A system and method of controlling a computer network to obtain information needed to render risk evaluative decisions from vendors in real time. The information may be obtained for agents preparing insurance applications or for an automated application processing system. Agents or automated application processing systems require access to an external vendor to obtain information about a customer, such as car accident or credit records. The request for data must be formatted to be read by the vendor system, which sends the responding data in real time. This responding data is forwarded to the requesting party for further processing of the application.