"New technology now a must for property managers"

There have been many changes over the past 20 years in the way property management professionals have supported their tenants and owners, but the most important innovation is the implementation of service-orientated software technologies.

In order to retain tenants with superior service and renew management assignments from third- party owners, today's property management firms must implement a variety of software technologies in order to remain competitive.

GVA has taken a proactive and aggressive position by implementing the newest software technologies for our clients, differentiating ourselves from the competition. This has helped change our owner's impressions that property management is no longer just a commodity but is now enhanced by providing unique management services. now a must for property managers

Tenant Response Software

In the past, when a tenant had a maintenance problem (light bulbs out, offices too cold, leaks, janitorial requests) they would call the main office or "beep" the on-site engineer to place the request or complaint. Sometimes a work order would be written and sometimes just a verbal request would be placed asking an engineer to respond to fix it. It was hit or miss if a tenant was ever billed.

GVA has implemented sophisticated "Tenant Response Software" that automates this process by utilizing the internet and a Blackberry device. Tenants now log in via the building's web site or the GVA web site and register their issues or requests.

The system will confirm receipt back to the tenant and generate electronic work orders that are automatically dispatched to our engineers (or pre-designated vendors) via Blackberry.

The software tracks each call, our response times, and the engineer's total hours and productivity. After work is completed, the job is then closed out via the Blackberry. Then the software transmits all billable information (after the tenant approves the completed job) back to GVA ' accounting software program for inclusion in the tenant's monthly billing cycle.

All of this is accomplished at an incredibly low cost per square foot, while giving the tenant immediate feedback and management control of engineering productivity.

Accounts Receivable

In the past, when our accounts receivable department received rent checks through a commercial bank's lockbox system, in most cases we had no direct knowledge of who sent the check, or where to apply the receipts. We normally received the check information days after it was in the bank's lockbox system, causing loss of interest income.

Now our rent receipts are automated with an independent "digital lockbox."

Upon receipt of the tenant's check (at a secured site), the envelope is automatically opened, the front and back of the check is digitally scanned and the image and information is instantly sent via email to our accounts receivable staff who can apply the cash to the specific bank associated with that property on the same day the check was received.

GVA is now eliminating three or four days from the process, reducing thousands of dollars in float that translates to more interest income to the bottom line.

Accounts Payable

GVA has automated the accounts payable process with a new "paperless" technology. It has increased the capacity of our A/P staff and reduced the number of people needed to process and pay the large volume of invoices required to support the 23 million square feet which we manage.

By scanning every invoice received into the new A/P software program (and asking our vendors to also send their invoices to us electronically) every A/P staff person now releases paperless payment via the internet. Every invoice is tracked and confirmed when paid. The total A/P process takes less time and our ability to absorb more volume of invoices utilizing the same or less number of A/ P staff is assured.

Lease Administration

The good news is that the total number of tenants in our managed portfolio is growing. The bad news is that the task of tracking all leases, options, renewals, step rents, tenant obligations, landlord obligations, insurance certificates, letters of credit, floor plans, CAD drawings and warranty termination dates had become more difficult to manage.

We have moved this monumental tracking task from Excel spreadsheets to the latest web-based version of Lease Administrator software.

Our lease administration software generates emails regarding all critical dates and milestones to all parties involved.

We eliminated the possibility of losing a renewal or option dates that could have cost thousands of dollars to owners or tenants. Now every relevant document is scanned, saved and retrieved via a database, available 24/7. It even projects future rent obligations for better forecasting. Property management at GVA is no longer just a commodity.

We have differentiated ourselves from our competition through the implementation of state-of-the-art technology that provides our clients with improved productivity, timeliness and increased savings to the bottom line.