The Pandemic Pulls the Future to the Present for Proptech
The past nine or so months have changed our views on workplaces more than the entire previous decade. It’s great news for the proptech sector. Developers, landlords and workers are now demanding technology that can ensure their health and safety at work. What was once a hard sell has transformed into a must-have for landlords and developers.
From health checks to social distancing, ventilation and more, developers and landlords alike are looking for technological solutions to ensure their offices and communal spaces are attractive and safe for the people who use them.
CAPTION: New customer demands are making building management software and essential element of office spaces (Photo by Alex Eckermann on Unsplash)
Pre-COVID-19, office buildings had been planned and mostly filled with businesses ready to take up tenancy of modern office spaces. When COVID caused widespread lockdown and the departure from CBD tower offices, a rethink on the building’s management was called for.
Leading developers are ensuring technology is implemented to analyse the flow of people and guarantee occupancy levels were kept to safe numbers. Now, occupants and visitors are registered automatically and directed through the building to avoid close contact with others. If reception or other communal areas become too full, an alert sounds, sensors are used to monitor all consumer-level functions. Other building infrastructure such as air quality monitoring and ventilation is controlled from a central platform. Maintenance checks are scheduled months in advance and booked centrally. Nothing is left to chance.
A seismic shift towards building management technology
With technology installed, occupants of technologically advanced buildings are reassured their building is a safe and healthy environment. Facilities managers are able to control their building’s amenities from a single platform that provides oversight for all the necessary functions. Better use of facilities, asset management and resources are enabled too – increasing the quality of these spaces while cutting footprints along with overheads.
It’s a solution that has been a long time coming. Up until this year, Australia’s infrastructure sector has lagged behind other industries in the shift towards digitisation and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Now customers –business tenants as well as their employees – are demanding more from the built spaces they use for work. Technology provides the layer of security and assurance needed while going one step better. A healthier experience is being created for occupants and building managers alike.
A scramble by proptech businesses to keep up with new demands
For many building management system providers, it’s been a scramble to integrate the different services needed to monitor a building’s use and resource allocation into one platform. It’s no simple task either. No-one wants to log into multiple applications to oversee the various functions and resources their property provides.
Businesses are demanding technology is made available to support their return to office programs. The technology needs to be smart and simple to use too. Because of this, landlords and developers are now willing to pay for a service that was once side-stepped. Software that can assist in the management of entire portfolios or single buildings is suddenly in demand.
Choosing the right system is a tricky balancing act – jump too soon and you may end up with an expensive building management system that is outgrown in a matter of months. A facilities management system review of developers specific needs should be driving the choice of management system, rather than knee-jerk reactions to customer demands.
A good building management system connects all the building’s facilities and resources together in a single interface. Building management systems that already enable complete yet flexible operations and maintenance management are ahead of the pack.
SmartFMC is one such system that easily integrates the disparate functions and uses of a building into one simple to use platform. Their modular approach to the solution of building management allows developers and landlords of any size to customize the system to fit their needs. Rather than needing a complete overhaul of the building management system as the portfolio of properties grows, developers and facilities managers are able to integrate new modules that enhance their management capabilities.
Building management software is now an essential element of all office and communal spaces. These systems connect all the assets management and resource control components together to create a ‘brain’ for the building that ensures all users and occupants are kept safe and healthy.