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TALCB says Realm portal is stabilizing but call hold times remain high
Summary
Staff reported that the new Realm license-management portal is moving from implementation to maintenance after closing about 100 of ~104 critical tickets; board pressed staff on long customer-service hold times (March average >51 minutes) and options to reduce waits including dedicated staffing, webinars, and reporting changes.
Agency staff told the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board that the new Realm license-management portal is nearing transition from implementation to maintenance after a difficult launch and a steady stream of technical fixes.
"We started with about 104 critical tickets in January and we've closed about 100," the executive director said, describing daily engagement with vendor Accela and an ongoing focus on data conversion and remaining technical items. Staff said the migration is stabilizing and that automation is replacing many manual processes that were in place after launch.
Despite progress on technical issues, the board heard that customer-service performance remains a problem. Staff reported an agency-wide average customer hold time in March of more than 51 minutes; mid-month figures have improved into the teens, but the stated agency goal is a two-minute hold time. Board members pressed staff on options including temporary hires, a dedicated TALCB phone line or dedicated staffing on the TALCB line, webinars and video guidance to reduce routine calls, and better call-routing to avoid TREC callers reaching TALCB staff.
Staff also said they are reviewing how to report processing times more transparently — moving from a "touch time" metric to a full-cycle measure from application submission through license issuance — and that a processing-time report is not yet available but will be worked on in coming months.
Board members noted staff strain, recent hiring to fill vacancies in the customer-response division, and recommended further analysis of budget options to support targeted staffing or temporary help during peak periods. Staff encouraged licensees with unresolved issues to contact board members directly if necessary for escalation and said staff will continue to try short-term operational adjustments while pursuing longer-term automation improvements with the vendor.
No formal action was taken; staff will continue to report metrics to the board and examine options to reduce hold times.
