RALEIGH, N.C. — Because of so much interest in a new open-source, freeware version of its IBEAM Web portal coming to the agent and lender community, Consolidated Asset Recovery Systems is planning a free Webinar to explain the product.

CARS management will conduct an hour-long session beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.

The company highlighted this new version of IBEAM — available after Sunday — will be specific to repossession and invoice management, providing all the capabilities of asset tracking, real-time monitoring of updates, online condition reports and complete transparency throughout the recovery process.

CARS explained the new freeware version of IBEAM will be offered at no charge to any lender and any repossession agent who is an active member of the following trade organizations:

—Time Finance Adjusters
—National Finance Adjusters
—Allied Finance Adjusters
—American Recovery Association

The company is currently working with NFA to assure the needs of the agent community are met with the pledge that offering IBEAM at no cost to trade organization members will allow Consolidated Asset Recovery Systems to align the interests of all trade organizations and their members.

Consolidated Asset Recovery Systems chief executive officer Steve Norwood went on to stress this new offering also will include all of the platform's standard capabilities for repossession management and invoice management with the exception of real-time agent score-carding.

Additional services, such as skip-tracing, legal, remarketing and more will be offered for additional fees through IBEAM Professional, a self-managed suite of services built around the IBEAM freeware, or IBEAM Enterprise, managed outsourced services built around the freeware, and including unique functionality for large enterprise lenders.

Norwood indicated agents using the technology will be able to self manage direct relationships with lenders, receive forwarded assignments from CARS and offer additional revenue-producing services traditionally not available directly from agents.

"This technology is very aligned with the agent community, and we hope it will become standard in the marketplace," Norwood stressed.

"Our goal was to provide a robust platform for repossession management at no cost to the market, allowing agents to have access to software for managing their direct relationships with lenders," he added.

Interested agents and lenders can register for the free Webinar here.

For information about Consolidated Asset Recovery Systems, visit www.ez-recovery.com.