"This product is 100 per cent worthy of at least a demo - it really does have everything"

The modern world is full of software, and nowhere more so, it feels, than in estate agency. So to help you decipher the Super Marios from the Pac-Mans, we sent our Secret Agent out to test one of the latest products on the market - EncoreLive

Over the past three years I have reviewed all kinds of services and products, all of which are attempting to break into the world of estate agency, and this month, the search for my next 'victim' has led me back into the estate agency software sector.

Back in April 2006 I reviewed Encore estate agency software from Core Systems and they scored a massive nine out of 10, so when they launched the new version of their software, EncoreLive, at the back end of last year, I was keen to see how the new product stacked up against the highly rated old one.

What made the old Encore software so successful was its simplistic approach in delivering a whole range of quite complex processes that are designed to make your life as an estate agent (from negotiator up to director level), easier and more profitable. But could they continue to do this with a completely overhauled product? Or would they lose the essence of the old master that was Encore in trying to add more features? Read on to find out?

At first glance there is no mistaking that this product has been brought up-to-date visually. As impressive as the old Encore was, it was less than flattering in the visuals department, with the front screen concentrating more on the ease of use angle than the easy on the eye angle. EncoreLive has a much more contemporary feel.

Once open, I would liken navigating around inside the software to being more like using an operating system than to using a piece of software. Let me explain what I mean. Take Windows as your operating system. When you use your computer and you navigate around Windows using different programs such as Word, Excel, Internet Explorer etc, you don't actually realise that you are using 'Windows' to do anything, as it is the 'other programs' like Word that you are using to complete tasks. And then once you have finished your task, for instance, writing a letter, you close Word down and open something else to carry out your next task - such as surfing the Internet.

This is very useful for 'multi-tasking' in the sense that if you need to surf the Internet for something whilst you are only half way through writing your letter, you can just do that in a new window, then close the window and go back to writing your letter - and this is how EncoreLive feels. This is not an exclusive feature to EncoreLive, as many of the estate agency software providers would claim that you can do this in their software too, and you can. It just somehow feels better and comes more naturally in this one.

The main benefit of all this is that you basically open windows to complete certain tasks and those windows will stay open until you decide that you've completed that task and close the window. So in a busy office environment, you can multi-task very effectively without forgetting to go back to what you were doing earlier, as is so often the case.

The next thing I wanted to investigate on the system was its responsiveness. Again, the old Encore scored very highly on this note. For this, I decided to enter myself as an applicant on the system and go from there. Even without any formal training this was very straight-forward but what happened next was nothing short of brilliant.

Literally, three to four seconds after I finished entering my property requirements on the system, a detailed list of properties appeared on the bottom half of the screen that the negotiator could run through with me as the registering applicant. That however is not the brilliant bit. As the list comes up, you are given a few of the usual options of sending it out to the applicant by post or email, I clicked email and within seconds, the email - featuring all of the matching properties (approximately 20) - was delivered into my inbox - the reason it came through so fast? The email, complete with images was only 182k - barely bigger than a Word doc! That's what is brilliant!

The way in which EncoreLive does this is very clever. When you save your photos onto the system they are probably high resolution pictures. The system recreates them in several different sizes and then automatically uses the correct sizes for the chosen use. For instance, if you decide to go into a property record and create a printed brochure, it will use much higher and larger images than if you decide to email the details out, yet both will look just as crisp.

There are many more features in EncoreLive that I could talk about, but we only have so much room so I'm going to touch on one last point that is vital to the product.

When I reviewed the old Encore back in 2006 the only fault I could find with it was that you couldn't access the system remotely and in a time where web-based databases that can be accessed from anywhere in the world are becoming more and more important, this was a big downer. Core Systems' argument for this and one that they felt, and still do feel very strongly about, was that you cannot get the speed, fluidity and functions in a web-based product that you can in its desktop counterpart, however they have managed to find a solution.

EncoreLive is still a client server application, meaning that it is installed on one of your computers as opposed to being based on the web. However, it now has the functionality to be accessed from the Internet, meaning that no matter where you are, you can gain access into the system and see everything you would if you were in the office.

This function, for me, takes EncoreLive to another level and makes it almost impossible to mark down in my scoring, some of the functions I've unfortunately been unable to speak about here are quite mind blowing. Take it from me, this product is 100 per cent worthy of at least a demo - it really does have everything and yes, they have managed to keep the Encore simplicity!