"The world is transitioning from traditional management strategies to a digital model and communication sits at the crux of every business; interaction is changing by becoming digital, automated and available 24/7 allowing end-users to interact at their convenience and they are no longer bound by office working hours," says Uros Trojanovic, Divisional CEO of EAST-O Holdings. He explains, "Every customer is unique in their process, style of working and requirements and a ’one size fits all’ cannot be the solution. We, at PropEzy, build products that provide full flexibility to pick and choose solutions that solve a specific problem- our approach is consulting rather than directing." 

"We provide a platform that connects all stakeholders involved in the built environment. For example, customers can pay their service charges, rent, log complaints, raise move-in/move-out requests, receive communication from the community/property manager, engage with the community and much more through the web-based customer portal or the android and iOS app."

"On the other hand, owners and property managers will have access to data points and out-of-the-box analytics that help them make informed decisions and take preventive measures. Such as when parking lots are at highest or lowest capacity, where the air quality problems in the building are, and which piece of equipment caused the electricity bill to spike last month." 

"Similarly, vendors and suppliers will have access to our permit-to-work portal, allowing them to send and receive service/product information seamlessly within a single system, avoiding considerable manual intervention."

Technology as an enabler of sustainable practices

"Technology is one of the greatest enablers of sustainability," believes Uros. He says, "It is quite straightforward for anyone to ‘adopt’ new technology, however, to enable it as part of one’s sustainability practices is where the challenge comes in. It is possible that there is room for human error or bias while executing any business practices. However, technology allows one to create a rational opinion that is purely based on facts." 

"Technology can act as a major accelerant for sustainability initiatives in a company. Enabling technology through one’s organisation does not only encourage profitable solutions, but also has a positive influence on ESG goals towards a net-zero future." 

Big Data collection and analysis of property data 

Uros says, "Big data analytics play an important role in real estate and allow you to gain insight on patterns. Big data provides meaningful insights about the business enabling users to make fact-based decisions."

"The system should be able to present data analytics in a manner that highlights the problem as opposed to confusing the end-user. At PropEzy, we call them ‘out-of-the-box’ reports." 

For example, "The data can provide patterns of complaints raised by residents, such as 24% of the residents had issues with their access cards or the receivables showed an 11% jump in last six months. This information will alert managers to repair the access card system and will help them understand what enabled the growth in receivables. Analytics received from big data can educate end-users in learning best practices, improving services and taking preventive/corrective measures." 

Smart Devices for Smart Buildings 

"We all have heard the saying ‘prevention is better than cure’, this simply means that we have to anticipate and take preventive measures before a problem occurs. Smart devices add efficiency in a similar way. Using smart devices in the built environment can drastically increase the life of a building, save costs and improve the quality of living. It’s not just the smart devices but also the software functions behind the technology that provide real time analytics to customers so they can gauge and understand the consumption patterns and help correct the course if necessary."

Some examples of how smart devices can facilitate the built environment are:

1. IOT sensors in PropEzy Smart Buildings are able to inform housekeeping teams about highest footfall in different washrooms across the building, which makes cleaning activities more efficient. Higher use of washrooms signifies more frequent cleaning requirement. 
2. Intelligent ANPR cameras at parking entrances reduce the need for plastic cards and speed up the entry and exit of vehicles, adding efficiency to the parking process and maintaining sustainable practices. 
3. Amenity booking platform (mobile app) allows users to book tennis courts, hot desks, community spaces etc. making it easier to distribute the demand and increase the utilisation rate of such assets. 
4. IoT powered air quality sensors inform office managers when and where to take action such as improving ventilation.

Technology in Silos

"From a proptech perspective, we see many solutions available that support real estate digital transformation. While it’s great to have innovative solutions and pioneering products in the dynamic proptech industry, unfortunately most of the solutions we see are in silos and scattered around delivering limited functionality." 

For example, "If you are a property management company, you will have to subscribe to at least five different tech platforms in order to manage your portfolio. You will need a CRM system to manage leads, leasing system, customer interaction portal, payment portal for collections, accounting software and a different solution to monitor CCTV, energy, lighting, ANPR, visitor management, etc." 

"Multiple solutions result in higher costs for different subscriptions, reducing ROI for asset owners. Not to mention headaches and higher running costs around system integrations to ensure systems communicate with each other." 

"That is the gap PropEzy is here to fill and is our greatest USP. Besides offering standalone products such as community management, property management, smart building solutions, workplace or facilities management softwares – the platform concept means that all can function as an integrated solution. It is the multi-product platform concept that digitises real estate like nothing else does."

"PropEzy is by far more flexible and almost 50% more economical than other players out in the market," ends Uros Trojavonovic.