Say goodbye to the apartment supervisor
这是一个familiar trope within the apartment livinglexicon: the apartmentsupervisor, or “super.”Thetermconjures a harried杰克(或吉尔)的tradeswielding a huge ring of jangling keys, making their wayfromunit to unit, unlocking doors on move-in day, fixing broken thermostats, and fielding phone calls,all而居民不耐烦地等待for service.
When the “super” is uncommunicative,unavailable,orunable toactually repairthings, apartment living can beunpleasant.
Waiting for service is no big deal, right?Imagineit’s a cold winterdayandthe heat inyour apartment’s not working.You call the “super” and leave a voicemail.Several chilly hourslater, you’re on avideoconference call when the “super” calls back. Youmiss the call.There’s no voicemail. You call back a few minutes later,but the call goes to the “super’s” voicemail—again. Meanwhile it’s getting colder in your apartment and youstill haven’t even been able to speak with the “super,” much less schedule arepairvisit.
Thisseemingly endless loop of frustration with the“super” is not so much about aspecificpersonor role, but ratherthemanual, ad-hoc, and offlineprocesseswhichmake apartment living more difficult.As community managers seek to attracttech-savvyMillennialand Gen Z renters,as well as driveoperationaland economic efficiencies,se outdated approachessimply won’t deliver.
Introducing smart apartment living
Say goodbye to that vision of theoverstretched“super”—modernapartment communities areevolving, thanks to theIntelligentEdge.
TheIntelligentEdge is wherepeople, devices, and dataconnectto the digital worldfor new experiences, business services and operational efficiencies.Whilesmartphones,security cameras, and connected gaming systems have been around foryears,IntelligentEdge is now扩大tonew “things” like smart thermostats, connected appliances, voice-activated home controlsand many more that can detect, analyze,and respond to activity in realtime.Think of using your mobile device to unlock and start your car.
Smart building automation companieslikeHomebaseare capitalizing on this opportunityat the Edge byoffering“living as a service,”agrowing套房居住功能的enabled by smart building automationtechnologies. Communitymanagersoffering“living as a service”through Homebaseeliminate manualand offline processes to giveresidentsvaluabledigitalamenitieslikesmart device control,in-unit voice controlthrough Alexa, andreliable无线连接for residents’ phones, laptops, andgame systems.
Improving renter experience through "living as a service"
“Living-as-a-service”amenities cater to tech-savvy, on-the-go residents whodesire a turnkeymove-inand connectedhomeexperience.Here are just a few of thebenefitstoday’s smart-buildingresidents can experience:
- Streamlinedentry andaccess.Using anapp on thesmartphonealready intheir hands, residents can unlockmain entry doors,doors to residentfacilities such as gyms and community rooms, andtheir own front doors.Resident changes, such as roommate additions, are easyfor management to handle witha quick andsimpleappupdate—no more asking the “super” to change the locks.
- Easyenergy efficiency.Smartthermostatshelp residentscontrol their own energy usagefrom the convenience of an app.That means theycan avoidunnecessarilyheating and cooling their units when they’re not home, which means no more frantic calls to the “super” to turn off theheater before embarking on a 10-day vacation.
- Seamless digitalcommunications.Having an issue? Open the community app tonotifycommunitymanagement that a lightbulb is out in a commonareaor to schedulerepairservice for a leaky faucetwithout makingphone calls to the “super” orhangingaround all day fortheirvisit.
- Automated wine dispensing.What better way to build a sense of community withneighbors than sharing a glass of wine together?Said Blake Miller,Founder and CEO of Homebase,“Some of our newer buildings even have a wine dispenser connected to the network that allows residents to pour a glass of wine and have it added to their account. The goal is to have as much automation as possible to create these smart living spaces and truly enable what we call ‘living as-a-service.’”
Driving economic results through "living as a service"
The benefits of smart apartments extendto property managers, too.
For example, Homebase reports thateliminating keysand key locker systemsand transitioning to an app-basedaccess control solutioncan result in asavings of $35 per unit turn. And automating the unit turn process itself—no more waiting for the “super” to unlock the door on move-in day—cansave 2 hours per unit turn.Homebasealso estimates thatsmart apartments will deliver greater energy efficiencyas well, with 50% greater efficiencyby 2030. (1)
Even the savviest “super” can’tmatchthosemoney, time, and energysavings.
The foundation for smart apartments
Traditional apartment buildings relied on the“super”to keep things running. Smartapartmentbuildingsrely onconnected “things,”andthatconnectivity depends onnetwork infrastructure.
- Internet of Things.IoT adoption has been on the rise in recent yearsand shows no signs of slowing down.In fact,IDC estimatesover 55 billion devices will be connectedby 2025. (2)This includes smart appliances (like washers, dryers, and refrigerators), smart security system, smart thermostats, smart lighting, and voice control through smart speakers.Theproliferation of smart home devicespaved the way for smart apartment living.
- Wirelessconnectivity.The foundation for“living as a service” is robust wireless connectivity, sincesmart building automationis driven by connected appliances, locks, lights, phones, beverage dispensers, and a host of other “things.”When it comes to smart apartments, wireless connectivitymeans more than just Wi-Fi. There are over 300IoTconnectivityprotocolsin use today,including BLE,Zigbee, andKNX.Wi-Fi6access pointsthat support a variety oftechnologiesenable "living as a service" withoutaddingthe complexity of managingoverlay networks.
- Wired switching.Smart building automationalso utilizeswiredaccessswitchingfor bandwidth-intensiveapplications(like video surveillance)andthepower-hungryconnecteddevicesthat feed them(like security cameras.)Unifiedwireless and wired platformsmaketheentirenetworkingenvironment easier todesign, deploy,andmanagesince administrators can use acommonOSfromthe Edge to the cloud.
- Cloud-based network management.Network administrators supporting smart apartments may need to manage networks acrossmultiplebuildings or evenmultiple property locations.Cloud-based network managementcansimplifysetup and orchestration across这两个wireless and wired environmentsthroughout the entire network, regardless of scale.Cloud-based tools also enable administrators to benefit fromgreater resiliency andfaster access to innovation.
What’s next for the apartment “super”?
With "living as a service", it’s time to reimagine the role of the “super.”
Today’s “super” usesEdgetechnology to proactivelyaddressissuesandprovide residents withthe best care possible.
No longer is the “super” inreactive mode.With all that data beingcaptured constantly by the network, the “super” can proactivelyaddress maintenance needs for residents. For example,the “super” can seewhichheating systemshavebeen running for hours and need new filters, automatically order those filters, and have them delivered right to the resident—all without a servicefailure, repairvisit,or even a residentphone callon a cold winter day.
And ifanissuedoesarise,aresident can easily log a request directly into the resident app on their phoneand schedule a convenient time fora service visit. The“super” and the resident can keep in touchvia app or text—no moremissed calls.
By automating manual tasks like those,“super” can focusondeliveringfeaturesresidentsreallylove,such asthosewristband-activated wine dispensers which automatically addthatglass of merlotrightto a resident’s tab.
Learn more about“living as a service”from Blake Miller,Founderand CEO of Homebase, onepisode 42 of the Aruba Unplugged podcast, “Smart Living as a Service.”
References
1. Homebase.Smart Apartments 2030.https://homebase.ai/smart-apartments-2030-report/
2. IDC. “How You Contribute to Today’s Growing DataSphere and Its Enterprise Impact.” November 4, 2019. https://blogs.idc.com/2019/11/04/how-you-contribute-to-todays-growing-datasphere-and-its-enterprise-impact/
