This spring a new, Law Society-backed, e-conveyancing system will launch – Veyo. There’s been a lot of hype and speculation about the product over the past few months, so Today’s Conveyancer asked Elliott Vigar, Chief Executive of Veyo, for the facts.
How long have developers been working on Veyo?
“We have a significant team here and in India – our partner Mastek is based there and that’s where a lot of the development work has taken place. There was an initial phase of development that was undertaken when Mastek was appointed as a supplier to the Law Society – that was the foundation stone. Then, when we entered a joint venture with Mastek in June 2014, that IP was transferred into LPT, the holding company behind Veyo, and from that point in time Veyo has been developing the product in partnership with Mastek. So as a joint venture it’s been worked on since summer 2014 but a significant amount of the core development work was done prior to that.”
How will Veyo benefit conveyancers?
“We can help conveyancers reduce cost and time in serving clients and provide functionality that will assist them in doing so more efficiently. That’s not to say conveyancers aren’t currently serving their clients well but, research shows, consumers are looking for more technologically-enabled routes into house buying. So this product is of its time. The market is ready for it and consumers expect it.”
When does it launch?
“Our target date as it stands is around the end of March 2015 – that will be our first release. Then, throughout 2015, we’ll be making tweaks, based on the user experience, and bringing in some other functionality. We want to continually improve the product – we will put out the product we think is credible and meets our stated aims when we go live but that doesn’t mean that is, forever and a day, the product. It will change and develop throughout 2015 and beyond. In five years’ time, who knows what technology will be available to us?”
Is it user-friendly?
“Yes – our philosophy has been around how good apps are designed. If you get a good app on your iPhone you don’t need reams of user information because it’s designed to be easy to use. Obviously we will be providing technical support in the form of information libraries and videos and a helpdesk but fundamentally Veyo is designed so that users should be able to easily understand it and utilise it. Bear in mind it’s built on a system which conveyancers use anyway – the conveyancing process they work with day in and day out – but just visualised on-line.
“There’s this cliché that solicitors are slow to adapt to new technology and conservative in their purchasing but I do believe that’s a cliché. Yes, there will be some conveyancers who resist. Equally we speak regularly with conveyancers who see this as the future and want to embrace technology and change where it benefits their business.”
Do you know what costing will be yet?
“We haven’t released that as yet – we should be in a position to do so very shortly.”
Will joining Veyo be a precondition to ongoing membership of CQS?
“No – the two offers are very much separate. CQS is an accreditation scheme which is fundamentally predicated on quality within conveyancing whereas Veyo is a communication tool which enables disparate but linked elements of the conveyancing market to work together towards a common and shared aim – that is, effectively conveyancing properties along a chain. With Veyo, we’re looking to create a trusted community via a due diligence process which will very much focus on probity. So there is no precondition to be in CQS to be part of Veyo and likewise there is no precondition to be in Veyo to be in CQS. There may be some shared elements of process common to both schemes but they are separate. Conveyancers who are solicitors can be members of either, neither or both.”
Does Veyo have ambitions to replace CQS?
“There’s no ambition to replace CQS – either on the Law Society’s part or on Veyo’s part. Obviously CQS is a prerequisite of membership for a number of lenders’ panels and, as long as lenders and stakeholders continue to value it, it will continue. Of course, over time and with new technology and developments in the market, CQS will evolve and change – Veyo will do the same. And at some point in the future the market may make certain decisions based on what the market wants but that’s for the future and that’s for the market.”
How secure is the Veyo website in terms of client confidentiality?
“That is something we were mindful of from the very start of the development process and which we discussed with the working groups of conveyancers who have given us feedback on the product as we’ve gone along. And I can guarantee you that there is no way – through either design or omission – that confidential or privileged information can be shared with people or entities not entitled to see it.”
How will Veyo integrate with existing case management providers?
“There are a plethora of different case management offerings out there and firms have spent time and money integrating them with their businesses – we understand that. We have developed a very constructive dialogue with the LSSA – the Legal Software Suppliers Association – which represents all the major case management providers and certainly the main players within conveyancing. Over the past months, we’ve had a number of productive meetings with them and, in mid-January 2015, our programme director went up to Coventry and met with a significant majority of their members to discuss integration issues around Veyo. And my understanding is that there’s a will and a willingness among case management providers to work with Veyo on integration.
“We’ve said, right from the start, that working with case management providers is something we’re committed to and we’re working towards a position where we can publish our API’s for those case management companies willing to be the first adopters of Veyo.
“I suspect, as with anything, that there are some case management companies which will turn integration around in a pretty short period of time and, for various reasons, others that will take longer. But all we can do from our side is work with everyone who wants to work with us and be open about our desire to achieve integration with them – to provide the tools and information to do that.”
Is there going to be an open API standard available for other software and technology providers to hook into Veyo?
“Yes, we are working to an open standard and we will publish our API’s to enable any software provider to understand how they can work with us.”
Have you begun integration with any search companies yet?
“We’ve started the conversation but in order for there to be integration we need a product that is finished – we are currently going through testing and there may be changes and improvements and bugs we’ll fix before launch. So we can’t, obviously, offer up a product that may change for integration – that wouldn’t work. When we launch and have a final, stable product, then we will integrate. We’ll clearly have a finished product before launch and as soon as we do we’ll be in a position to say to the case management and search companies: ‘Here is the product; here are the standards and here are the API’s – let’s get going.”
Will there be any push from the Law Society to ensure its members sign up to Veyo?
“There’s going to be a push, of course – the Law Society has invested in Veyo because it believes in the functionality and the offer that Veyo will bring to market. It will advocate Veyo and seek to extol its virtues to its membership and to others within the conveyancing community through its governance and marketing and events.
“But will it seek to strong arm or force its members to sign up to Veyo? No, it won’t. That isn’t the intention and I don’t think that’s something the society could do even if wanted to.
“Clearly if other stakeholders, such as lenders and insurers and panel managers, take a view that Veyo offers them something new in terms of how they interface with conveyancers then they themselves may take a decision as to the desirability of conveyancers using Veyo. That’s for them to decide – lenders decided that CQS was a requirement for some of their panels so who knows what will happen in the future? Insurers, likewise, may seek to question why conveyancing firms aren’t using Veyo if they perceive that it brings something to that party.
“I don’t know what the future holds – that’s for the market. But, obviously, the market is more than just conveyancers and Veyo – there are other players with other agendas who will influence how this product evolves and is used.”
Will we see Veyo in action before launch?
“There are very few software companies that put themselves on offer to the market before launch – both from a competitive and credibility perspective. I recognise there’s a great desire to see this thing – it’s been promised for a long time and talked about and hyped and challenged and questioned. People want to see what all the noise is about. But, at the same time, I think people would prefer that when they see the product it is ready and polished rather than a video of a product that is still going through development and testing. So end of March – that’s the timeframe within which we plan to launch and that’s when people will see Veyo in action for the first time.”
For more information about Veyo, please visit www.veyo.co.uk.
