Constellation1, a real estate technology and data services provider and part of the Constellation Real Estate Group, announced implementing the Real Estate Standards Organization’s (RESO) new standard called webhooks, on Monday.
Constellation1, which provides front office, back office and data services to real estate brokerages, franchises and MLSs, began the implementation as a pilot program, working with RE/MAX in its test phase.
Webhooks describes a real-time one-way communication that is faster and more efficient than accessing data through polling, which involves a client requesting new data from a provider’s server repeatedly, whether such data is available or not.
According to a company release, webhooks improve delivery and availability of data across the real estate industry. “The development of push notifications and webhooks will decrease costs and increase speed for consumers and professionals alike,” said Sam DeBord, CEO of RESO.
Webhooks generate these notifications and sends to clients through an API as soon as new data comes in, such as a new listing or a change in price. This eliminates the need for frequent polling for real-time data from clients.
Webhooks will also enable faster data speeds, minimize errors during an overload of requests, give clients access to self-serve subscription models and save cost on infrastructure, the release says.
“Webhooks let clients access real-time MLS data and sets a new standard for reliability and scalability the industry hasn’t seen before,” said Andrew Binkley, president of Constellation1.
Webhooks was a pilot project launched by Constellation1 and RE/MAX was one of the companies that participated in its initial test phase. RE/MAX’s Director of Data Operations and Strategy Dan Troup said the project, which applies Simple Notification Service (SNS) to real estate, “intrigued him.”
“I was happy to test this proof of concept with Constellation1 and validate event-based communications could have a future as a RESO standard,” Troup added.