Digitally Managed Access: A Must-Have for PropTech Apps!

PropTech – the wind of change? 

Thanks to digital solutions the real estate industry is getting smarter and smarter. PropTechs often stand for digital change. But they are much more a serious player in the digital transformation process of the industry. They combine information technology and real estate economics. The goal is to optimise services and processes related to real estate using modern technologies. We have already presented some of these useful solutions here. What’s PropTech exactly? What is the potential? Here is an outlook from the Tapkey perspective.

One PropTech is Not Like Another

Digitization is gaining momentum in more and more industries. Numerous startups find and establish digital solutions for previously analog areas. This also includes the real estate industry, which covers up different fields. 

According to Nikolai Roth, Managing Director of Maklaro, there are currently around 375 PropTechs active in Germany. Depending on their respective technologies, PropTechs can be divided into eleven clusters. The five largest include: 

• Construction management / construction projects: Services that support the construction of living space 
• Smart Home (IoT) & Home Services: Services that make everyday life easier for tenants, e.g. smart lighting systems or digital access control 
• Property management: Services that help with property management, e.g. facility management apps 
• Real estate management: Services that support real estate management, e.g. property management apps 
• Rental & sales: Services that help to find rental, sales and purchase objects, e.g. online platforms

Graphic: Maklaro GmbH, Proptech.de: “PropTech-Overview December 2019”

Tapkey is categorised in the smart home area in this graphic. One thing is clear: A digital access control system can make everyday life easier for tenants. On the other hand, it can also simplify the everyday life of a property manager. Thus, digital access control can also help enormously in property management in general. Just think of scenarios like a change of tenant or control of craft services.

Digital Access Control—Easily Integrated

It will be even easier if the digital access system can be integrated into existing PropTech apps. Tapkey offers a simple way of retrofitting and managing buildings with the latest technology. The smart locks are provided by hardware partners. 

A property manager can automatically assign rights to tenants via a PropTech app, but can also grant access rights to third parties at short notice, such as for facility managers or care services. Integration enables doors to be released as well as the rest of the communication with the tenants. 

Digital door access simplifies numerous work processes for property managers and lowers costs. The advantages are obvious. By assigning access authorizations to the smartphone, everything can be managed centrally. There is no need to replace locks, which saves costs. Last but not least, digital access control offers flexibility, since property management doesn’t have to be on site to issue keys.

Complementary Services as a Growth Factor

PropTechs open up new opportunities for innovative companies and new advantages for users at the same time. To stand out from the competition, PropTech solutions should include complementary services in their portfolio. Digital door access plays an important role in many core processes. Digital access as a platform is more than just an access authorisation for a single door. 

A digital access control system considerably reduces the administrative effort and increases real estate security at the same time. A flexible access system offers real added value—on all sides. Open standards and the willingness to cooperate seem indispensable. For this reason, it is important that there are open and secure interfaces for smoothly functioning processes between different systems. The key to worriless real estate management is simply not a key.