Client requires ACI HotSpot Delivery Client

[Tejus]

A client recently required I install the ACI HotSpot Delivery Client to deliver reports to them. When I asked what HotSpot did and why I need it, the answer was

"The ACI Hotspot is required to work with us so you can use our website to do all of the functions that you need to do."

I called the ACI tech support team and asked what the ACI HotSpot Delivery Client does. They stuttered and stammered, used phrases like "streamline usage" but were unable to provide a simple clear description of what it does and why it is required.

There are so many issues with the ACI (and other appraisal sw vendors) software that I do not want to install the ACI delivery client (or other appraisal sw). I further do not want to install this if the Client and author cannot identify what it does and why I need it.

Has anyone installed this? What does it do?

From what I've been able to piece together, the ACI HotSpot Delivery Client looks like another unneeded sw product which is being sold thru marketing hype to naïve clients.

The ACI HotSpot Upload Guide says you need to:
- login to the vendors site.
- select upload appraisal report.
- enter the branch and order number.
- click submit.
- the ACI HotSpot window will load on your pc.
- ACI HotSpot downloads updates and verifies controls.
- browse for file.
- select process option, may take several minutes.
- confirm license with ASC.gov
- click deliver
- if any errors appear, then need to correct them.
- click deliver

The people who designed this must be brain dead. It looks like they are trying to distribute processing onto each user's machine. This will be a maintenance nightmare to keep running.

Everything they are attempting to do could be handled more effectively by:
- login to the clients web site.
- select the assignment
- upload the report.
- run whatever processing utilities the client wants (only maintain the client's web site rather than all the users pc's)
- provide the results to the user.

This is what most clients do today (with the exception of providing the results to the user).

I agree the client should make their validation tools available for testing, but this should be a button on their web site which the appraiser may select, identify the report to validate and provide the results to the user.

This is another example of a brain dead design that is going to result in more problems for the client and their user community.

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

They want a pdf they can convert to an ACI report so they can QA check it to their criteria. Then it will convert to an xml file after corrections and send the ACI report and the xml file to the client. Is this from STARS or Dataquick? Just wait until you try to use it. It will take 10-15 minutes to convert it and QA the report, then it will not pass on some stupid line and you will have to make a new pdf, re-load the new pdf, wait for the new conversion for another 10-15 minutes and then if it passes, send their reports to the client.

I will not work for any client that requires HotSpot. Life is too short to deal with HotSpot. I have the ability to send a pdf and xml without their help.

 

[Mile High Trout]

In laymens terms:

Our automated scrubber programming is so rudimentary you have to take in the software, because we can't work with yours.

And what we're talking about here is something similar to alamode plugins.

Now personally I don't use plugins and won't purposefully solicit clients that require the use of scrubbers via automated plug in. The built in eo scrubber with alamode is well and good enough on it's own.

But that point being made; They're too cheap to buy into the alamode system probably.

I remember farzting through programs like the AP converter, the ACI converter, the lighthouse, the file type converters, etc, etc. What a waste of time and the clients were not even reliable.

Client unreliability and these automated scrubber systems go hand in hand because the premise of the function of the scrubber is to create performance matrixes to judge appraisal service based on automated pre set reporting criteria. In laymens terms, they're fishing for boilerplate so that there is an open door for putbacks when loans go south. Well that and the pr line about value added services. And appraisers line up to be the first one served.

 

[Tejus]

I spoke with the Client's staff. They claimed the ACI HotSpot Delivery Client upload took approx. 35-40 minutes. They also claimed there were pdf -> ACI -> xml conversions taking place. This concerns me because each conversion tends to lose info and mangle the report. The final report delivered to the client is not the report I created and I do not know what it contains.

After considering everything, I informed the Client there were too many issues related to the ACI HotSpot usage and I would not be able to perform these assignments til the issues were addressed.

Hopefully the Client will drop this mess and start using the industry std GSE UCDP MISMO XML format and a simple file transfer upload.

buene suerte.

 

[Carnivore]

After considering everything, I informed the Client there were too many issues related to the ACI HotSpot usage and I would not be able to perform these assignments til the issues were addressed.

buene suerte.

Excellent. FTR I refuse to use anything ACI. Tell the cliet to go to FNC AIport. Far easier and does everything they need without BS.

 

[JTip]

AI ready is money out of MY pocket. No thank you. I don't need another annual fee for the 'privilege' of using AI.

Hotspot is easy. Run IE as admin and it works in 4 minutes. I have my original signed report in the work file. What happens to it after it leaves me is out of my hands. That is why we have work files and paper/digital copies of our reports.

 

[Pittsburg_22_m]

So, ServiceLink? Their site is a piece of crap anyways. That plugin only runs in IE and fails about 75% of the time.