With half of US renters in 2019 under age 30, it’s no surprise the demand for smart technology is on the rise. Surveys show these renters are willing to pay more for smart apartments, electronic access, and other digital amenities. With SmartRent, property managers can easily deliver these enhanced tenant experiences, while also adding operational efficiency and cost savings.Smarter homes, happier residents
Better resident experiences turn into faster rental close rates, longer lease terms, and higher retention residents. Delivering on all three is exactly where SmartRent comes in. Their cellular-connected smart home solution brings locks, lights, thermostats, sensors, and access control systems under a single enterprise application to help property managers more efficiently manage their assets and offer delightful experiences to their residents.
Reliable connectivity hinders adoption
The reality for property managers is that managing properties is a daily headache. Every resident or building issue adds to their expensive, manual operations. There is a constant churn of tenants with rising expectations of a smart home equipped with smart tech.
But most apartment communities do not have reliable internet connections across the property to provide the network availability needed for smart tech solutions. Plus, property managers simply don’t have the time to roll out smart tech solutions. They need a DIY frictionless solution that can quickly and easily scale across hundreds of units.
SmartRent + Super SIM deliver ease and scale
That’s where SmartRent steps in with their smart home solution that is fast and hassle-free to deploy for property managers. With Twilio’s cellular connectivity bundled in, property managers don’t need to worry about that spotty internet coverage.
SmartRent outfits each property with smart devices like connected locks, thermostats, and sensors, all of which are connected to SmartRent’s hub inside the property via Z-Wave technology, ideal for reliable, local communication. The hub uses Twilio’s Super SIM to connect to the internet and transmit data from the smart home to the cloud so tenants can access it from anywhere. Now, tenants can control and automate many critical aspects of their daily life, like access, lighting, and heating.
“Without Twilio’s cellular technology, it would have been very difficult to roll-out at the scale needed by these communities. System activation time has been dramatically reduced,” said Mitch Karren, co-founder and chief product officer of SmartRent. “Plus, if the property staff wants to install themselves, they can power on the hub and the entire system is online, paired and controllable in our applications in less than a minute.”
“This dramatically increases our customers’ capacity to scale across a large portfolio in a quick time,” he added. “Think about trying to train hundreds of property managers and maintenance technicians in a matter of weeks. Not an easy feat by any means. So the simpler the system activation, the faster our customers can get back to business.”
Controlling network quality: a critical need for expansion
Twilio Super SIM delivers the flexibility to choose the network that works best for a customer’s device type and device location. The ability to control network quality lets them deliver the ultra-reliable uptime for real-time monitoring and alerts that their customers expect.
“We’re now at 850,000 connected IoT devices and counting. That’s because our customers and their tenants trust the reliability of our solutions,” Karren said. “In fact, SmartRent was able to grow to more than a thousand new multifamily communities since COVID started.”
“Since Super SIM works seamlessly across the world, we have been able to expand to new areas not only within a property itself but also to completely new geographic regions,” he continued. “Today we are operating our solution nationwide, with expansion efforts in Canada, Europe, and Asia..”A foundation for a healthier future
With an eye to constantly improve the tenant experience, SmartRent is looking at leveraging air quality monitors, thermostats, lighting, and air purifiers to create healthier indoor environments. With specialized sensors and cellular connectivity, devices could alert property staff of unhealthy or hazardous areas, automatically prevent access, and prevent the issue from spreading through a combination of UV lighting, air filtration, and ventilation.
“With Twilio’s platform, we have the ability to quickly and affordably roll new capabilities, like touchless access control and healthy environments,” Karren said. “Regardless of where our properties are, or where the sensors are within the community, our solution can scale seamlessly with the same high levels of reliability and uptime.”