Energy supplier UGI Energy Services Inc. and Metretek Inc., a supplier of automatic meter reading equipment (AMR), are test-marketing an Internet-based software called PowerSpring for obtaining energy feedback from commercial and industrial sites. The software is designed to help consumers lower their energy costs.
How it works: sites are fitted with an automatic meter reading device that transmits the energy information of the site via a standard telephone line to a customized home page on the Power Spring web site. Customers can access the information to determine usage analysis, cost control, budgeting and forecasting.
Data will also include historical and forecasted weather information by specific location, NYMEX exchange information, electricity prices, gas storage reports and relevant energy news.
"It is a concept built on the premise that virtually every business has an interest in minimizing its energy costs," explains Sidney Hinton, president and CEO of PowerSpring Inc.
Soup to Nuts
A tenant at a Brandywine Realty Trust suburban office or industrial property can enjoy the cyber-equivalent of "soup to nuts," all at the office.
Brandywine's web site now offers e-Tenants, an at-work online portal offering discount goods and services for tenants in the commercial real estate industry. e-Tenants was developed to make it easier for its tenants' employees to complete business and personal tasks. So, for example, an employee of a Brandywine tenant can now conceivably order office furniture while simultaneously renting a favorite movie for after work.
By going to the e-Tenants home page, tenants have access to a variety of vendors dealing in services such as office supplies and furniture, travel and hotel reservations, moving, car and limousine rental, day care and concierge assistance. Tenants can even order flowers, rent movies, fill prescriptions and pay bills.
As part of its business-to-business strategy, e-Tenants offers discounts to members through its vendor partnerships. Since its inception by Brandywine in May 2000, it has been used by more than 50 percent of Brandywine's tenants, with the number increasing each month.
"This demonstrates the site's impressive utility in the workplace and the unique offerings that clearly differentiates the site from any other in the market," says Barbara Yamarick, senior vice president of property management and tenant services for Brandywine.
Some of the participating companies are Office Max, American Express, Sprint, Dell, The Wall Street Journal, Barnes & Noble.com, 1-800-Flowers.com, Kastle Systems, Day-Timer, VIPdesk.com and Stamps.com. A study revealed that furniture and supplies were the two top business provider categories used by tenants, making up 61 percent of total orders.
Bill Connor, president of Remington Group, Inc., sees it as a good opportunity. "We are very excited about the opportunity to partner with e-Tenants, to provide a cost-effective solution by assisting companies in managing their corporate relocations and expansions."
Embracing the Internet
FacilityPro, an online procurement marketplace for the real estate industry, recently contracted with Cushman & Wakefield to deploy its e- procurement marketplace to properties in the Cushman & Wakefield portfolio.
The FacilityPro.com site provides maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and supply services to commercial facilities. Cushman & Wakefield expects to reduce operating costs for its clients, improve efficiencies for management personnel and provide greater visibility into operations spending.
"The adoption of FacilityPro's solution by Cushman & Wakefield is a true indication that the real estate industry is beginning to embrace Internet-based technology," says Lawrence Hall, president and chief operating officer of FacilityPro.
Clients will also be able to gain access to business intelligence on MRO products used across properties, which can be used to aggregate volume and provide clients with significant bottom-line savings.
"Cushman & Wakefield has the ability to tailor the Facility Pro solution to address the specific procurement needs of its properties from coast to coast, resulting in more streamlined and efficient business processes," explains Hall.
In addition, FacilityPro recently joined forces with online MRO supplier Grainger.com. FacilityPro will supplement its current line of MRO offerings with Grainger's extensive product categories including lighting, safety and security products, material handling equipment, HVAC and power tools.
"Our relationship with Grainger creates a tremendous opportunity for FacilityPro and demonstrates our commitment to providing true value and choice for our customers," says Dominic Troilo, vice president of strategic sourcing at FacilityPro.
Steve Braun, Grainger's vice president of marketing, points to the benefits of e-procurement. "If you look at the total logistical work flow associated with placing an order as you traditionally would, receiving the order, processing the invoice, and sending off the payment, you can see why doing it all online in a few clicks will significantly streamline the process."
