The digital booking system makes life easier for both property management and residents
As Oy Helsingin Casa Urbana is a residential building located in Helsinki’s Jätkäsaari area, realized as a group construction project. In this six-story building, there are 51 Hitas apartments, whose design residents have had a strong influence on. Special attention has been paid to versatile common areas and living comfort in the property. Digitalization is also part of Casa Urbana’s refined package, with residents having access to One4all’s housing service platform, which includes a resident application, a booking system, and digital notice board. We had the opportunity to interview the property manager of Casa Urbana, Mika Rautio from Kiinteistötahkola, about the utilization of One4all’s digital services in the property.
The booking system eases the work of property management and the daily lives of residents
Rautio started managing the property at the beginning of the year and, in his own words, jumped on a ‘moving train’. He admits that initially it felt unfamiliar, as he didn’t have prior experience with similar digital services, but after learning to use the system, he has come to appreciate its benefits and features that make his work easier.
Casa Urbana residents have access to and can book an unusually wide range of facilities through the booking calendar, including a guest room, two sauna sections, a fireplace room, terrace, parking space, and laundry machines. For an individual housing association, this is quite a diverse offering, and it’s evident that there has been a desire to invest in common areas – as well as in the ease of booking them.
“Active residents use the facilities and services a lot, so the benefits of the digital booking system are clear,” says Mika. “The biggest benefits of digitalization are indeed its ease – for both property management and residents,” he continues.
“Residents can book paid facilities according to their own needs and schedules through the booking system, and the property manager doesn’t have to do anything about it,” Mika explains. “If I were manually managing these bookings and invoicing, it would be a huge task,” he adds. “Now, I also get billing information semi-prepared in an Excel sheet from the system. One option would be, of course, to adopt One4all’s payment service for bookings, which would completely eliminate the need for invoicing.”
“From the resident’s perspective, there are many benefits too. They don’t need to go to the facility to book it on a paper reservation calendar; they can book it from anywhere. And they always see the current booking situation without having to contact maintenance or property management separately by phone or email. A traditional reservation book wouldn’t be an option in such an active community,” Mika summarizes.
The stylish digital notice board in the staircase is the property’s business card and communicates quality
When discussing the use of the digital notice board, Mika mentions benefits such as easy upgradability and availability of up-to-date information. The visual appearance of the notice board display also receives praise.
“An electronic notice board is certainly a clear business card for the property and communicates quality, which supports the overall perception of the residential building’s quality. The property’s image is enhanced when visitors pass through the stairwell to the apartments,” Mika remarks.
In addition to ease of use and style, cost savings are highlighted in discussions because resident information on the digital notice board can be updated quickly from a computer, eliminating the need for maintenance to run to a hardware store to buy missing letters.
Digital communication reaches residents in exceptional situations
Mika considers digitalization an absolute strength also from the perspective of efficient resident communication. He mentions that especially in exceptional situations, where there is a need to get a message across quickly or residents need to react promptly, digital communication is an effective way.
“It saves everyone’s time and is efficient when notices and announcements are displayed on the notice board display and application. The property manager doesn’t have to individually respond to emails and calls, as residents have access to up-to-date information,” Mika explains.
He further considers that it would be efficient if messages could be sent to residents via email or text message at the same time. The app’s push notification serves largely the same purpose as a text message – it brings the notification to the smart device’s screen, provided the user has allowed notifications in their settings. The request for email notifications has been added to the system’s development list.
This article is an ai-generated translation of the original article in Finnish.