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62 I N D U S T R Y I N S I G H T / A L A N J A F F A As property technology innovation continues, field services companies must ensure they don't lose their commitment to the human element along the way. As the U.S. economy remains strong, some experts predict that the housing market trends experienced in 2018—inventory shortage, rising interest rates, and rising home prices—will continue into 2019. ey also predict that the number of people who choose to rent will rise as higher mortgage rates limit affordability when buying a home. Some people will be financially unable or unqualified to buy and will have to continue renting. Defaults are projected to reach record lows, and some industry experts do not believe the U.S. will experience another foreclosure crisis anytime soon. Economists and housing experts also predict that technology will have a significant impact on the housing market not just this year, but in the years to come. Proptech—short for property technology—will lead to significant innovations in the real estate industry. In the mortgage field services industry, a thriving economy and stable housing market have prompted field service companies to expand and evolve their services to meet the changing dynamics of the default and foreclosure market. Fewer mortgage defaults mean a significantly lower volume of foreclosed properties, and as volumes continue to decrease, field servicers must innovate to survive. INNOVATION AND CUSTOMER COMMITMENT e cliché that necessity is the mother of invention certainly holds true, as mortgage field services companies must now work to find ways to keep their businesses afloat. Often, they take this downtime as an opportunity to utilize new technologies to improve processes and increase quality. However, the focus should not be solely on developing technologies. Field services companies need to ensure that they continue to provide optimum customer service and other amenities that foster good client relations to remain successful while default property volumes are low. Over the past several years, the mortgage servicing industry and its field services partners have significantly benefitted from advances in technology. Mobile devices have completely changed the way field services companies do business, and they continue to help improve timelines and enhance the quality of the data submitted to mortgage servicing clients. Field services companies have taken advantage of the "smartness" of smart devices to build controls into their processes to ensure that work is done right the first time. Another technological trend that helped propel field services is geo-location technology. When taking a photo with a mobile device, it captures the longitude and latitude of where that photo was taken. Field services companies have created applications to capture that data and apply it to the front-of-house photo requirement to ensure the inspector or vendor is at the correct property. If the photo is taken outside a pre-determined number of feet, it sets off a red flag within the app, prompting a request for additional location information from the vendor or inspector within the app. ese apps also can collect date- and time-stamp data to help eliminate the possibility of vendors or inspectors accidentally using an old or duplicate photo. Video and panoramic photo results to complement photo requirements for high-risk property conditions and integrated workflow systems are the latest innovations from the field services industry. Companies also are looking into using drones, and possibly robotics or artificial intelligence (AI), in the future. e industry has made great strides in using technology to generate more efficient results and improve the quality of services. Field services companies need to refine and improve their processes as new technologies emerge. Technology has propelled the industry from notepads and waiting days for field results to mobile devices transmitting near real-time

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