1.1 reader.  (Adobe 8 is bad for the system, make sure you upgrade).

Now once you have Internet Explorer open follow these steps:

• Go to "Tools" and select "Internet Options"
• Once the dialog box opens, select the tab "Advanced"
• Scroll down and make sure that "Sun Java" box is checked and that "Microsoft JIT" is UNchecked
• Click "OK" to close the dialog box

Next follow these steps:

• From Internet Explorer, go to "Tools" and select "Manage Add-ons" and select "Enable/Disable Add-ons"
• Once the dialog box opens, scroll until you find "Sun Java Console" and highlight to select.
• In the settings box, click the radio button "Enable"
• Click OK.
• Now close Internet Explorer and re-start your computer.

This should solve the dreaded Red "X" problem.  If you're still having problems, e-mail me.

FAQ: How do I select multiple forms at once?

When you're selecting several different forms to use from the Instanet Forms at one time, the question often gets asked on how to select multiple forms at once. 

The trick to it is to hold the "control" key down while you click to select the forms that you want. 

You can do this if you're selecting forms in either the Board or MLS forms folder.

Time To Change Your Toner Cartridge

The wonderful people who work so diligently in our Board's MLS department to process our faxed in listings everyday have placed a request.  They would like to remind all Agents to have fresh ink cartridges in your printer when printing out forms.  They are seeing a continual problem with page fading and it gets difficult for them to read the fax to input the information.  Please do MLS the favor of remembering to keep fresh cartridges in your printer.

Also, we recommend using black font and a minimum font size of 10 pt. when filling out forms within Transaction Desk.  Fonts that are different colors (especially yellow) do not print and do not fax well.  This is to ensure that all forms that are printed and faxed show up correctly in Rapattoni.

Here is how you can change your font sizes and colors:

1. From the main Transaction Desk home screen click on the "Settings" tab.
2. Select the "My Preferences" box and click "Continue".
3. From the left hand column, select the link labeled "Form Settings".
4. In the right hand box of Form Settings, you will see the default font size and colors. 
5. Select BLACK from the Font Color drop down box.
6. Select Size 10 (or 12) pt from the Font Size drop down box.
7. Click "Save Settings" at the bottom of the page.

Instanet Solutions Is Impressed with Our Blog

Paul Dizmang & Jessica Hickok met with the Transaction Desk team from Instanet Solutions on the Expo Tradeshow floor at the NAR Convention in Las Vegas on November 14th.

Amazingly, this group was so supportive of our Board's effort to implement Transaction Desk. They offered so much help and it's nice to know that they are on our side. 

Starting from the left is Jessica, then Joe Kazzoun (the Sales Guy), Gregg Driscoll (Implementation & Client Care Specialist), and the head honcho CEO, Martin Scrocchi and then of course, Paul.  We were  totally impressed with the leadership that these men possess.   We learned about their vision for 2008 and the constant improvements and commitment they have to our Board.

Once again our Board is the first on cutting edge technology as the only one out of 200,000 users to offer our members this TD Questions/Help blog, core module training, and future video training.   Although REALTORS can buy an individual license for this product, most find it more difficult not having the training that our Board is offering. 

So if you're having problems and/or issues with learning the program, contact us, because we have the full support (and direct line numbers!) of the company's CEO and their top team.   

FAQ: How Long Does It Take For My Fax Back to Reach TD?

We've been asked by a lot of Agents that are using Transaction Desk (TD) for the first time the question of "how long does it take for the system to recognize my fax back documents?".  The answer can vary, but it is safe to say that it usually shows up pretty quick.  In our experience we have seen the documents show up in our existing transaction within 30 seconds of faxing it into Transaction Desk and other times we have had to wait 3-5 minutes, although that has been rare.  We have been told by Instanet Solutions (the provider of TD) that they have over 2,500 fax machines at their headquarters, so they are fully prepared to accept faxes and input them into your transaction immediately.  Our best suggestion is to get in there and play around with Transaction Desk.  Practice faxing a few documents back into the system and judge for yourself how the process works and how quickly.  You'll soon learn all of the other functions that this system has to offer.

FAQ: How Do I Just Print a Blank Form?

Now that we all know that online forms (as we currently know them) are going away December 31, 2007, everyone is on the fast track to learning the new online forms system.  When you learn a new system, it usually takes a little bit to get used to.  Don't stress though, there are several TD Training Modules coming up about specifically about forms.  Make sure you check the schedule.  Therefore, in the mean time, it is completely understandable when you want to pull your hair out and just scream "how do I just print a blank form!?".  So here is the inside-track to just printing a blank form from Transaction Desk.

1)  From the Transaction Desk Home Login page, click on "Work With Individual Forms"
       -or-
     Select "Instanet Forms" link on the TD toolbar at the top of the screen.

2)  Select the form you want from the folders listed in the bottom right-hand half of the screen.

3)  Once you have the form selected, click on "Print Blank Form" button that is in the right hand column.

And there you go, you have now successfully printed a blank form for you to fill out.  Once the form is filled out, you can always fax it back into Transaction Desk with a Fax Back Cover Sheet of which is covered in another post.