4 minute read
The New Wave of Touchless Technology
By Constance Towles Hodges
No matter what decade we were born in, by now “the internet of everything” has likely already integrated into our daily lives. Our cars seem to require software updates more frequently than oil changes. Throughout this tech transformation, Bluetooth and touchless tech have increasingly gained the real estate industry spotlight, transforming from a “clap on, clap off” novelty to a modern necessity.
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With the new, COVID-19-induced, completely touchless ideal, we may be heading towards Jetson’s-like future where the world is at our facial scan rather than our fingertips.
So what is out there? Where can we get the most bang for our buck? What is the latest and greatest touchless tech guaranteed to impress tenants?
Motion Activation
Wave “Hello” to motion activated everything! Motion sensor tech has expanded out of janitorial fixtures into door operators, parking garages, and even elevators. “Wave to open” door operators can seamlessly replace “push to open” buttons and standard door operators.
For only a few hundred dollars per unit, your building won’t need to break the bank to prevent tenants and visitors from feeling like they need to sanitize their hands as soon as they enter the building. New motion activated door operators for doors not outfitted with push assist cost a few thousand installed. Similarly, parking operators are offering motion activated ticket spitters for a modest fee For those looking for simple solutions, old fashioned doorstops still work under many circumstances. A growing number of creative and often inexpensive, non-tech, altered-touch options are flooding the market.
From toe pulls to keychains, these options may be customized to fit each use case. They may not be as entertaining as fidget spinners, but branded touchless fobs with styluses will likely be a hot item at the next real estate industry trade show.
Nanotech companies are producing clean touch films that apply to surfaces like stickers and continually disinfect surfaces for 30 to 60 days depending on use. These stickers come in a variety of shapes including tape rolls, button covers, and screen covers.
Making Distance
Creating more space between tenants, many properties have created ways to facilitate touchless social distancing within stairwells. In buildings with multiple stairwells, creating an “up” and “down” stairwell may facilitate social distancing during daily traffic, but simply propping open stairwell doors can be a safety concern and a fire code violation. Where floor security is not a concern, magnetic door solutions can hold stairwell doors open and release to closed in the event of a fire-related emergency.
For highrise customers and those not fit enough for stairwell climbs, creating a touchless elevator experience may be more challenging. With multi-million-dollar price tags, destination dispatch systems decrease elevator traffic and eliminate buttons inside elevator cabs, but compound touch points to single iPad-sized screens.
The elevator and security industries have been diligently working on Bluetooth access systems for years, but most systems are still in beta testing. Filling the need, motion activated elevator buttons just hit the market with a smaller price tag.
Security access systems went touchless years ago with key fobs and access cards. Now cellphone badging and facial/retinal recognition may be growing more popular. New to many in 2020, touchless thermal scanning now almost seems mainstream. For wide entrances like government, large-scale industrial, and casinos can make a larger invenstment into cameras that now have the ability to scan large groups at once and identify those falling outside of established security parameters. Easier to install and significantly lower in cost, iPad sized kiosks allow single file check-in and tie into existing security systems for a high price point.
Looking Forward
For a completely touchless and socially distanced experience, Teleportivity launched an “instantly scalable on-site document and web-app repository, with a fully integrated video/voice/text-chat platform.” In this program a team member working from anywhere welcomes visitors on site via strategically located screens. With this system, visitors may even “walk and talk” with a team member via screen chat on their personal phone by simply scanning a QR code at reception. This system completely isolates tenants and visitors from team members while maintaining a personal communication feel.
Planning for an extended lockdown may feel like throwing darts sometimes, but not in the case of touchless tech. Due to the high demand, lead times on touchless hand sanitizer stations have run around three months in some cases. The industry continually launches new touchless products. Pre-COVID trends support the idea that touchless tech is here to stay for the long term.
• FACADE RESTORATION • MASONRY
About the Author:
Constance “Connie” Towles Hodges works as a Property Manager for Cousins Properties Inc., overseeing the 2020 TOBY Regional Winner, Promenade in Midtown Atlanta. Her favorite part of the Real Estate industry is developing teams through empowerment, education, and collaboration. Constance serves as the Vice Chair of the BOMA Foundation Committee, on the BOMA Editorial Board, and as an active member of multiple
committees.
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