FSI Middle East, a facilities management solutions software providerin the region, has launched a suite of single-purpose smartphone/tablet FM apps called Concept Advantage.  Concept Advantage, which integrates with the company’s existing Concept Evolution CAFM system, has been designed specifically to encourage entire workplace and community to contribute to the success of the facilities they occupy. It aims to devolve FM beyond the core of managers, operatives and suppliers who have the formal responsibility for it, by allowing the contribution to effective FM, to be put directly in the hands of all those on the receiving end. 

The first series of apps to be launched in the region include ‘ChatLog’ - a sociable facilities helpdesk experience for use by end users on mobile devices, ‘OurSay’ - a community, multi-campaign, suggestion and voting tool, as well as ‘Register a Visitor’ - whereby end-users can pre-book in a visitor and receive notifications of arrival. 

“These apps embrace the enabling technologies that are now established – including smartphones, mobile and wireless communications, the internet-of-things, machine-to-machine intelligence to deliver ‘consumerised’ FM,” explains Adrian Jarvis, General Manager of FSI Middle East. 

“The new apps also offer a much wider reach and faster processes for reporting, requesting, and responding to FM-related matters, and their purpose is to help to further dissolve the boundaries that have tended to box FM into a ‘silo of responsibility’ which has previously been the (almost) exclusive domain of FM managers, maintenance engineers and the IT nerds!” added Jarvis. 

Concept Advantage also recognises an increasing realisation that FM performance can impact significantly on the contentedness of mixed-use communities within buildings, or home-owners’ associations that occupy a premises. It can even be seen to affect the likes of overall corporate well-being, organisational brand perception, customer service and HR issues such as employee retention. 

“In the future, it may be appropriate to incentivise app users to encourage usage. For instance, people reporting faults or incidents could receive benefit by way of prize draws for all those who make a report, or be given a loyalty reward for, perhaps, every tenth report received.”  “Such techniques, and the ease of acquiring and using these apps, are key to maximising widespread use. Municipalities, public transport facilities, colleges/universities and hospitals clearly demonstrate the value from buy-in of as wide a user community as possible,” added Jarvis.