Scout is Vantaca's AI-powered tool. Based on the documents you allow it to access, Scout can provide answers to questions, generate document summaries, show instructions, and more. It uses a natural-language conversational interface, so you can simply ask questions about your association, management company, or Vantaca. Scout finds answers to your questions in the documents it can access and shows them to you in an easy-to-read format.
Think of Scout as an integrated research assistant within Vantaca, designed to make you more efficient by providing easy access to information and documents.
Management companies do not need to use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to convert text from images to machine-readable text. Vantaca does the work for you by converting your allowed documents into data that Scout AI can access.
Contents
Setup
Follow the instructions in the "Scout: Setup Guide" article that includes role permissions and documentation access.
When enabled and set up correctly, the Scout icon (1) shows in the Action Center menu.

How to Use Scout
To use Scout:
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Click the Scout icon (1) to open it. You can change its size by clicking Expand (2) to make It full-screen or clicking and dragging the Resize (3) button to the desired size.

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Select an Association (you can start typing the association's name in the field to find it quickly).
Note: The Association dropdown only includes associations that you have access to with your user portfolio.

After you select an association, suggested questions display which you can click to get immediate answers.

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Enter a question related to your association, management company, or Vantaca itself (see the Sample Questions section for inspiration).
Scout provides answers based on the documents it can access.
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After Scout provides an answer, click the Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down icon to let us know if you found the information you were looking for.
This helps Vantaca to improve Scout and is monitored regularly.

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Continue to ask questions as needed. You can navigate within Vantaca and come back to Scout, which will continue to display your conversation until you close it or start a new session. You can also reload the page to reset Scout.
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Click the following buttons if needed:

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History (1): See the History section.
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New (2): Closes the current conversation and starts a new one where you can select a different association.
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View Sources (3): See the View Sources section.
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History
Click the History tab to view all of your previous chats organized by month. The association related to each chat displays under the title.

When you use Scout in full-screen mode, the chat history displays on the left. Click the Back arrow (1) to exit the full screen.

Click the title of the chat to open the chat in Scout, where you can review it or continue to ask questions. Scout provides the title for each chat based on the content, but you can rename it to something more meaningful to you.
To change the title of a chat:
- Hover over the chat title to display the Ellipsis icon (...).
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Click the Ellipsis icon and select Rename.
The title becomes editable.
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Rename or edit the title and press Enter/Return on your keyboard.
View Sources
If you ask a question whose answer is derived from the association's Additional Info dataset or another uploaded document, the View Sources button displays after the answer. Click View Sources to open the Response Citations page.
The Response Citations page displays the following:
- Additional Info: If the source was from the association's Additional Info, the citation includes an Additional Info title and icon and the following information: Category, Group, Field, and Reason.

- General uploaded document: If the source was from an uploaded general document, the citation includes the title of the document, a document icon, and the page number of the related information.

