Seven technology solutions to improve the user experience in your building
Intelligent systems simplify users' lives, speed up problem-solving, and increase the perception of corporate property value.
Using technology to offer the best experience for the users of a commercial building is an increasingly decisive differential for the loyalty of users, especially in the most disputed markets.
"In the area of property management, we have the goal of keeping the building always with high occupancy and competitiveness, and that is directly related to user satisfaction," says Vinícius Santos, coordinator of Digital Property Management Solutions at JLL.
"When users perceive that problems get resolved before they claim, for example, their perception of value increases, and that makes all the difference in negotiating the lease renewal."
There are several ways to leave users satisfied with the property – some examples are avoiding queues at the entrance of the building on the return from lunch and repairing elevators before they break. See below how technology can be an asset to maintain the well-being of commercial building users.
Right size air conditioner
The temperature of the air conditioner in an office is often a cause for dissatisfaction – hence the importance of having good control over the operation of the appliance. It is common to program it to vary the power according to the number of people who theoretically should be in the building at certain times. But with sensors, the manager knows what the occupation is in real-time and can meet the demands in time to reduce the temperature in a room, partially in the office, or in other common areas of the company where the heat map signals a greater concentration of people. "This is an action that can be carried out automatically or by the operational manager, who in this case had managed to act even before the user complained," notes Vinícius.
Quick repairs
Problems like a broken chair or a leaking faucet require quick responses. One way to streamline the solution is to give the user the power to open maintenance calls through the smartphone via the company's system.
"A telephone support channel is not always a possible or even effective option, as support teams commonly divide their tasks between user support and other management tasks. This can cause missed calls and, as a consequence, dissatisfied users. With mobile platforms, the user opens the service request wherever they are, and the technical teams receive the calls in real-time to act on the diagnosis and correction of failures," says Vinicius.
Predicting problems
A data analysis software is a good ally to optimize predictive maintenance. Based on a report of data related to possible already known failures, the system analyzes the patterns and warns about the best time to perform preventive maintenance.
A good option is to have sensors that send data and warn when detecting anomalies or the imminence of problems. An example is the elevator: a system can compare the data received with the patterns of opening and closing doors, weight, number of trips, among others. In case of a problem, it generates an alert for the technician to be sent to do preventive maintenance before a failure occurs that generates unavailability of the equipment, causing stress of users in the lobby.
"The elevator does not stop running, waiting for the technician. By identifying that the door takes milliseconds longer to close that day, indicating that some component is not working perfectly, the technician is warned to act before the equipment stops completely," explains Vinícius.
Visit control
Some platforms allow users to schedule events and invite people virtually. This data is available to the administration, which can predict a peak of visits to the company based on the invitations made – and thus readjust the operation to take care of access control and people flow, to avoid crowding, for example.
Identity verification
The virtual invitation system offers greater security in the building, with the prior verification of documents. When a visitor receives the invitation, he registers on the platform and provides his document with the photo. The system can query databases of validating sources to verify whether that identity is valid or not. Your access to the building gets released only after verification. Upon arrival at the building, you can pass through the turnstile by using a QR code on your cellphone or by facial recognition, without the need to pass through the reception. In case there is permission from the condominium and the user. "A service at the reception takes, on average, a minute, and this causes huge queues at critical times," says Vinícius.
Digital portfolio
Users can have a digital wallet on a cell phone. It is a means of payment to use in the commercial entities of the condominium. It can also be used by employees of the user companies to pay for services such as the use of lockers, bicycles, parking, and even car rental available in the condominium. "Entrepreneurship offers the digital wallet, and service providers register to accept that means of payment," explains Vinícius.
Smart lockers
The smartphones of the users of the building can also be useful for those who need to use lockers of the common areas. Anyone who registers to use the system can book the locker in advance and unlock the door only with the cell phone (and if it is not for free, you can pay with the digital wallet). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lockers were also used to receive food without having contact with the delivery person.
