AskPorter has set out plans to become “as indispensable as the portals” to the property market as it gets set to launch  a ‘Porter Pioneers’ programme that will see it help automate the workflow of lettings agents and other firms in the sector.

Curran McKay, chief commercial officer for AskPorter, which received financial backing from Google last year, said the search engine’s home assistant technology will be used to develop new software that would help with agency tasks such as arranging viewings and vetting tenants.

AskPorter already provides a concierge service that lets tenants report maintenance issues through an artificial intelligence chatbot, but last year revealed it was launching a ‘Porter Pioneers’ programme with 15 firms, including five high street agents, to go live next month.

The programme will go live in either February or March, and McKay has outlined further to EYE how it will work.

The initial stage will involve site visits and meetings with tenancy progression teams at their offices, to get an idea of the needs of a participant and the types of documents and processes they have to complete.

Participants will get 20 hours of face-to-face meetings and weekly calls over the first two months to understand the operations of an agent and how the AskPorter digital assistant can help.

A custom-made artificial intelligence tool will then be created for each ‘pioneer’ in the third and fourth month which can be developed with focus groups before being soft launched in month five and six.

There will then be a discussion on working together in the future, with the agents and AskPorter assessing success of the scheme based on metrics such as the increase in business or rents and customer satisfaction.

McKay said the technology will be tailored to the needs of the individual firms but explained that it would have the ability to take details of interested tenants, record maintenance requests, arrange viewings and arrange and check rent payments.

The software will have the agents’ own branding and tenants will be able to access it either on the phone, via text message or online.

He said: “The idea is that we will take the strain from the mundane but necessary tasks, so users can concentrate on adding value and building their portfolio without having to add extra costs.

“For example, an agent will be able to come to work in the morning with verified leads rather than just a bunch of enquiries.

“The goal is to be as indispensable for an agent as one of the portals.”

AskPorter will work purely with the pioneers for six months before rolling out the technology to the wider market.

McKay said the pioneers will be charged on a consultancy basis for six months and afterwards any users would pay an amount agreed based on the savings being made.