[photopress:sasha_skyping.JPG,thumb,alignright]Our operators are standing by ready to take your call!
Here at Rain City Guide, we do our best to answer your questions before you ask them (at least that is a major part of good blogging!).
However, I know that we’re barely touching the surface of answering all your Seattle real estate questions and I doubt you want to wait around until we write a blog post about what’s on your mind right now. So, today, I’m releasing an “instant gratification” feature!
Notice how a few of the contributors (on the right panel) have a button under their name that tells you if they are online… Every time you reload a page on Rain City Guide, my server goes out and checks the status of these contributors. If they are online, then making contact with these contributors is simple, using free software called Skype.
So far, I have four RCG contributors who have agreed to take part in this experiment:
- A Real Estate Agent (Anna Luther)
- A Real Estate Lawyer (Russ Cofano)
- A Mortgage Broker (Russ Shulman)
- A Real Estate Tech Guy (myself)
I’m not sure what I have to offer via this medium, but if you want to talk with an agent, a mortgage broker, and/or a real estate lawyer, they are available to talk with you any time they are online. (By the way, we’re not going to stop here as more RCG contributors should be coming online soon…)
Contacting any of us is very simple and if you already have Skype, you can skip the first step:
- Download and Install the Free Skype tool
- Return to Rain City Guide and click on the button under anyone whose status says “I’m Online” and/or “I’m not telling”.
This will bring up a pop-up menu that starts the process of calling us over the internet.
Why Skype?
- It’s free! Anna has been using it for almost a year to talk with her friends and family in Russia (Here is an article she wrote about Skype last September.)
- The quality of the calls are awesome! They are much better than a cell phone and akin to a land-line.
- No fancy equipment is needed. Assuming you have speakers and a mic on your computer, it just works. Honestly. I’ve set it up for friends and family on five or ten different computers, and assuming they have a mic (every computer has speakers nowadays), it has worked immediately after installation. Note that even if you don’t have a mic, you can still use Skype to send instant messages, so still consider using Skype to contact us…
- Did I mention it is free? Skype will cost you nothing and there is no spyware or anything nasty in the software, so go ahead, download the software and start making calls to friends and family around the world.
One last note… The status of some of the people is displayed as “I’m not telling” which is just no fun. The reason is that the status of Skype users can only be displayed on a website if they are connected to Skype through a PC. Anna and I are using a Mac. Nonetheless, I’ve included these buttons because you can still use them to contact us. Assuming I’m online, I’ll definitely answer your calls. Assuming I’m not online, I pay Skype a few dollars a year for voicemail service, so you can always just leave me a message.
[photopress:little_skyper.jpg,full,centered]
(this is a photo of our daughter using Skype to talk with her grandparents in Russia!)
UPDATE:
I added both Ardell and Galen (and two more contributors said they were hoping to join up soon)!
I also had some great questions from people about how Skype works. The system is essentially the same as a telephone conversation except it is over the internet. If you call up one of the contributors, you will be talking with them and only them. You are not entering a group conversation, a group chat, or anything like that… It will really just be you talking with them. Simple, but powerful!
Way cool.
I’m extremely interested in obeserving how people utilize new technologies and it will be interesting to see how this experiment works out.
Case in point: I’ve been using Skype for a few months now; but I just started using IM, a technology that has been around for years, in the past few weeks. For some reason I always just ignored IM as a communication tool, but it definitely has its place.
It does, however, emphasize the need for professional policies. Just because I’m offering these different means of communication, it doesn’t mean that I’m available 24/7/365. If the line between work and personal lives erode, burnout becomes an issue and everyone suffers.
Way cool.
I’m extremely interested in obeserving how people utilize new technologies and it will be interesting to see how this experiment works out.
Case in point: I’ve been using Skype for a few months now; but I just started using IM, a technology that has been around for years, in the past few weeks. For some reason I always just ignored IM as a communication tool, but it definitely has its place.
It does, however, emphasize the need for professional policies. Just because I’m offering these different means of communication, it doesn’t mean that I’m available 24/7/365. If the line between work and personal lives erode, burnout becomes an issue and everyone suffers.
