With new technologies entering the marketplace each day, there are numerous options to choose from when looking for ways to manage office buildings more efficiently. Technologies such as fiber optic telecommunications, the Internet and intranet services all help companies do business so much faster and more efficiently that many companies are putting these "smart" building technologies to use in the day-to-day management of their own buildings.

Insignia/ESG

Insignia/ESG is one company that has implemented some of these smart technologies into its everyday work environment. For example, the company is implementing an e-procurement solution used by property management firms to help manage their buildings. Insignia/ESG uses this technology to manage buildings like Crown Pointe, a two-building, Class A high-rise complex located in the Central Perimeter area of Atlanta. According to Carol Bell, director of property management for the Atlanta region, "Technology allows us to tap into national databases and purchase products for our buildings at the best prices for each particular product." In fact, a study by Deloitte Consulting found that e-procurement technologies can decrease costs for owners and operators of commercial real estate by more than 71 percent.

This technology can also help track a company's certificates of insurance and keep up with their renewal dates. "By tapping into this resource, it cuts down on the number of phone calls that a property manager has to make," says Bell.

"Many times, managers begin the day with 15 things to do and by 11 a.m., they haven't hit the first one because they've been putting out fires," says Bell. Because of this, she adds, contracts don't always get the close attention they require. In the midst of this rush, they can sometimes go out the door with missing information. "Technology can provide an additional review and monitoring level to help avoid this."

Insignia/ESG is currently implementing technology to manage its standard vendor contracts and insurance requirements. This will be a tremendous help to the property manager in the bidding process, which, according to Bell, can be very time consuming. Soon, a property manager will simply ask for a landscape bid using their company's standard contract. The property manager will then input their particular specifications and technology will help the manager bid and compare the various proposals electronically. "This will streamline that process for both the vendor and the property manager," says Bell.

As this information is gathered over time, according to Bell, Insignia/ESG will be able to develop a national benchmarking system -- a base of reports and information on their numerous service provider contracts and/or the average costs the company is spending for that particular service in a particular region.

Insignia/ESG also uses technology to manage a library of forms and a database of companies that provide services such as pest control, landscaping and janitorial help. This is especially helpful for a property manager who has a new building or who is new to a particular city and is not familiar with all of the vendors for each particular service. In this case, a manager needing three pest control bids can search and find the three best qualified vendors in the community. The manager also has the ability to narrow the bidding pool according to geographic location or size of the company. "This program allows us to simply enter a set of specs and let the technology manage the process. Because of the efficiencies and savings we are seeing, Insignia/ESG has been proactive in seeking high-tech solutions to propery management issues," says Bell.

Other firms in real estate are also looking closely at the implications of technology on their business practices. For example, Insignia/ESG is a member of Project Octane, a consortium of companies that includes Jones Lang LaSalle, CB Richard Ellis and Trammell Crow Company.

Insignia/ESG also utilizes other technologies such as an intranet that allows the company to make all of its best practices and forms accessible to property managers throughout the country. "If you are a national company, this is a great way to ensure consistency and use of your standard contract and forms," says Bell. This helps the property managers and is much more efficient because managers know where to go to access particular contracts or forms without getting on the phone or obtaining hard copies.

Another technological step that Insignia/ESG is moving toward is the use of the work order system via the Internet. At the request of one of the firm's building owner clients, it is currently beta testing this in one of their Atlanta properties with iTendant, a company that provides Web and wireless solutions for property service and maintenance. With iTendant, tenants can simply e-mail work orders to their management office that are then transmitted to an engineer via a two-way pager. The engineer can decide if he or she will accept the work order. If he or she doesn't accept it, it automatically goes to the next engineer until somebody takes ownership of that work order. There are also mechanisms that alert both the management office and the engineer if there is an outstanding work order. After the job is complete, the tenant is notified. "This program facilitates a quick response time and consistent follow through, which is primary to customer service in the property management business," says Bell.

"All of this technology allows the property managers to focus on the day-to-day operation of the building and working with their landlord-clients instead of getting tied up in paper work and details," she says. "All of this means a reduction in paper as well as phone calls and mail time." Bell also notes that these technologies bring a cost reduction to the client as well as to the tenant because the client is saving money and the property management business is operating at a much higher efficiency level.

Duke-Weeks Realty Corporation

Indianapolis-based Duke-Weeks Realty Corporation's HVAC systems have provided the company's newer buildings with the ability to have digital control systems that allow property managers to monitor and program them. "This really takes our efficiency in operation up to another level," says Andrew Kelton, senior vice president of Duke-Weeks Realty Corporation's Raleigh group. "It tells you when to maintenance a system and when there are trouble calls. Unlike the older versions, which required that you pull information up on a screen and check for trouble, the newer systems will actually call you if there is trouble. The energy efficiencies as well as the convenience to our tenants are quite large."

