In the pandemic’s immediate aftermath, hybrid work might have seemed like the latest fleeting trend, but it’s now clear that it’s here to stay. According to one recent survey, 74% of US companies are currently using or plan to implement a long-term hybrid work strategy. Data collected by the research firm Gallup shows that an overwhelming majority (91%) of employees prefer remote and hybrid work.
This shift has many benefits for employees, who enjoy the flexibility that hybrid work provides, as well as its ability to enhance both health and wellness and productivity. However, it creates new challenges for commercial real estate owners and property managers.
Now that people have the option of working from the comfort of their own living room, it’s more difficult to entice them into the office. This means there’s less demand for office space, with lower daily attendance rates. There’s also a greater desire for an upscale experience to please tenants when they do come in.
As a result, businesses are rethinking their real estate strategies, often shrinking their overall footprint and moving into higher-end properties with enticing amenities. This trend can make it harder for Class B properties to retain tenants, since people have higher expectations for their workspaces.
Plus, in a hybrid world, space use is more dynamic. Thus, it’s more difficult to optimize cleaning schedules, security monitoring, and HVAC settings. An easy way to understand and assess space use over time is to adopt a data-driven approach to building management.
Want to attract tenants by offering a more tech-forward, modern experience to their employees? Kastle offers three different mobile access solutions that make this possible.
The simplest is to convert your existing radio frequency identification (RFID) reader into a smartphone-based access solution. This is a cost-effective and easy-to-install way to give tenants streamlined access to the building using their mobile device as a credential.
Property managers that want greater administrative ease – along with the ability to develop a full-scale “smart” building management solution that’s powered by real-time data insights – can deploy a cloud-based mobile access system.
And those that want to extend the benefits and convenience one step further can also invite their tenants to deploy the same solution. This makes it possible for building users to take advantage of a single, smartphone-based credential all the way from the building’s entry to their offices.
Here’s a closer look at the three mobile access options:
Good: KastlePresence Express™
By inserting a small transistor into your existing RFID reader, you can make it possible for building occupants to open doors using their mobile devices without replacing your current access system. Mobile access is a key amenity that today’s tech-savvy tenants find convenient and attractive. This is much less expensive than system replacement, and it makes the building look and feel more modern. In addition to lower cost, there’s also less installation time.
However, you won’t get the full suite of benefits that a purpose-built solution brings. You also won’t have the foundational data that you’d need to build more integrated building systems or to optimize operations.
Better: KastlePresence®
Not only can a state-of-the-art access management solution enhance tenants’ experience, but it can also make it possible for building managers to make smarter decisions about many aspects of building operations. An added benefit is that it creates a smoother, more seamless management experience.
Property managers can enjoy remote management, logging in from any device – including mobile – to manage building users and monitor the property. They can easily and flexibly change schedules or access rights remotely, and the system can automatically synchronize with Active Directory or another user directory solution, so that as soon as HR deactivates an employee, their access to the building will immediately be terminated. This makes it possible to maintain a real-time roster of users at the tenant level.
Property managers will also gain all the benefits of effortless, accurate data reporting. This makes it possible to analyze and optimize use of the space. For instance, if most workers are now coming into the office at nine instead of seven, HVAC, lighting, and staffing schedules can be adjusted to accommodate this, saving money and resources while ensuring that tenants’ needs will continue to be met. Or, if usage levels tend to be very low on Fridays, you might be able to skip that day’s cleaning. This sort of optimization can reduce costs, improve amenities for employees, or both.
You also get all the benefits of Kastle’s future-proofed technology, including Active Directory integration, advanced security features, and regular software updates. Plus, Kastle’s open-platform technology can readily be reconfigured to keep pace with the future evolution of the technology or the building’s footprint.
Best: The Same Level of Convenience for Your Tenants
If you invite your tenants to use the same platform, you can make it possible for their employees to use a single access credential from building entry until arriving at their desks. This further enhances convenience but also makes it possible for individual tenants to optimize their use of the space. They can leverage data from the system to better coordinate team meetups, cleaning schedules, HVAC operational hours, and more. And your tenant will only have to manage one database for employee access – encompassing the HR user directory, building access, and office access – that’s all controlled from the administrative side of the tenant business.
This is a single, coordinated system that lets users access the building with a device that they always have on hand. People are far less likely to lose their phones than they are to lose keycards or fobs. They’re also less likely to get broken (or accidentally demagnetized).
The advantages of inviting your tenants to use KastlePresence® are twofold: the system makes access easy and administration streamlined. At the same time, it gives property managers and tenants the data they need to succeed in the ever-changing world of hybrid work.
This is a huge win for the property manager, because tenants will appreciate the convenience, easy access, and administrative benefits they get from the system that you recommended to them. Building owners to the rescue, with KastlePresence®.
To learn more about Kastle Security’s state-of-the-art access control solutions provide better experiences to tenants and property managers alike, check out our keyless entry and workplace access management solutions, where you’ll learn how to transform office access into an attractive amenity.