Great point Andy…
No one wants to be “on” 24/7/365…
Great point Andy…
No one wants to be “on” 24/7/365…
What I am amazed by Dustin…. is how you are constantly adding new stuff to your site/blog.
I work pretty hard on my site and just wonder how you have a handle on all of the coding/technology it takes to make the changes happen.
I am also quite happy for your move to Move… because I was starting to think that if this guy out in Seattle has all of these tech skills…and no one was trying to hire him… it was starting to make the rest of us question our entire tech existence!!
🙂
Hey Galen,
How do I put that “I’m Not Available” up? I was gone all day,or at least most of it. But it said “I’m available” all of today. I think since I’m licensed that could be construed as “false advertising” 🙂
Dustin,
I was just playing with it and saw that you could have a group chat. Cool. Also, one of my clients “skyped” me to be added to my contact list.
Ardell,
To make it say “I’m Not Available”, all you have to do is change the “status” on your Skype program. If you set it to “Away” then the text under your name on Rain City Guide will say “I’m Not Available”.
Ardell,
To make it say “I’m Not Available”, all you have to do is change the “status” on your Skype program. If you set it to “Away” then the text under your name on Rain City Guide will say “I’m Not Available”.
Skype is certainly a fantastic way for an individual interested in a property while surfing online to reach a realtor. As Skype expands to include mobile capabilities, a realtor may be able to have a wireless Skype phone with them at all times to receive such inquiries.
There is another form of real estate instant gratification that Dustin requested I share on this post. Text messaging is a powerful, easy, fun and inexpensive way for those interested in buying a home, renting an apartment or leasing a commercial site to get more info about the property directly to their mobile phone and a central location to get even more details online. The agent, homeowner, landlord, etc. receive an instant message as well about the request, can see activity online in real-time, and can change their outgoing text message and online content anytime as they successful close a property and move the text message property code to another property.
A PDF flyer explaining the service and detailing costs is available at http://www.otair.com/RealEstateRates.pdf or just click on my name to go to OTAir.com.
Thanks Dustin for the invite.
Skype is certainly a fantastic way for an individual interested in a property while surfing online to reach a realtor. As Skype expands to include mobile capabilities, a realtor may be able to have a wireless Skype phone with them at all times to receive such inquiries.
There is another form of real estate instant gratification that Dustin requested I share on this post. Text messaging is a powerful, easy, fun and inexpensive way for those interested in buying a home, renting an apartment or leasing a commercial site to get more info about the property directly to their mobile phone and a central location to get even more details online. The agent, homeowner, landlord, etc. receive an instant message as well about the request, can see activity online in real-time, and can change their outgoing text message and online content anytime as they successful close a property and move the text message property code to another property.
A PDF flyer explaining the service and detailing costs is available at http://www.otair.com/RealEstateRates.pdf or just click on my name to go to OTAir.com.
Thanks Dustin for the invite.
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My computer was ringing at me the other day. By the time I remembered how to plug in the headset he hung up. I then noticed that some guy named Luigi Betelli has been trying to “call” me from Italy.
Are any of you getting calls from outside of the country from people you don’t know?
I once had a call from two German girls who wanted to visit America (but that was before I even posted it on this site). Otherwise, most of the Skype calls I get are for people that I know.
Although I did have a very lively (and random) conversation with a guy from South Carolina on Sunday who runs a site with his wife where they sell marketing material for bakers to learn how to sell their cakes online! Go figure!
I once had a call from two German girls who wanted to visit America (but that was before I even posted it on this site). Otherwise, most of the Skype calls I get are for people that I know.
Although I did have a very lively (and random) conversation with a guy from South Carolina on Sunday who runs a site with his wife where they sell marketing material for bakers to learn how to sell their cakes online! Go figure!
I just recently found Skype and it is fantastic. I sometimes use it as a security camera in my home. I set my home PC to auto answer and I can see whats happening in my house. I also use it for calls.