Look, Ma ... No Wires—or Dish!
Video service providers can now allow tenants to have digital satellite television without extra wires and rooftop dishes.
WSNet, a wholesale provider of direct-to-home digital video programming, now gives multiple dwelling unit (MDU) service providers the chance to offer tenants over 200 digital satellite channels without spending money putting a dish on every rooftop or reworking existing wiring.
Its quadrature amplitude modulation, or QAM, technology uses satellite signals that have been converted from standard cable industry digital modulation using less bandwidth. This allows for a low-cost method of delivering digital video to apartment complexes, condominiums, townhomes, retirement communities, nursing homes, marinas, RV parks, university dormitories and new housing developments.
"QAM lets MDU digital video service providers use a building's existing cable wiring, eliminating the inconvenience to both MDU owners and tenants of cutting into walls and ceilings and saving the providers hundreds of dollars in installation expenses," says Mark Sherman, executive vice president for business development at WSNet.
Spinning a Facilities Web
Property managers, tenants and vendors can make a strong bond by using InfoCentre, a web site service center that provides facilities management and preventative maintenance information from a 24/7 service desk of customer service representatives.
Developed by essention, Inc., a Seattle-based technology application service provider, InfoCentre allows tenants and vendors to make online service requests, view a job's status and create customized reports. Real estate and retail management are better able to respond to requests, deploy personnel and measure vendor performance. The goal is to improve tenant satisfaction and reduce operating and maintenance expenses. At present, InfoCentre covers several types of building environments—from offices and data centers to high-tech labs.
"InfoCentre empowers customers (property mangers) to effectively manage more square feet, with fewer resources, while actually improving the satisfaction and resulting retention of their tenants or occupants," explains Dean Allen, essention president and CEO.
For example, service requests submitted by tenants go into a web interface. Requests are logged and handled based on protocols set by a property manager. Work orders are then generated for vendors and field technicians, who access Info Centre to view service requests and are dispatched to resolve issues.
With each step of the process recorded in real-time on the InfoCentre web site for access by authorized users, property managers can check the status of service requests to ensure vendor performance and accountability.
Hailing Frequencies Open
Busy real estate professionals juggling phones and pagers while sifting through faxes and e-mails can now get a dose of Star Trek-type technology to help manage their communications.
eGix, an Indianapolis-based telecommunications company, has a web-based service called ICE, which stands for "Instant Communications by eGIX," that lets customers access phones, e-mail, faxes and voicemail all from a PC, wireless personal digital assistant, web browser or telephone—whatever the user chooses.
The idea is to help busy, mobile professionals regain control from their myriad of communication devices by connecting them with a single, time-saving service. The growing list of customers includes real estate and property management professionals.
Incoming calls to a single, local or "800'' number are routed to an office phone, cellular phone or any other subscriber-chosen location around the globe, enabling callers to contact subscribers regardless of where the subscriber is located. E-mails, unanswered telephone calls and fax messages go into a personal mailbox, which can be accessed through the subscriber's personal password-protected web page. Subscribers can listen to voicemails, faxes or e-mails as audio files, view e-mails or faxes as text, respond to their messages, and organize their communications, all online.
In addition, users have a "One-Number" option that finds the subscriber regardless of location. Using this feature the subscriber can then choose to answer the call, forward the call to the voicemail, or reroute it to another individual.
"For too long, busy professionals and fast-growing companies have been forced to use phone, fax and e-mail as separate systems, which is time-consuming, costly and too complicated," said Bob Gallup, executive vice president of sales and marketing for eGIX. "Equally challenging is the confusion these multiple systems create for anyone trying to initiate contact or send vital information. ICE dramatically simplifies all these systems into one place, and this is crucial to someone in the real estate industry where being in touch at the right time often proves crucial."
In addition, the web portal provides the subscriber with personalized information such as business news, weather, stock information and other subscriber selected topics. If subscribers are on the go and have web access through their cellular phone or PDA, they can access the same features on demand. For subscribers without immediate web access, voicemail and fax messages can be accessed by phone.
