Answer - “As competition has grown more robust year after year in the property management and real estate industry, it is more imperative than ever for companies to invest in HOA technology to streamline operations and how they provide a superior resident experience,” said FirstService Residential, president, Michael Mendillo. “As an industry, we are only scratching the surface when it comes to how software and tech can provide innovative solutions to facilitate management challenges; but as the leader in the industry, we have identified a few critical challenges that HOA operational software can solve.

As an industry, some challenges we frequently observe are:

 • Shortfalls in billing/collection processes and operations.

 • Obstacles around speeding up the resolution of resident issues.

 • As a result of “The Great Resignation”, having limited associates to meet the need (ie: freeing up administrative tasks so community and portfolio managers can spend the bulk of their time focusing on meeting resident expectations and enhancing the resident experience).

 • Lagtimes and areas of opportunity around resident communications.

 • Ease-of-use around amenity scheduling.

 • Storing sensitive historical association and resident data and reporting safely and securely.

How specifically do residents benefit?

Answer - “Automating certain processes and making it easier to get community management tasks done are all vital aspects of making associations successful. Better communication and quick turnarounds on homeowner requests all help bring the community together -- and the right tech is a vehicle to make this happen,” comments FirstService Residential, Senior VP, Operations, Scott Bresnick. “There are endless ways that residents can benefit from a management company that innovates and implements HOA tech, but here are a few.”

HOA operational software enhances the resident experience by streamlining the way management companies deliver customer service, amenity scheduling and more.

“For example, through FirstService Residential’s Connect^TM – the company’s proprietary tech solution – managers can instantly deliver resident communications, provide solutions to resident inquiries, track HOA due payments to facilitate billing, and run reports all in one place to ensure timely communication and transparent financials. The tool allows residents to have 24/7/365 access to customer support at their fingertips.”

“Between the support tickets we receive through Connect^TM and the calls we receive to our Customer Care Center (the company’s multilingual 24/7 call center) we’re able to assist residents in a matter of seconds. On average, we receive and resolve approximately 2,800 - 4,100 daily resident calls across North America. Of these, approximately 5,700 - 6,100 calls a month are resident emergencies that need immediate resolution, providing a powerful tool for our most important mission; keeping our residents safe.”

“Not only does this tech help us assist residents with their problems quickly, but it also provides our management team with the means to proactively enhance the overall resident experience. Connect^TM also enables residents the ability to reserve amenities from their mobile devices, such as checking into the fitness center, mail and package management, accessing community calendars, booking time at a personal cooking class, reserving a spot at the community pool and more. This is a ‘win-win’ because this frees up staff time that would ordinarily be spent with assisting residents doing this,” comments Mendillo.

Proprietary HOA tech equips management teams with the ability to ensure the digital security and privacy of their residents

According to a survey of professionals in the HOA management industry, 49.2% of respondents have been using their current tech solutions for three or more years. The rest of the respondents have only been using their current tech solutions for two years or less.

“Despite being the leader in the industry, we're still learning and innovating every day when it comes to tech,” said FirstService Residential, Regional Director of Technology, Walter Christian. “There is so much more the sector can be doing when it comes to tech solutions, and one of the biggest concerns we hear from residents is around how their data is being protected. Their data is solely theirs – we are just the ‘custodians’ that keep it safe.”

Of course, tech makes it possible to keep our residents safe from data breaches and data loss. We accomplish this by:

 • Establishing the highest level of security through SSL certificates, firewalls, secure network transmissions, authentication and account creation requirements, software-based virus and malware applications, as well as backup and recovery modules.

 • Ensuring business continuity despite severe weather events through our data center in Las Vegas. The center leverages Microsoft Azure which – from a compliance standpoint – exceeds the most stringent HIPAA, SOX and FISMA requirements.

 • Leveraging multiple internet service providers, giving us carrier diversity to provide maximum uptime. Our data center backs up data and stays active in the event of an electrical outage.

Further having a tight seal on your residents’ data also drives up the value of any community as a bi-product.”

HOA tech allows us to facilitate billing and ensure financial transparency and security.

“To put it into context, about 350 of the 800 daily tickets we receive and resolve through FirstService Residential’s Customer Care Center are focused on streamlining the resale process. The HOA resale certification provides buyers with important financial information regarding their HOA, including the board’s budget, any anticipated expenditures for the upcoming year and the amount the association has in reserve.”

“By digitizing this process, we cut the time it takes to complete this process, while also enhancing compliance by keeping all sensitive financial data in one secure platform.”

“HOA tech allows us to stay on top of billing inquiries, Arc modifications, vendor payments, and provides overall transparent financial among the board and the residents for any specific community.”

What's ahead for this sector, how is the software evolving and to accomplish what?

“We serve various local markets, and they are all very different. At our size and scale, tech gives us the ability to not only enhance the way we serve our boards and residents, but provides a localized service – this is huge when you think about local legislation and the specific needs across our local markets,” said Mendillo. “Although we are a national company, it’s our core mission to deliver the personalized service our markets expect, along with the infrastructure and resources of a national company; tech is the way we can accomplish this and why boards choose us.”

“With further investment and innovation in this area – especially in the era of COVID-19 – the sky’s the limit when you think about operational efficiency and service delivery.”

“At the end of the day, building and maintaining great relationships with your community is what really matters. With robust software and proprietary tech solutions, you can transform your HOA community into a well-oiled machine and an even better place for residents to live – all well scaling up the value of your high-rise, condo or managed community,” explains Mendillo