A new face at DRI: Newport Beach, Calif.-based DRI Management Systems, a well-known default tech provider, said last week that Fred Melgaard — a Nordic name if we’ve ever seen one — joined the company as executive vice president, where he’ll lead the charge with existing and new customers at the firm. Melgaard’s appointment is noteable not only because of his industry experience, but because he joined DRI from Harland Financial Solutions, an origination tech provider. Byte this: LOS providers are increasingly looking to integrate across the origination process, and Kirkland, Wash.-based Byte Software is the latest to join in the growing trend. The company said that it has launched ByteLink, a new partner interface program that facilitates the ordering of real estate settlement services from within BytePro, its flagship loan origination software. Mortgagebot puts Family First: Mortgagebot, an Internet-based solution that simplifies and streamlines the mortgage lending process for consumers, said last week that Family First Federal Credit Union had implemented the software for its members to fill out an online credit app and go through the approval process. The company seems to be adding plenty of new customers, as originators look to automate the front-end of the lending process as an easy way to gain efficiency. Another tech partnership involving Calyx: Who isn’t partnering with Calyx these days on the origination side of the biz? SearchMyLoan.com, a New York-based online loan product and pricing engine, said last week that it had completed a “strategic integration” with San Jose, Calif.-based Calyx Software’s well-known Point LOS software. The company said that Point users could use SearchMyLoan.com to “access to more than 13,000 lender products and programs,” and that “subscribers can get immediate answers to loan scenarios from their preferred lenders and investors without leaving the loan file in Point.” Titan integrates with MERS: Titan Lenders Corp., a LOS provider, has integrated the MERS platform for electronic mortgage registration with its flagship Cerberyx platform, automating both the registration and transfer of mortgage loan assignments for its customers. “Unlike MERS registration capabilities found in most loan origination systems (LOS), the Titan Lenders Corp integration not only registers the loan, but also validates the assigned Mortgage Identification Number,” the company touted in its press statement. “Lenders using MERS through Titan’s Cerberyx platform are free from concerns related to erroneous registrations.” It’s tough for us as a media outlet to verify the veracity of these sorts of claims — we especially love it when LOS providers come up with another name for “LOS” and say they’re the only one one offering whatever new acronym set they’ve invented — but if Titan’s claims are true, we’ll admit to being very surprised that other LOS platforms don’t do similar loan-level validation. It’s also more proof that assessing the relative strengths and weaknesses of various LOS vendors can be a challenging, but absolutely critical, task. Editor’s note: Tech Roundup runs each Monday morning, and offers a look at key tech news and trends from throughout the week. To have your company’s news considered for inclusion here, send an email with your press statement to [email protected].