President’s Message
We need to bring Touchbase back… As you may be aware, earlier this week we transitioned along with REBGV to a new service for booking and managing showings for listings, ShowingTime.
Although ShowingTime is an excellent product for booking showings and it aligns our showing tool with REBGV, we have received extensive feedback from Fraser Valley members detailing several issues and missing messaging functionality.
Based on your feedback, your Board of Directors have made the decision to re-introduce Touchbase as FVREB’s primary showing management and member messaging service. REBGV is staying with ShowingTime.
Board staff is currently working with Touchbase to fully integrate the service back into Paragon, and you will see those changes implemented tomorrow morning (Thursday, December 7).
What happens now:
- Touchbase is currently fully active and available through the Touchbase website and apps.
- On Thursday morning, you will begin to see the action icons for Touchbase reappear in Paragon.
- For a short period of time as we transition you back to TouchBase, ShowingTime will continue to be accessible through Paragon >Preferences>ShowingTime Set-up.
Important things you need to do:
- Book any new showing appointments via Touchbase. Initially, you will need to do this via the Touchbase website and/or app, until Touchbase is reintegrated with Paragon (scheduled for the morning of Thursday, Dec 7).
- If you have already booked showings for your buyers via ShowingTime, we recommend that you rebook these showings in Touchbase as this will ensure all your showings are in one app. However, it is entirely up to you. If you have confirmed times/dates for showings, the confirmations you already have should be sufficient though it might be worthwhile to confirm with the listing Realtor.
- If you are confirming showings for your listings, you will need to check for bookings in both apps to ensure you are not double-booking. Or, you could rebook any showings in Touchbase if that makes things easier for you to manage.
- If you have deleted the Touchbase app, reinstall it. iOS | Android
Accessing Touchbase and ShowingTime:
- Access Touchbase via their website or their apps. iOS | Android
- Access ShowingTime through Paragon or their apps. (In Paragon, go to Preferences>ShowingTime Set-up. For here, you will be able to review any showings you had booked via ShowingTime.)
Upsides and downsides:
- Upside: The full functionality of Touchbase that has been available to you, will continue to be available, including office messaging, “other” and “additional information” messages, scheduling for teams, etc.
- Upside: CADREB will also reintroduce Touchbase, so there will be no issues with cross-border functionality.
- Downside: REBGV is staying with ShowingTime, which means there will be challenges with cross-border functionality. We are identifying what members will experience and will provide more information shortly. Though we have worked to avoid this issue, it is unavoidable in order to retain the functionality our members need.
As this continues to be a critical and fluid situation, please watch for updates on the Paragon Message of the Day and in NewsReal.
Gopal Sahota
President