3 tips for going digital with your facilities program

Technology plays a major part of our daily lives. From front porch cameras and smart speaker systems to wearable devices that tell us when to sleep, new technologies entertain us, connect us, and help us make more informed decisions.

Similar technologies can elevate your facilities portfolio and deliver an even stronger customer experience. Here's why your facilities program should go digital.

1. Go beyond work order management

A work order management system is a serious technology investment. And like any other investment, it only justifies its expense when you’re seeing meaningful returns.

To get the most from your work order management system, it’s important to capture not only the basic requests within your work orders, but also their context. This should include:

Asset and warranty information. Both are critical to prioritizing maintenance work and achieving long-term savings. Your work order management system will provide a way to collect asset data and tie that information to specific work orders. Asset data will help you better understand where to focus your preventative maintenance efforts in the near future. And with asset warranty information available in the same place, you can offset the costs of repairs that are still covered by the manufacturer.

Lease abstract documentation. When a new work order is created, your work order management system may trigger a reminder to review lease agreements with your property owner. Depending on the lease of any given location, you could free up repair costs for a variety of maintenance jobs across your portfolio.

Reporting and analytics insights. These are essential to the smooth operation of any modern facilities portfolio. And if properly leveraged, your work order management system will collect a useful cache of data about every new maintenance request, including provider performance metrics and related spend information. But you’ll get the best results if this information is interpreted by business analytics experts with the experience to translate data into insights specific to your unique set of circumstances.

2. Keep your technicians connected

Like so many other lines of business, the facilities management industry is adapting to new ways of staying connected, informed, and productive.

With a mobile facilities platform solution, your technicians can get more work done each day, and you’ll find it easier to manage maintenance requests for all of your locations. Features include:

Calendar synchronization. A bird’s-eye view of every technician’s real-time schedule. is a lens into the actual state of maintenance coverage across your portfolio, which is especially helpful in emergencies or for planned maintenance requiring special competencies.

Provider skill set profiles. These help determine which provider should be dispatched for a specific work order. Service providers that perform especially well in certain trade categories will be more effectively dispatched to locations with sudden needs. This way, problems are solved faster and in the first visit. What’s more, detailed provider profiles are especially useful for building out preventative maintenance calendars.

Geolocation technology. Now you'll have accurate trip times based on actual arrivals and departures reported in the app. In addition to the convenience of having a more realistic visibility into the technician's schedule, geolocation gives you proof of service that can streamline the billing process.

Photo and video capture. Both give you another layer of important context and validation for work orders throughout your portfolio. Smartphone cameras make it easy for facilities managers to provide useful information or context. And a technician’s before and after photos will provide an additional form of work order validation that speeds up invoice resolution and provides peace of mind that work was completed as assigned.

3. Embrace the Internet of Things

New Internet of Things (IoT) technology makes it possible to enhance our understanding of how people interact with their surroundings. Internet-connected sensors can report data about real-world events having to do with motion, sound, pressure, airflow, and so on.

By deploying sensors throughout your locations, you’ll gain even more insight into the way people interact with various assets within your portfolio.

For example: Motion sensors attached to doors will give you the hard numbers to know which entrances receive the most attention at your high-traffic locations. This information can be used to prioritize preventative maintenance and minimize energy output from door frame climate control units.

When conditions change within your physical spaces, IoT devices will leverage existing systems to trigger work orders, request manual review of specific assets, and notify facilities managers of impending needs—helping you work smarter, not harder.

Facilities management involves the interaction of dynamic parts—people, buildings, tools, assets, environments, and much more. And technology should be a part of any modern maintenance strategy. But there’s more to facilities technology than work order management systems. Consider working with a trusted provider like Lessen that’ll manage the full spectrum of your needs, everything from technology to providers to expert support.

Get in touch with Lessen and request a demo.