3 essentials for a superlative digital experience in commercial buildings

Until recently, owners and operators of office buildings paid little attention to the occupant experience within their buildings. The advent of new business models, new workspaces (like start-ups and co-working), as well as the increased use of new technologies have stirred up the expectations of employees with regard to their workplace. Their employers, in the midst of these talent wars, want to offer more than merely a professional space.

To meet their demand and thus ensure better performance of their assets, owners and operators must now offer a superlative digital experience to the end users of their buildings, namely to the employees. Here are 3 essential items to offer an outstanding occupant experience:

1. Comfort and Safety

This is the main expectation of employees: to have a clean and functional workplace. Included in this, they expect quality service on a daily basis, but also to be able to contact the building managers easily to report incidents. Finding the right contacts in just a few clicks, following up where a request has got to in real time: this is now essential for a good occupant experience in an office building.

2. A readable and accessible service offer

Reservation of common areas, gym, company restaurant, concierge services, etc.  Many services are now available in commercial buildings. But to access them, employees are faced with a multitude of sites and applications. The best digital experience goes through a single gateway, bringing together all the services and service providers. For users, it’s simple: a download, a password, and they have access to all the services being offered in their building.

3. An open space: news, discussions

The occupants of an office building are part of the same community. Unfortunately, it is not always easy for them to find each other, online or offline, especially since they belong to different companies. One of the pillars of a successful digital experience is to offer occupants a real place for communicating. A directory, internal messaging but also ads and events: the digital way is also a facilitator of meetings. This “social” brick, popularized by the use of Facebook & Co, is today one of the most used channels, and employees can benefit from an application dedicated to the occupant experience, such as Witco.

Companies are sensitive to the occupant experience offered within their buildings. Services, but also user support, tools, a community: these features must now be part of global thinking, offering a digital experience that meets the expectations of the employees. For the owners and operators of commercial buildings, it is therefore now a question of offering “as a service” spaces which are using technology efficiently and prioritizing the satisfaction of end users.