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AgentNEO is a voice-activated internet (VAI) software company for real estate agents.
It helps them create branded apps so customers can ask Alexa about home valuations, finding listings and booking showings. The agent is permanently linked to the user’s device.
AgentNEO announced this week that it’s now developed and rolled-out a skill for brokerages, too. Major franchisees and independents with more than 20 agents can now link themselves to a consumer’s voice search for real estate assistance.
The Alexa Skill will be maintained by AgentNEO and is designed to also work for agents working under that brokerage. Each one can have an individualized presence, and as it does with the per-agent skill, it can take questions about showings and listings.
AgentNEO apps can also be loaded with information about listings, so a listing agent can place an Echo in a home to interact with buyer’s agents and their clients. It can handle questions about average water bills, annual taxes or the cost of heat during the winter.
When used with Amazon’s Echo Show, the app will display logos, contact information and other brand information.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Professional Realty in Cincinatti, Ohio, has had an account for a couple of months, according to Nishant Pant, AgentNEO’s chief geek and developer.
“We are in talks with more of their offices,” Pant told Inman in an email.
The primary advantage of a brokerage account is that it’s attractive to agents. Unique technology offerings have become major selling points for brokerage recruiters.
With more than 100 million Echo devices in American homes, it can be safely assumed that the real estate industry has a significant audience out there for the taking. After all, the more places your brand can be, the better.
Pant said the brokerage services came about as a result from inquiries from a few major brands.
“We started getting approached by big names in the industry asking us if we can offer something like this. We obviously took immediate action and diverted our resources toward developing customized Alexa Skills,” he said.
“We offer no contracts, no setup fees or cancellation fees to our clients. We believe that our clients will just stick with us by the superior quality of our product.”
Amazon has a little to do with it, too.
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