Technology changing the skip tracing game

Skip tracing is currently among the many industries going through a transitional period, thanks to the growing role of technology and new methods to track people's whereabouts. According to experts in the field, skip tracing relies heavily on an automated process by using methods that include batch-based skipping and skip trace waterfalls. With more and more people using mobile telephones and internet communications, the effort to collect debt has become a trickier game for those in the industry. "One of the most significant changes affecting skip tracing today is the way in which consumers prefer to communicate. Fewer and fewer consumers today are using traditional landlines and are instead opting for mobile phones," wrote David Ingram, the director of marketing for Experian on the Collections Credit Risk website. "They are also communicating more and more via text messaging, email and social media. Consumers moving away from landlines and relying more on web and mobile technologies to communicate has resulted in significant challenges for skip tracing and the debt-collection industry as a whole." One of those who was formerly in the skip tracing industry is Frank Ahearn. The New York Daily News reports that Ahearn is using the skills previously learned to track down those in debt and help them learn how to become untraceable to debt collectors.