If you have the right technology on your side, you’ll be rewarded with significant savings and profits. But there’s no shortage of technologies out there, and it can be overwhelming to wade through all the options and find the best investments for your commercial facility.
Here are some tips for selecting the ideal tech for your property and determining what solutions will yield the most benefits.
Deciding what’s worthwhile
Decisions regarding tech adoption are often left up to management and IT teams. But without input from all affected parties, you could end up with a technology that only complicates the problem you’re trying to solve.
Whether the end users are your commercial property staff, corporate tenants, or both, it’s important to ask them about their challenges and what kind of solutions they envision. Here are some discussion points that may aid the decision-making process:
- For property staff: Consider what tasks take up the most staff time. Would automating any of those tasks save the company money in terms of staff hours? Are proposed solutions intuitive and easy for staff to use, or do they require intensive training?
- For tenants: To be worth the investment, prospective solutions should make the property more attractive to new tenants and help retain current ones. Renters determine the success of your facility, so you’ll want to ensure that the new technologies enhance their experiences. Ask yourself if the new tech will simplify tenants’ daily activities, offer additional supports or services, or improve their relationships with property staff.
- For the facility: Think about what equipment is starting to weigh down your budget in terms of utility, energy, repair, and maintenance costs. Are there better, tech-driven options out there that would end up saving money in the long term?
Starting simple
If you’re just starting out with tech adoption, you’ll probably want solutions that offer the most savings and value-add with the lowest upfront costs. Implementing app and software solutions can provide immediate benefits without requiring complicated installations or physical changes to the property.
To support facility staff, you might look into software that simplifies property management tasks like payment processing, mailroom management, and room servicing. For current tenants, mobile-friendly apps are a good bet, especially those that aid daily tasks like checking in visitors, booking meeting rooms, and receiving deliveries. And prospective tenants will benefit most from solutions that make it easier for them to contact your staff, tour the space (virtually or in-person), and submit lease-related documents.
Taking tech to the next level
Perhaps you’ve already implemented some of the above technologies, and now you have a bigger budget. You may also have the capacity to bring in tech that takes up more space and requires some facility modifications.
At this point, your property could begin taking advantage of the Internet of Things (IoT) to aid sustainability efforts and make the best use of available resources. This is a move that can completely transform facility operations for the better. Through sensors and systems, IoT allows for remote control, automatic adjustments, and data collection to improve functions like heating, cooling, and lighting. All this translates to significant cost savings over time.
You may also consider installing smart package lockers to provide corporate tenants with a secure, convenient way to retrieve their deliveries. By eliminating the need to hand-deliver packages, your mailroom staff saves time and your tenants don’t have to worry about lost or damaged packages.
Want to find out if Smiota’s technologies are worth the investment for your business? Contact us to learn more about our corporate solutions.
