Building managers and owners are faced with the prospect of adhering to unprecedented service and sanitation standards, in addition to the customary pressures of operating in a highly competitive business sector.

CM Today sat down with Sanjeevv Bhatia, CEO of Netix Global BV, to ask him about the smart building management and Integrated Command and Control Center solutions his company offers, and their impact on community management, in the postpandemic scenario.

What do you see as the key challenges facing community managers and FM service providers, as buildings reopen in the post-COVID-19 phase?

SB: The additional responsibility of adhering to strict hygiene and social distancing protocols, as well as indoor air quality, etc., are some of the new needs that community managers will need to respond to. Providing building occupants with safe and secure environments will be paramount.

Fortunately, industry bodies and experts have come up with quite clear guidelines; around the kind of measures that need to be taken. Of course, frequent deep cleaning, and identifying the sanitation status of specific areas within buildings comes into play. HVAC settings and indoor air quality are crucial as well. For instance, the use of filters, with a minimum MERV-13 rating, temperatures around 24 to 25 degrees Celsius, and relative humidity of 40 to 60% have been found to restrict COVID-19.

Differential pressure switches to monitor the FAHU/ AHU filters, and sensors to monitor humidity, carbon dioxide levels, and other air quality metrics, will play a major role. Integrated Command and Control Centers - with real-time granular transparency into all community assets – will streamline management at a portfolio scale and ensure consistent adherence.

Could you elaborate on the advantages that Intelligent Integrated Command and Control Centers offer?

SB: There are several. In general terms, managers are empowered by data-derived real-time insights. Workforces can use intuitive interfaces with all relevant information at their fingertips, and occupants gain access to touchless controls and continuous status updates – among several additional features. Being able to implement remote management of operations, and predictive maintenance of assets, is another major plus, especially given that social distancing will restrict the size of onsite teams.

Optimizing all embedded automation and systems will allow building owners and operators to run leaner operations, save running costs, and maximize RoI. Netix believes that Integrated Command and Control Centers will be the default way to manage buildings in the future, given their ability to unlock wins for all stakeholders, as well as their compatibility with emerging Smart City models.

Can you share some upcoming plans Netix has, which will add more value to the activities of FM service providers, as well as add to services that end-users receive?

SB: Virtually every industry has been undergoing a proactive digital transformation, and, to an extent, this is true of commercial real estate as well. With sustainability being a global concern, the regulatory environment for building owners and facilities managers has been in a constant state of evolution. A new generation of end-users is driving the need for personalized and responsive services, and differentiating a property portfolio from its competitors has become critical to the success of a real estate business. Add to the fact that the economy recently came to a virtual standstill for months, and you have a scenario in which many building owners are operating under considerable financial duress.

For a commercial real estate business to optimize its bottom line, and the operational model needs to emerge that magnifies RoI and reduces the cost of having to adapt to such varied challenges. Subscription-based technology support and services are the ideal solutions to these issues. It’s a model that allows CRE businesses to continue to prioritize the highest quality of outcomes for end-users while reducing their overheads and financial burden. Honestly, variations of this are standard practice in most other industries, so implementing it in the CRE space is a no-brainer.

Starting Q1 2021, Netix, along with ODS Global (the service arm of SB group) will introduce subscription-based services for building owners and FM providers, which address their communications, surveillance, and process optimization needs. As part of managed services from ODS Global’s portfolio, we offer centralized incident reporting as well as live monitoring and alerts on a single platform. This service can be deployed for all sites or individual villas - with CCTV, intrusion alarm, and other security solutions, which regulatory authorities have recently recommended.

We believe this is a model that will add value to predictive and responsive models that industry stakeholders are seeking to implement, as well as enabling the security and surveillance services that end-users are looking for

Watch video: In Conversation: A new model in smart community management