Remote Services Offer a Dose of Telemedicine for Healthier Buildings

This audio was created using Microsoft Azure Speech Services

Facility Managers are facing unique challenges. With people singularly focused on maintaining personal wellbeing, combined with the fact that we spend approximately 90% of our lives indoors, the question of how to establish the healthiest interior environments possible has become a strategic business driver. Building professionals need to ensure safe interactions for staff, occupants and visitors in reopened offices, healthcare centers, schools, and government facilities, while balancing the existing priorities of improving productivity and reducing costs. And while commercial buildings can facilitate the spread of infections through means such as inadequate airflow, the good news is that if managed appropriately, we can enlist buildings to help in the fight against disease. Fortunately, remote services, support and analytics are ideally positioned to help facility professionals overcome these modern challenges. 

Remote services are like digital PPE for frontline building staff

The new normal in the early wake of a pandemic has seen businesses taking extra safety precautions that have led to a rapid expansion of the “contact-free” economy. This is exemplified by a marked increase in the automation of many services that were once provided in person, but can now be performed through advanced communication and software technology.  

It seems as though nearly every industry has increased these types of innovations and advancements, including the healthcare industry which introduced telemedicine over the past several years, however adoption was gradual with both the delivery arm of medical providers offering remote treatment and also patients on the receiving end.   Now, in a world of “curbside pick-up” and a focus on risk containment, the appetite for virtual medicine has increased, offering an array of benefits to all participants.  

Remote monitoring and services for buildings offer similar advantages to facilities as telemedicine does to individuals. The analogy is apt in so many ways, but particularly in its ability to quickly diagnose and resolve facility issues at a distance, so tenants, occupants and staff can avoid situations that pose risks to their health, safety and productivity. But let’s also not forget the role that 24/7 remote monitoring, backed by the expertise of an OEM expert remote engineer, can play in sustaining the health of a building’s critical infrastructure.

The healthier the building, the stronger a properties’ competitive advantage 

While social distancing is likely to be part of our future for some time, a crucial part of the reopening and “back to normal” reemergence process will be ensuring everyone feels safe and comfortable in knowing that they are returning to a healthy and clean indoor environment. Many tenants say they want to be able to assure clients, employees and customers that their office or storefront offers cutting-edge health protections, making facility specialists’ jobs even more demanding. Tenants are likely to want more than minimum guarantees of thorough and ongoing sanitization protocols, they will want landlords to be able to verify that their HVAC system is fully maintained, disinfected and circulating clean, healthy air. They may expect verification of when and how long a space was in use, so scheduled cleanings can be optimized. Properties that offer a host of hands-free control options that provide touch-free access, elevator control, illumination, temperature moderation, amongst other incentives, could well be preferred over those that don’t.

In order to boost their business resiliency, organizations may want to shake up strategic planning and rethink their building infrastructure investments. With such steep changes in the cards, it has never been more important to keep staff focused on advancing and maintaining an up-to-date and cost-effective operation. Remote monitoring and services is one of the easiest ways a building manager can outsource time consuming tasks, so their team can focus on core functions, like creating a safer, more appealing environment for attracting and retaining quality tenants.

Trusted partners are more important than ever

There’s no question that we’re living through unusually volatile social and economic times. Navigating them successfully involves not simply weathering the tumult, but also seizing opportunities to prosper during periods of uncertainty. Assessing how remote services and support can help building professionals solve problems like maintaining mission-critical services, or safely and rapidly restarting their facilities, while saving valuable time and money is a great place to start. There’s no escaping the irony that the threat the digital technology underpinning telecommuting poses to commercial real estate demand, also presents substantial opportunities to leverage remote services to help boost financial performance, while providing healthier and safer indoor environments.   

To learn more about how our remote building services and support can help both your building’s low occupancy, restart, and long-term needs, download our flyers:

Remote Building Services and Support

Remote Building Services and Support – Restart

Delivering Business Continuity in extraordinary times