According to Kelton, energy efficiency is currently a major issue. People are more focused on it because of what is going on in California. Because of this concern, Duke-Weeks has done internal audits and is working with the local power company to evaluate how the company can be sure to operate its buildings as efficiently as possible. In most cases, Duke-Weeks is then able to pass those savings back to its tenants through lowering operating costs.

Duke-Weeks is an equity shareholder in Broadband Office Inc., a national broadband telecommunications service that provides local phone service, long distance, high-speed Internet, data and video connectivity, e-mail and Web hosting. "Broadband Office Inc. does a wide variety of telecommunications services for us by bringing fiber optics and other connectivity to the building. We work with several telecommunications providers in addition to Broadband Office. Our goal is to provide advanced telecommunications services to our tenants," says Kelton.

Because of its desire to utilize state-of-the-art technology, Duke-Weeks is very aware of the kinds of conduits that run to its buildings' streets. "Raleigh is such a heavy technology-related area that it's imperative to look at which communications providers have a presence in the streets in front of your buildings," adds Kelton. "You have to provide enough excess conduits to those streets for future tie-ins to your building."

Colliers Turley Martin Tucker

Colliers Turley Martin Tucker has created a Web-based management system exclusively for its property managers, according to Joe Hegger, senior vice president and director of operations. This system, called PM REflex, offers maintenance management, lease administration, purchasing coordination, vendor management, administration and tenant coordination and tenant contact management. PM REflex also maintains lease abstracts and holds all general information about a property, vendors that service the property and which ones have service contracts. It also manages service requests for tenants and provides flexible reporting and ticklers, which are reminders of things to be taken care of each day.

The company has procured connectivity in all of its property offices so everyone has high speed Internet connections and can access all the data on their properties and tenants via the Web. "PM REflex allows us to manage over a multi-state region, and it literally takes those boundaries away. Now we can operate 24-hours-a-day from anywhere that we can access the Web," says Hegger.

Colliers Turley Martin Tucker also provides its employees with Web-time access to accounting information for every region. Because of this, employees don't waste a lot of time faxing information and sending costly overnight packages, according to Hegger. Employees can instead access this information immediately through the Internet. The information is shared through the most secure form of Internet communication possible, the same type of system that most Internet-based companies use to accept credit card information.

The company's Web-based technology also allows them to develop Web sites for their significant buildings. "Many tenants want multiple ways to access us. Many will call when they need things, but some like to communicate electronically. Through this Web site, they can report problems and ask for help. They can do all this at midnight if they want. If it's an emergency, we can handle it immediately. Otherwise, we can address the situation the next day," says Hegger.

Some of the company's more significant properties need 24-hour operation without fail, so their systems automatically page the appropriate people when alarms occur. The systems at some locations also notify people routinely when milestones are achieved throughout any cycle so if the person doesn't get a page on a certain day, he or she will know something is wrong. These systems are accessible via the Web or by phone, depending on the system, so the technicians can evaluate the problem and determine if they can fix it remotely or need to make a trip on site to take care of the problem.

"These Web-based systems encourage our clients to invest more in technology, and now we have a real platform to do that. Once we pull all these items together, it really is the conduit for allowing improvements to building systems," says Hegger.

"Now that the platform is in place, the door is open for us to do other things," says Hegger. One thing the company is doing is tying older systems, such as a property's computerized maintenance management system, into the energy management systems. Now, instead of doing preventative maintenance on a quarterly basis, the energy management system can tell how often each piece of equipment is being used. A work order is then produced based on hours of actual use, not on a guess of how much it should have been used. "This greatly improves the operation of our managed buildings. It saves time and, ultimately, money. We can avoid working on things when it's not necessary, and we can now focus on maintaining these systems on a timely basis before problems occur," says Hegger.

In order to promote even more efficiency in their workplace, Colliers Turley Martin Tucker invites employees from all over the region to its office in St. Louis to participate in Colliers University. This in-house program teaches attendees about the company's systems so that they can apply their training to their respective projects. The company has also developed a 1-800 help desk and call center for tenant services. By maintaining data from all its facilities on one system, Colliers Turley Martin Tucker can manage some facilities remotely through its 1-800 help desk.

"I think one of the themes we are seeing today is anytime, anywhere access of information," says Adam Kidd, chief information officer at Colliers Turley Martin Tucker. "From accounting to leasing or maintenance information, not only do our team members have access internally, but when necessary, vendors and/or owners of the properties can gain access through a secure mechanism," he adds. "Our customers are really pushing us in this area and asking us for better, faster and more reliable access and information to help them make good decisions. So we're right out there on the edge."

"Our company made significant investments in technology over the past 18 months," says Hegger. We've gone from installing individual technology systems to really integrating systems so they provide meaningful information and solutions for our clients."


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