7 minute read
The future of property management
By Tom Brauser
The computing power of desktops and portable devices has increased over 200 times since the year 2000. An iPhone or Android smartphone probably has more computing power today than most overall businesses had 12 years ago. Are you using today’s computing power to your best advantage? Do you even have a plan to take advantage of mobile technologies and the power of smart devices?
Until now, most property and facilities management systems have been based on traditional technologies with applications focused on accounting, work-order, and service management. Fortunately, there now are some very creative applications of mobile technologies using QR
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Fax: (604) 525-6693 codes to help simplify and improve how buildings are managed. They provide a clever means of getting critical building information into the hands of the people that need it, exactly when and where they need it. Building-specific social media collaboration tools are also now available that greatly improve communication within buildings, resulting in positive tenant engagement.
QR codes were invented in 1994 by Toyota to track vehicles in the manufacturing process. Today they are most often seen in advertisements, usually simply taking you to the company’s home page. They have since been adapted to a wide variety of uses, including supporting all aspects of facilities management. By tagging assets or spaces within a building, you can collect or deliver information specific to that asset or space extremely efficiently, providing some very effective tools for building and property managers.
Consider putting a QR code on an asset like a boiler or chiller. That QR code can be scanned to make a service request, to obtain information, or complete a service or maintenance request. If your operations staff notices that your chiller is leaking fluid, they could scan the code on the chiller with their smartphone and up pops a screen allowing them to place a service request and attach a photo of the leaking fluid. The re-
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service centre or directly to your HVAC service company. The technician will get an alert on their smartphone with all the appropriate information and the photo.
When the tech arrives, he can scan the same QR code, see the work-order as well as other important information such as the service history, operating manuals, technical drawings, special instructions, etc. When finished, he can scan the QR code again to complete the service request, providing a summary of the work completed, which then automatically updates the service history and sends the necessary information for invoicing. It can also automatically notify the building manager that the problem has been solved.
There are a large variety of ways that QR codes can be utilized to improve facilities management. Similarly to how QR codes can be used to maintain and manage equipment, they can be used to manage spaces within a building. For instance, by placing a QR code in a conference room, tenants can scan the code to place a room-specific service request, or obtain information like special instructions (i.e., how to use the audio-visual equipment), a room inventory, a booking calendar for the room, or energy consumption data.
Other uses include scanning to describe unique architectural features, or provide information on botanical displays around the building. They can also be used to provide energy transparency, engage tenants in surveys, or provide special event information, etc.
QR codes can be made even more powerful by also attaching custom forms, checklists and workflows. You could set up regular maintenance schedules, providing the technician a complete inspection checklist when he scans the equipment’s QR code. He can complete the inspection form on-site so equipment histories again are easily maintained. Inspections can also be associated with spaces. Examples include deficiency checklists for a construction or renovation project, health and safety site inspections, and doing janitorial or other service inspections.
Security and privacy of building information is ensured through established role-based permissions. The system will know who is scanning the QR code and based on their role in the building, only provide them with access to the information that is relevant to them. This can save a lot of time and greatly reduce data-entry work because of the information that is automatically associated with the code and the user.
The QR code-based mobility application combined with the custom forms makes this technology a truly unique and effective way to manage facilities that is easy-to-use and takes advantage of the power of mobile smartphone technology. It is the way of the future, and the future is here now.
About the Author: Tom Brauser is COO of BuiltSpace Technologies. Visit www.builtspace.com. b
THOUGHTS ON: even better customer service
By Chuck Morris
Recently someone close to me entered a medium- to high-end women’s retail clothing store. She was looking around to see what might be nice to add to her wardrobe. After quite a number of minutes had gone by, she realized no one had come to ask if they could help. Looking around, one person was visible and speaking on a telephone, obviously to a friend; the only other person was sitting near the first, eating food and playing with her nails.
After waiting for another five minutes and after walking near the two store employees, she left. Walking down the mall a few feet, she looked up the number on her BlackBerry and called the store. A female voice answered. The next few minutes were uncomfortable for the person on the phone, who turned out to be the manager of the store. Needless to say, that retail outlet missed an opportunity to sell something to someone who was intent on making a fairly hefty purchase.
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Zurn provides lean construction and engineered solutions that reduce material cost, site work and labor. Whether new construction or retrofit applications, choose Zurn for a reliable, recognized manufacturer to supply your entire installation, from behind the wall rough-in, to finish trim product and fixture systems. zurn.c m For more information contact Icon Agency at 778-285-4288 905-405-8272 Whether it be a retail environment or a public sector organization (PSO), customer service is very, very important! Look at a PSO operation; there are vendors that are dealt with constantly (you may be their customer), other PSOs that you may need to deal with – or in the case of education, it would be your students and teachers and other staff (and this includes private schools as well). Let’s not forget about the public, either. In today’s world, many people want to be involved and many of them are members of groups that are involved with the direction their school (K-12) is heading. Do not discount them!
Sure, everyone has a bad day once in a while – which includes your customers, not just you! You want to develop and maintain a good rapport with all of them for a number of reasons, no matter how you are feeling. The most obvious is a happy customer, one who does not complain and returns to deal with you again and who, in a roundabout way, promotes you, your department or your organization. One other thing to think about it the fact that you may not really know who it is you are dealing with! Think about a K-12 situation and when you are dealing with the parent advisory council. Who are they and how are they connected? Can they help a situation or, if you are having a “not so wonderful” day, can they create hardship for you or your department? The answer to that is yes and yes!
Public-sector jobs and the management of large corporations have their complications and are similar in that sense. Those complications arrive every day in the form of more work from the government department you report to or to the shareholders of the company. Whichever the case may be, your workload increases and your demeanour may suffer because of it. Don’t allow that to happen! You need to share a great attitude with your immediate staff and make sure that goes all the way to whomever your “customer” may be. Smile, sell yourself, be friendly and talk to them.
The other benefits from these actions, actions that make your workday better, also affect your friends outside of work and others with whom you interact. Now, isn’t life a little easier when this happens? Remember, this is not a “fantasy world” that has been described here, but it is one of reality. This reality can make your life better and may even open some doors for you down the road. Don’t discount this as trivial nonsense. We all want a better life and that includes your customers. Make them happy and you, too, will be happy. b
