How to Monitor Assets While Observing Stay-at-Home Orders

Chris Roy, Director of Creative Design for Outside the Lines. Image courtesy of Outside the Lines.

COVID-19 has transformed the way we are all living and working at the moment, and, in the process, has left many buildings desolate.

As tenants and property management teams institute work-from-home policies, building owners and investors are seeking ways to manage or monitor their assets from afar to keep operating costs in check and to stay on top of any problems that might arise at a closed property.

Along the same lines, these owners want to ensure their valuable amenities remain functioning during the shutdown and don’t create an issue down the line.

Fortunately, just as many of today’s buildings are equipped with smart technology that enables stakeholders to remotely program, monitor and adjust building systems, designers and constructors of amenities are beginning to offer these features as well.

Below are three tech tools property owners are using to monitor their assets and amenities while working from home.

Computer-controlled connections

Many of today’s smart buildings can monitor systems like HVAC, utilities and security remotely.

Similarly, a growing number of commercial property amenities are being designed and constructed with connectivity that allows them to be controlled and monitored through data connections. With these systems in place, stakeholders can monitor and make changes proactively, potentially saving clients significant operating and repair costs.

Automated alerts

Modern technology allows owners and operators to receive automated messages on their computer, tablet or cell phone that alert them if there is an issue with their asset.

For example, Walmart monitors freezers in all of its stores from a computer at the company’s Arkansas-based headquarters, which receives an immediate alert if a freezer at any Walmart store in the world is malfunctioning.

Webcams

Cameras are a great way for property owners and managers to see what is actually happening on their properties and determine if an alert requires immediate action, or a site visit.

Webcams that are accessed remotely can reveal past, current and potential threats to the safety of a building or amenity.

This safeguard is especially relevant if building owners are opting to dial down their maintenance services to trim costs or to comply with social distancing during the COVID-19 crisis.

As the current situation with the coronavirus continues to unfold, the use of remote-monitoring technology in buildings and amenities will continue to grow and become a ubiquitous part of the new normal. Computer-controlled connections, automated alerts and webcams have ultimately become necessary tools for property owners and operators to keep their assets safe and secure 24/7.

Chris Roy is the director of Creative Design for Outside the Lines Inc., a design-build themed construction company. More information is available at www.otl-inc.com.