Starting today, you can assign any order to an AMC, appraisal firm or appraiser without switching accounts. We also added a way to limit the number of times an order is automatically reassigned. And we’ve added Revision Turn Time as a weighting factor to use in your Vendor Selection Settings. For those of you who need to order from a combination of AMCs, appraisal firms and appraisers, this update should make you faster and more efficient right away. Read on for the highlights, and you can see the release notes here.
AMC/Firm fee panel
You'll now see a dedicated section in your fee panel for AMCs and appraisal firms. You can add these organizations and assign orders to them as you would any appraiser, but there are some important differences.
First, you may only assign orders to an AMC/Firm which has already been added to your fee panel. Mercury makes it easy to find and add a specific AMC/Firm or build a custom fee panel that's tailored for your needs - just like you do with other vendors. Another difference is that, when you add an AMC/Firm to your fee panel, they'll receive an invitation which they'll need to accept before you can assign orders to them. However, you will still be able to see their profile, review documents, mark them ineligible, and set up their products and fees as you would any appraiser.
While we were adding these features to the fee panel, it made sense to give it a facelift too. More than just a fresh coat of paint, we worked hard on details like making buttons clearer, the layout more intuitive, and everything easier on the eyes. We hope you like it, and we look forward to hearing what you think!
If you've been using an EVF account to order solely from AMCs, this part of the update won't change anything about your workflow. For everyone else, we hope you enjoy the improvements immediately.
New options for placing and reassigning orders
When placing a new order or reassigning an existing order, you have new options for choosing an AMC/Firm or appraiser. On a new order, you'll see options to select either Appraiser or AMC/Firm which allows you to switch vendor type on the fly - as long as you have the necessary user permissions. Similarly if you're selecting a vendor, you'll find a new setting to the right of Modify selection settings which lets you easily change vendor types. Whenever you make a change, it will be noted in the order history.
Vendor Selection Settings
There's a new section for AMC/Firms in your Vendor Selection Settings, giving you the same level of control over AMC/Firm selection that you've always had for appraisers. While we were adding that, we visually updated your Vendor Selection Settings with the same goals of clarity, ease of use, and intuitiveness as the aforementioned fee panel makeover.
Plus, we added some brand new options for even tighter oversight. You're now able to select default vendors for each product type, and you can filter vendors by revision turn time. For example, you can quickly assign all commercial products to an AMC/Firm, while sending residential orders to individual appraisers. It's easily configured in your Vendor Selection Settings by clicking
Default Vendors.
Vendor Selection Settings is also where you'll find a new setting that gives you more control over how Mercury automatically reassigns orders to an AMC/Firm or appraiser.
Reassignment limits
This new control allows you to limit the number of times an attempt is made to reassign an order. You determine the number of times the order should attempt reassignment, then, if that number is reached you’ll be notified so you can pick an appraiser or assign to an AMC/Firm. You can set this threshold for appraisers in your Vendor Selection Settings, per-product (in Product Requirements) or on a per-order basis when you click Modify selection settings. Plus, if you're using a VMP XSite, you can set this limit per client group for even greater flexibility. However you apply it, this tool lets you use automatic assignment knowing that you're in complete control.
New Revision turn time weighting factor
There's a new factor in your Intelligent Selection System called Revision turn time. This lets you take into account the time it took the vendor to return revisions after they were requested. You can set a preferred time between one hour - five days, then drag the factor up and down in the list to work along with your existing factors so you can be sure the right vendor will be chosen every time. Plus, if you are using this factor in your Intelligent Selection System, it'll also be visible as a star rating in your vendors' profiles so you can quickly evaluate their performance - including your AMC/Firm vendors!
VMP XSite client group assignment
If you're using client groups in your VMP XSite, you'll be able to set any client group to always assign orders to AMC/Firms. It's a great way to control order assignment while reducing clicks to become more efficient.
Additional VMP XSite features
In your VMP XSite's Automatic Assignment Settings, you'll see an AMC/Firm Assignment Options section which allows you to control automated settings specifically for AMC/Firms. These are the same options you’ve always had for an appraiser, and now you can control them for all your AMC/Firms.
Similarly, there's a new AMC/Firm tab in your Status Mapping Configuration so you can customize how status messages flow between your client and the AMC/Firm. This lets you rely on Mercury's automation with complete confidence that your order communications are consistent with your workflow and exactly as you intended.
We hope you'll find that these new features expand your order assignment options while increasing the control you have over Mercury's automated features. As usual, we based these improvements on your feedback, so keep it coming to info@MercuryVMP.com.