Get Tomorrow’s Technology Today

INSIDE TRACK – This article appears in the July/August issue of Habitat, "Insider Tips From 47 Top Management Leaders."

We manage a 12-unit boutique residential building and recently had an experience where the property needed to change its intercom system. The building itself is about 100 years old, and the wiring is maybe 50 years old.

We looked at lots of different technologies before deciding to put in a wireless system, where the intercom of the building connects to the internet, and then residents could receive the feed on their phones. We achieved a much better result for the building, and it also enhanced our security. There was a ground-floor retail space rented to a restaurant, and the restaurant had been broken into a couple of times. In each of the break-ins, the restaurant had surveillance footage and an alarm, but the criminal was never caught.

Connecting the surveillance cameras to the internet allows someone in our office to monitor the property in real time, and that provides a much higher level of security. Residents love it because they can let in guests and receive packages when they’re not home. We love it because we know when some of the service providers for the building – the sprinkler maintenance company, the elevator company, pest control – are coming, and we can control their access.

When we talk to boards about investing in capital improvements and new technology, we try to stay on top of the latest innovations, and we try to get buildings to adopt the latest technology. The reason for that is simple: whatever is cutting-edge today will be the norm in five years. This wireless intercom technology is a great example of that. It exists today in limited use, but in five years, you’ll see it everywhere.

Nadav Weg is president of Bosse Management.