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48 Carrington Holding Company, Mr. Cooper Group, and other servicers to learn how they handled and are continuing to work through historic challenges, even as volumes began peaking due to the record number of forbearances. LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY Technology topped the list of concerns when management at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp., an interim servicer, decided to shift to a work-from-home environment in mid-March, said Kim Yowell, EVP for Servicing. Since the move was made before any shelter-in-place orders were invoked, the servicer was able to dispatch an IT specialist to aid with initial setup of laptops and docking stations (taken from the office). Other servicers also had IT heavily involved to ensure the technology worked at home much as it did in the office. Another option, contained in an advisory from the National Mortgage Servicing Association (NMSA), are newer infrastructure services, such as Desktop- as-a-Service (DaaS), which are designed to securely connect and scale remote workforces without business disruptions. Amazon Workspaces is one example, which has encryption protocols to encrypt client-based traffic in transit and at rest. Many servicers simply moved equipment like laptops, docking stations, desktops, and headsets from offices to home environments, with IT helping with any setup issues. A few servicers, including Mr. Cooper and AHP Servicing, purchased additional laptops and similar equipment for workers to use at home prior to moving their workforces. Kenneth Daniel, President of AHP Servicing, said it was fortuitous that the company moved early on those purchases. As servicers and other businesses moved their workforces from centralized offices to remote work, laptops, monitors, and similar equipment became difficult or impossible to find and delivery times were extended from a day or two to weeks or more. Doherty added that the immediate concerns were ensuring that staff had internet communications and dual monitors needed to perform their jobs. After meeting those immediate needs—particularly as volume spiked with the jump in forbearances the first few weeks of the pandemic—the company started addressing more minor issues like keyboards, advanced headsets, etc. "We wanted to go from just the basics to get the job done to an optimal work environment," Doherty said. "While most of the country has access to broadband communications, that isn't the case in certain pockets. We had to see who had solid internet connections," Doherty told DS News. "For those who didn't have them, we started handing out Wi-Fi devices so that they had solid connections." Patrick Coon, Senior Managing Director, Servicing for Home Point Financial Corp., said, that while all staff was already equipped with laptops and monitors prior to the pandemic, Home Point offered a stipend for remote employees to offset costs associated with working from home. Servicers who were using cloud-based communication systems said they offered advantages because all they had to do was move headsets or headset/handset combinations to another location with internet connectivity to mimic the office telecommunications environment. Jane Mason, CEO of Clarifire, said that there are other, smaller communications issues that have been new to people suddenly working from home, such as proper lighting and appropriate attire for video calls. COLLABORATION IS KEY Most servicers are conducting team meetings via Zoom (the most popular option among the servicers that DS News interviewed), Google Meets, or similar applications, with many conducting more team and more one-on-one meetings than they had previously to help ensure that everyone is engaged and feels they are integral in their companies. "We want our team members to know that they are vital to us," Doherty said. She added that one strong indicator of how Mr. Cooper Group's managers are engaging with teams are the results of the pulse surveys the company conducts. e surveys are used to solicit employee feedback on a variety of issues to help the company continue to improve its employee engagement. Last year, 70% of workers replied to one survey that they felt a "family" or "team" feeling within "The biggest adjustment to working remotely has been determining the right amount of communication to keep everyone in the know. We want to be transparent, but we do not want to overwhelm people with communication." —Dawn Adams, SVP of Default Servicing, RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing Corp. Cover Story By: Phil Britt