Post-pandemic projections: why IoT-driven preventative maintenance practices are expected to stick around…

It’s safe to say that 2020 brought about significant changes to most industries across the globe – property management included. Those that were in charge of managing the daily operations of their buildings were forced to find new ways to monitor the efficiency of their communities from a distance, ensuring that all maintenance and facility-related issues continued to be addressed while simultaneously prioritizing the health and safety of all staff and residents.

This presented a challenge for property managers as it meant that many maintenance-related practices that were once dealt with in-person now had to be handled entirely remotely.

But did this compromise the effectiveness of how maintenance problems were addressed?

Many would argue the opposite. With the existence of Facilities-based IoT Solutions, staff are able to monitor, maintain and manage smart device activity across their entire property from a centralized platform – giving them key insight to actionable data and allowing them to cut down on staff man-hours. This continuous, remote equipment monitoring provides onsite teams with a more effective and efficient way to keep a close eye on abnormal activity that may be occurring within a residence – even in any vacantunits. Of course this doesn’t completely eliminate the need for staff to visit units in-person, but it does allow maintenance teams to remotely diagnose issues prior to even entering a unit. This empowers them to prioritize in-person visits to those units that need it most, and avoids any unnecessary time that would normally be spent within a residence trying to diagnose a problem. Understandably, residents don’t necessarily want maintenance staff inside their unit any longer than needed under the current circumstances.

Two of the major benefits of an effective Facilities-based IoT Solution can be seen in the real-time alerting system and bulk editing feature. Real-time alerting means that staff are proactively notified the moment a risky condition is detected, eliminating the need for them to wait for the resident to reactively call in and report an issue – which can be especially beneficial if a unit is vacant, being that there would be no resident present to report the issue in the first place. As property managers know, the sooner a potential issue is addressed, the less likely it is to turn into a costly repair. Additionally, with many properties now experiencing a reduction in the number of onsite staff due to the ability to work from home, it’s not efficient use of time for those that are working onsite to have to go door-to-door to all vacant units to reset thermostats in-person. Fortunately, the bulk edit feature allows teams to remotely edit the settings of one, or multiple, thermostats simultaneously to ensure the HVAC isn’t left blowing hot or cold air to an empty room, wasting energy, hiking up utility bills, and increasing the risk for an equipment malfunction to occur.

Being able to remotely maintain the temperature in vacant units, combined with real-time proactive maintenance alerts, is a great way to provide property managers with the peace of mind that issues won’t go undetected or turn costly.

Back at the beginning of the pandemic when in-person contact was advised to be kept to an absolute minimum, property owners and operators turned to remote energy monitoring platforms to assist them with being able to keep on top of maintenance-related issues while minimizing exposure for staff and residents. Since then, onsite teams have been reaping the benefits that come with being able to carry out many of their daily building management practices remotely, these include: streamlined staff workflows, the assurance that maintenance-related issues don’t go undetected, a reduction in unnecessary repair costs, and an increase in overall property NOI.

Ultimately, IoT-driven solutions have paved the way for properties to drive optimal building management practices while enhancing resident satisfaction, which are significant benefits that management teams want to continue experiencing long after the pandemic is over. Have you thought about installing one of these solutions across your property?

Contact us today to learn more about the benefits of our Facilities-based IoT Solution and the ongoing benefits you can expect to see after implementation.

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