UK conveyancing services company, Hammonds Direct, has
teamed up with its software supplier, Skywire Software, to develop
an automated system for creatinghome information packs (HIPs)to offer
a fast, and transparent service as a secondary revenue
stream.
However, Tim Smith, technical architect at Hammonds Direct, said
the service developed with Skywire Software, is expected to deliver
a return on investment within two years to rival and even surpass
the company's primary source of revenue.
In June 2007, the UK government introduced legislation requiring
home sellers to supply a HIP for the sale of residential properties
with three or more bedrooms.
Smith said Hammonds Direct had identified the introduction of
HIPs as a business opportunity. The company approached Skywire, the
supplier of its
document management software, as a partner in the project.
"We chose Skywire because we wanted a system that would
interface with our existing Documanage software, which our research
showed was one the best available," said Smith.
The system will allow customers to access their HIPs online to
view key documents and monitor progress to completion, he said.
The system was built on Skywire's Docuflex publishing, Transall
data management, and Docupresentment software to automatically
create, print, and publish online using information in the Hammonds
Direct's existing Documanage database.
Smith said the system's high level of automation guaranteed a
high level of quality and enabled the fastest possible compilation
and printing of the HIPs at the lowest possible cost because of the
low level of human intervention.