If a response was derived from a combination of resources, the Additional Info citations display before the general documents.
If you want more information, click the source itself to open the document in a new tab.
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Vantaca Library Integration
In addition to using your allowed management company and association documents, Scout fully integrates with the Vantaca Library. This means that if you ask Scout questions about Vantaca (e.g. how to do something in the software, etc.), it searches the Vantaca Library to provide an answer. This integration is seamless (you don't have to do anything), and the data refreshes weekly so you can access new information quickly.
Note: The View Sources option does not display for answers derived from Vantaca Library articles, but the title of the source and a link are often included in the response itself.
Security
Scout can access the most current association documents and data while maintaining strict security protocols to protect sensitive information. It operates within the secure Vantaca CMP environment as a closed AI model and adheres to all existing security protocols. Scout can only access the documents in your system that you have granted access to. There are no third-party systems involved.
Sample Questions
The following tables list sample questions that should prompt a good response.
Vantaca
The following sample questions will prompt answers from documents in the Vantaca Library:
Questions
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How do I [insert Vantaca task]?
Examples:
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How do I create a letter template?
- How do I review reconciled payments?
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This question returns information about how to perform generic tasks that are not specific to a company's deep configuration, or for a client who kept their configuration similar to the suggested Vantaca template.
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Why should I consider Vantaca IQ? |
Scout can summarize and highlight marketing material. IQ items currently exist in the library, and as Vantaca's Marketing team provides more, you can use them to understand Vantaca's product landscape. |
Association Additional Information
The information in the Association Additional Information section is one of the most helpful sections for Scout questions if it is kept current. However, if it is not updated regularly, Scout will return inaccurate responses.
Note: The more granular an association's topics, the more helpful the responses.
Questions
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What are the rules for [insert association-determined rules]?
Examples:
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What are the pool hours?
- What are the rules for a lost FOB?
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You can pose questions about your association, and as long as the association's additional information documents include information about the topic, Scout will pull answers from the appropriate sections. There is no required structure.
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Does this neighborhood have [insert amenity]?
Examples:
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Does this neighborhood have a golf course?
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Does this association have a pool, marina, or fitness center?
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The amenity information section can vary widely by association and is great for quick reference through Scout.
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What is the violation fine structure in this association?
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Some financial information, such as violation fines and other fees may be included in the association's additional information documents. |
Document Research
Scout excels at document analysis and research using large data sets. Although it is primarily used for Association Guidelines and Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CCRs), it is also skillful with all document types.
Questions
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Is [insert violation reason] a violation in this community?
Examples:
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Are trash cans by roads a violation in this community?
- Are noise complaints a violation in this community?
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By answering this question, Scout can reduce research time during inspections and reduce homeowner calls about violations.
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Can a homeowner in this community do [insert action]?
Examples:
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Can a homeowner in this community build a fence without submitting a request?
- Are homeowners in this community allowed to paint their houses yellow?
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Scout can answer these questions to reduce support calls and emails about these subjects and also shorten the time for inspections in scenarios such as painting a house or building a fence.
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What are the quorum requirements in this community?
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Deeper research questions about voting or board requirements are often found in an association's Guidelines and CCRs. Scout can display this information without spending large amounts of time on research. |
Who is the board president and treasurer at this time?
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As long as documents contain the information and Scout has access to it, Scout can find and show the answer.
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Can I increase the association's assessment to $300 when their current assessment is $150?
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This question requires Scout to use deep research to understand the details of assessment increase rules.
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Employee Onboarding
Scout can help make the employee onboarding process seamless. As long as the management company has created an HR-type association or uploaded the HR documentation into any or all of its associations, then Scout can answer questions about Best Practices, Standard Operating Procedures, Escalation Processes, etc.
Questions
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What do I do when [insert situation]?
Examples:
- What do I do when I receive a fine?
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How do I escalate a support concern from a homeowner or board member?
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Scout can answer questions about escalations, work processes, etc., if the HR documents contain this information.
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What days are holidays in July?
How do I submit a PTO request?
Who is the support manager, and what is their email?
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Scout can answer these questions to reduce the manager's workload and save time for employees who do not have to find the documents and perform the research themselves. |
Generate Letters and Write Content
Scout is powered by a highly performant large language model (LLM). This means that Scout can analyze content for tone, grammar, and sentiment. However, given the right information, Scout can also generate content with a specified tone or sentiment.
Questions
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Write a professional and empathetic letter to homeowners informing them of an increase in annual assessment fees from $300/month to $350/month. The letter should explain the reasons for the increase, and emphasize:
- Support for future association improvements, and maintenance of existing contracts, such as landscaping and common area management.
- Use a tone that is firm yet understanding, acknowledging the potential financial impact on homeowners.
- Conclude with a positive outlook, reinforcing the value these changes bring to the community and inviting any questions or feedback.
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Keep the language concise, respectful, and community-focused.
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Prompts like this are powerful in association management to help communicate with large groups of people.
You can generate letters with any tone and for any topic.
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Draft a professional service contract between the Homeowners Association (HOA) and the Ground Barbers landscaping company for landscaping services to be provided from March 2025 to February 2026. The contract should include:
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Payment Terms: $150 per week from March through May, $300 per week from June through September, $150 per week from October through November, and $75 per week from December through February.
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Scope of Work: Outline typical landscaping duties, such as lawn maintenance, pruning, seasonal cleanup, and any other relevant services.
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Legal Compliance: Adhere to standard contract requirements and rules applicable in North Carolina.
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Key Clauses: Include provisions for termination, liability, dispute resolution, and renewal or renegotiation options.
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Additional Considerations: Add any standard elements of a professional service contract that I may have overlooked. -
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Ensure the language is clear, concise, and legally sound, with a balance of professionalism and simplicity.
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The LLM that powers Scout can provide content generation to use as a starting point for any sort of documentation. The resulting documentation is not legally binding in any way and should be validated and reviewed by professionals.
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FAQs
Q: Can Scout help me create content?
A: Scout can help draft emails, letters, summaries, and even create tables, charts, and graphs based on your input and association data. For example:

Q: Will Scout remember the questions asked in a thread?
A: Yes! For example, if you asked Scout about the association fee structure and then did some other work in Vantaca, you can return and ask, "Did the structure change?". Scout can check to see if anything changed while you were working. You can also return to the chat history and pick up a conversation at any time.
Q: What happens if Scout cannot find the answer to my question?
A: If the information that Scout can access does not include the data needed to answer your question, it will let you know that it couldn't find the answer and may even provide suggestions about the type of data it requires to help assist you.
Help
If you have questions or comments about using Scout, reach out to Charles Hills at charles.hills@vantaca.com.
If you encounter an error message, send a support ticket through the Vantaca help center.
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