Niiralan Kulma gradually expands into digital housing services
Our customer Niiralan Kulma (Niku) from Kuopio is currently celebrating its 75th anniversary. In Kuopio, Niku is a familiar player, with almost one in ten Kuopio residents living in a Niku home. Niku is modernizing and digitizing the housing services of its rental apartments in collaboration with One4all – both emphasizing quality resident experience in their collaboration and service development. We interviewed Niku’s Service Manager Hanna Harjunheimo and Project Coordinator Seija Savolainen.
Pioneer in utilizing digital housing services
Kuopio-based Niku could be called a pioneer in digital resident communication, as the company has been using One4all’s services for over six years. In 2017, Niku invested in digital notice boards in its properties, and subsequently, resident application and booking calendars have been introduced in several locations.
Currently, Niku has nearly eighty uniquely branded digital notice boards in over forty different locations. “It’s nice how you can personalize the notice board to your own needs, bringing up things like bus schedules or anything that helps residents in their daily lives,” says Hanna.
Looking towards the future, Niku has expressed interest in broader service utilization. They are currently testing a survey function within the resident application. Additionally, there are considerations about the use of interface solutions for house locking systems in the future.
From pilot project to action – the user interface is deemed easy and clear
Upon starting to work at Niiralan Kulma, Hanna almost immediately initiated collaboration with One4all. “The pilot went smoothly, and based on that, we continued moving forward,” says Hanna.
Initially, Hanna actively used the One4all Manager system and trained others to use it. Training others, she quickly realized how clear and user-friendly the management system is – everyone easily learned to use it. Currently, Hanna leads Niku’s customer service and communication team, consisting of twelve members, who manage communication, customer service, and coordinate housing matters.
Seija’s role has recently expanded, and she now updates the content of the digital notice boards daily and manages the resident application. Seija, too, found One4all services logical and user-friendly, and she appreciated the good onboarding to the management system. She praises the training and effective daily support.
Gradual implementation of digital housing services and supporting residents
Niiralan Kulma has extensive experience in implementing services, and they have found that a gradual introduction of services works best for both them and the residents. The digital notice board is introduced first, followed by the resident applications – this phased approach allows residents to adjust to the service, and it enables Niku to better support residents during the transition. Niku listens closely to resident feedback and uses it to improve operations.
Seija sees the benefit of gradually adding One4all services: “It’s good that you don’t have to order everything at once and can slowly build your own service package – this way, residents also stay engaged in the changes.”
Digital notice boards bring cleanliness and a modern atmosphere to the stairwell
“These digital notice boards are really good and bring a contemporary atmosphere to the stairwell. It’s nice that the resident list can still be displayed in the traditional letter style, as residents are accustomed to that,” Hanna comments on the overall atmosphere of the digital notice boards.
“The digital notice board creates a neat and modern entrance compared to old traditional bulletin boards – it immediately gives the impression of how actively and well the property is managed and maintained,” says Seija.
Digitalization saves time and reduces workload
For Niku, the most practical example of the benefits of digitalization is the ease of distributing announcements. “Almost with one click, an announcement goes to multiple places – there’s a clear advantage in time management, and property managers don’t need to print and distribute flyers,” says Hanna.
Seija highlights the same benefit as Hanna and also considers the obsolescence of paper announcements on bulletin boards, which need to be removed at some point as well. From the digital notice board and resident application, information can be removed at any time or scheduled to be displayed during the publication phase. “Overall, digital communication saves a lot of time and reduces workload,” summarizes Seija.
Efficient multi-channel resident communication using digital tools
In her role as content updater, Seija finds it practical and beneficial to be able to assess the situation of the digital notice board from the resident’s perspective in real-time: “It’s easy to check what is displayed on the screen and whether, for example, the reading time for an announcement is sufficient.”
Seija mentions how Niku has noticed the efficiency of multi-channel resident communication; the more channels used to distribute the same message to residents, the better the chance that the message reaches its target. Traditional paper communication at Niku is decreasing, but for some larger matters, it is still good to complement communication with paper announcements.
Multiple users at Niku have access to the One4all Manager system, and permissions are granted as needed to different stakeholders, such as property managers or renovation project managers. Niku’s communication provides various communication templates and content to its partners, ensuring that communication remains in line with Niku’s style and brand image.
The booking calendar is actively used for laundry bookings
A digital booking calendar has been implemented at Niku for laundry bookings. “If you’re in bed in the evening and realize you need to book a laundry slot for the next day, you don’t have to go to the basement or another floor to look for the reservation book – you can easily make the booking with your own phone,” describes Seija the benefits for residents. Laundry service is included in Niku’s rents, so billing is not needed. Saunas, on the other hand, are currently only rented for permanent shifts, so they cannot yet be reserved through the booking calendar.
One4all services also include a payment function, which can be optionally integrated into the booking calendar. This way, residents can independently pay for their reservations, freeing property management and customer service from billing tasks. “If, in the future, we were to move to also booking ad-hoc sauna shifts, it would make sense to implement One4all’s payment service,” says Seija. “Otherwise, managing reservations and payments would become quite tangled,” she adds.
One4all and Niiralan Kulma’s collaboration has worked well
At Niiralan Kulma, One4all services are considered crucial, good, and functional. Currently, reservations for digital notice boards are made in plans whenever a property is undergoing renovation or a new building is constructed. Residents in Niku homes also seem satisfied with the resident applications, as it is actively used, and there have been no complaints. “I believe residents find the app easy and logical – at least all smartphone users surely know how to use this app as well,” says Seija. Niku’s resident support assists residents in using the digital notice board and the resident application.
Seija praises One4all for collaboration and customer support: “I appreciate that the collaboration is enjoyable. The support works well; issues are addressed, and improvements are genuinely developed together. The upcoming collaboration looks particularly promising when the collaboration is so seamless.” One4all’s daily support and training have also impressed Hanna: “The support works very well and promptly.”
In the article image, Niiralan Kulma’s Project Coordinator Seija Savolainen and One4all’s digital notice board are featured.
This article is an ai-generated translation of the original article in Finnish.