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As highlighted in our recent blog on facilities management trends and tools, we’ve explored the fact that professionals have wide-ranging responsibilities including maintenance, contracts, and building safety. These duties used to be carried out manually with nothing more than pen and paper.
However, there has been a collective realisation of the benefits associated with commercial property management technology in recent years, and as such we’re moving from documents to data. Such technologies have allowed for improvements across the three key areas of efficiency, integrations, and compliance, which we’ll explore in more detail in this blog.
Why property management technology is important
To begin with, it’s worth mentioning that the integration of property management technology hasn’t been without its challenges. Talk of automation has previously been cause for suspicion and fear, as commercial property managers envisaged being replaced by robots. However, it has come to be seen as essential, given the increasing complexities of the role.
Instead, technologies are augmenting these professionals rather than replacing them, affording access to tools and solutions that make their work easier, safer and more transparent.
Having adopted technologies for everything from property marketing to rent collection, commercial property managers have seen benefits in many areas, chiefly among them the streamlining of operations.
Overall, the development of property management technologies has allowed for a greater sense of connection and communication between property managers, tenants and other stakeholders. Things like notifications can now be received and handled in real-time, with tenant queries and questions being rapidly addressed. The data collected by these technologies has given much more insight into certain processes, while at the same time assisting decision-making with a single source of truth.
While real-time, 360-degree visibility can be achieved with messages and notifications sent via digital portals and apps, such technologies also enable the systematic organisation and analysis of data covering everything from property performance to rental income and making for better-informed decisions.
Commercial property managers have also realised benefits such as the collection of real-time property reports allowing for proactive, rather than reactive, maintenance; improvements of building and tenant security through the use of such technologies as electronic key fobs, security cameras, and automated entry systems; greater awareness of property market trends, rental rates and property performance, allowing for more-informed management and investment decisions; and finally easier accessibility of documents in digital rather than paper-based formats.
Focusing on efficiency
One of the most notable technology-powered improvements has been in the efficiency of commercial property management. Allowing for the streamlining of communications and the automation of property maintenance, the integration of these property management technologies has resulted in significant time savings.
With less of a need to carry out repetitive manual tasks, property managers have more time to focus on tenant wellbeing, and there’s also been a knock-on effect in terms of tenant satisfaction and retention.
Efficiency has also been boosted as a result of automating commercial property management duties such as:
- Inventory management
- Handling maintenance requests
- Issuing and collecting rental payments
- Creating detailed financial reports
- Conducting virtual inspections and remote property viewings
Further time savings have also been made through the adoption of advanced AI and machine learning technologies, with property managers able to tap into a wealth of real-time data to perform tasks that would otherwise involve multiple hours of manual effort.
As we progress, the use of virtual and augmented reality technologies is also expected to become more common, with real-time property tours being streamed so that prospective tenants don’t have to visit in person. The increased efficiency is bound to make for higher levels of profitability and better long-term planning.
Ensuring compliance
The modern facilities manager is expected to adopt a proactive approach, maintaining awareness of the latest legislation and taking essential measures for the optimisation of building safety, security, and performance. Such technology can be used to keep track of legislative changes applying to everything from building security to health and safety.
Using the recommended digital tools, it is possible to make continuous improvements, tracking and reporting on essential maintenance for the resident’s welfare.
Able to keep better track and identify the need for essential maintenance tasks, the property manager is also able to extend asset lifecycles. This allows for the avoidance of emissions that would otherwise result from the procurement, installation, and running of equipment.
Also enabling regulatory reporting, as well as auditing and automated site management, such tools reduce the risks of penalties, tenant dissatisfaction, and reputational damage. With clear reports being generated, there’s more reason for confidence in compliance.
The use of such technologies allows for the better satisfaction of millennial and Gen-Z groups, who make up much of the current workforce and renting community. Property managers are increasingly able to cater for these switched-on and sustainably-focused tenants, with automation and artificial intelligence enabling the provision of more streamlined and accessible services.
Impactful integrations
Further improvements in efficiency and reliability have come about through the increased connection of various property management technologies. This has been most obvious in the adoption of IoT (Internet of Things), which enables the remote management and monitoring of property temperature, indoor air quality, security and more.
Many of these tools have been purposefully designed for a range of tasks, meaning that commercial property operations can be more streamlined. Other examples of property software integrations include:
- The linking of accounting and bookkeeping software for improved financial awareness
- The connection of leasing and marketing platforms for greater tenant acquisition
- Synchronisation of maintenance and vendor management systems
On the topic of integrations, Property Inspect has been designed to work with a range of third-party software. Our end-to-end reporting and operations platform can be synced with your preferred calendar application to ensure that you don’t miss any appointments.
We’ve also allowed for the connection of pricing and invoicing for the automatic creation and issuing of invoices, straight from the app. You can find out more about such features on our dedicated integrations page.
The all-in-one solution
Despite the range of benefits, there may still be some resistance given concerns over the amount of time required to transition and learn about the new digital systems. However, this needn’t be the case, with solutions such as Property Inspect designed to be intuitive and user-friendly.
Our commercial property users are able to count on round-the-clock support, ensuring minimal downtime and maximum data protection. With the streamlining of resources, avoidance of issues and prevention of disputes, property management software effectively pays for itself.
See what you can achieve when you digitise your property inspections with Property Inspect:
- Schedule, track and manage site visits via the live dashboard
- Create and share actionable checklists for all your property management needs
- Complete reports on-site without a WiFi connection
- Capture property conditions directly from your mobile or tablet
- Save time through the use of pre-defined and industry-specific templates
- Conduct streamlined on-site inspections with smart mobile features such as speech-to-text and transcription
- Rapidly sync property reports for management/tenant review
With such a wide range of benefits, it’s little wonder that so many property managers are moving from documents to data with the help of Property Inspect. Realise the difference for yourself with a demo and free trial of our award-winning software.
