Over the past few weeks, many title & escrow companies have transitioned to remote work in order to keep employees safe and comply with “shelter-in-place” and “stay at home” orders which are now effective in 42 states (as of the publication of this article). In fact, a recent poll of Qualia customers found that the majority of title & escrow companies across the country switched to working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Remote work can be challenging; especially for title & escrow professionals who are used to working face-to-face with their colleagues to partner on files and talk through nuances. That’s why, in response to customer demand, Qualia released a new video chat feature within the Qualia platform. This feature is included in Qualia’s in-app messaging functionality and provides Qualia’s same high-grade security standards to ensure safeguarded communication.
Video chat benefits
Qualia’s in-app messaging system was previously text-only. While this type of communication is beneficial in many instances, there are some advantages to video chat in a business context.
According to research conducted by Forbes and Zoom, 62% of executives agree that video conferencing “significantly improves the quality of communication” among employees compared to other tools such as text-based communication. The same study also indicated that 97% of executives said that video conferencing “improves the sense of connectedness among remote workers” and 92% agreed that video conferencing “enables employees to be more productive.”
Overall, compared to audio conferencing or text communication, video conferencing strengthens relationships and communication. Many cues are lost when communicating with text or over the phone. For example, facial expressions and hand gestures cannot be seen and therefore, a message can be misinterpreted and a conversation can feel stilted and awkward. Video chat enables conversation to flow more naturally, creating more positive relationships.
Video chat: use cases for the title industry
Even prior to COVID-19, there was demand among Qualia customers for a video chat functionality within Qualia’s platform. A few weeks before Qualia’s Future of Real Estate (FORE) Summit held in January 2020, customers submitted feature requests for Qualia’s engineers to produce during a live hackathon event. One of the most popular feature requests was for video chat functionality. A phase-one of this feature was developed during the hackathon and demoed during the FORE Summit.
There are a few use cases for a video chat functionality among title companies which make the feature valuable beyond the current public health threat:
- Some title companies offer work-from-home as a benefit for employees who are looking for flexibility or reduced commute times. Video chat enables these remote employees to continue to communicate on files with the same nuances as they would in-person. This ensures a cohesive company culture even for those outside the office walls.
- Some title companies have developed business continuity plans in the event of a natural disaster so that employees can continue to operate as-usual from their homes if an office is closed due to a flood, fire, earthquake, or other natural disaster. A video chat feature allows employees to communicate directly on files as they would in-person.
- Other title companies have identified video chat as a way to communicate on files when employees take their work home and wish to collaborate on files outside of the office during non-business hours.
The specifics of Qualia’s video chat feature
Qualia Video Chat is built directly into the Qualia platform to enable title & escrow professionals to call or video chat about a particular file without leaving their core software. With Qualia Video Chat, title & escrow professionals can:
- Replicate the experience of a team meeting through the use of group video chats.
- Keep communication secure by using video and audio tools built directly into Qualia’s SOC-2 and ISO 27001 certified platform.
- Work collaboratively on files through screen sharing and face-to-face interactions while working remotely.
- Quickly access their colleagues and chat face-to-face with one click of a button.
- Maintain productivity and efficiency by chatting directly through Qualia’s platform instead of opening up a third-party video conferencing tool.
To learn more about Qualia’s new video chat feature, click below to schedule a time to speak with a Qualia Specialist.
