AN ADAPTIVE AND FLEXIBLE SOLUTION THAT PROVIDES A UNIFIED CHANNEL OF INTERACTION BETWEEN STAKEHOLDERS
In 2016, as part of our technology strategy and roadmap, Urbanise recognised the need to undergo a major technological refinement in order to remain relevant and stay competitive. An incremental build process, running parallel to our legacy platform ‘Mystrata’, has resulted in a new and enhanced Strata Platform fashioned with improvements based on user experience.
This new Strata Platform, known as the world-class Urbanise Strata Management Platform, has been rolled out across existing and new users, and is delivering enhanced functionality and aesthetics, and a seamless experience to strata managers, bodies corporate, owners and tenants alike. This continual investment in technology demonstrates Urbanises sustained commitment to improving the customer experience, retaining existing customers and winning new ones.
As cloud-based software solutions for strata management become more prevalent[1], it is important more than ever that Urbanise differentiates itself from the competition with a well-designed and tailored software solution that can solve the strata industry’s current and future problems alike, guaranteeing our clients further prosperity.
Urbanises 16 expert developers drive the rapid feature deployment to always keep Urbanise ahead of the curve and the competition. Unique features of the Platform piquing interest and delivering consistent value to current and potential users include:
Simplified operational procedures through advanced automation of back-office operations, property-related functions, and finances (i.e. automated electronic banking and streamlined bank reconciliations).
Quick AP – in partnership with Acumen Data, enables the complete outsourcing of the entire AP process faster and more securely with real-time visibility.
Community Portals and Apps – a set of self-service tools to facilitate the sharing of documents, raising and tracking of maintenance and service requests, and allow for comments on events and notices.
Meeting Management - delivers the industry’s leading meeting and electronic voting solution
Drag and drop features makes uploading and sharing documents simple and efficient.
The ability of the Urbanise Strata Management Platform to integrate seamlessly with other Urbanise systems and other third-party systems through our suite of API’s.
Guy Garreffa from StrataPoint notes “The Urbanise Strata Platform has improved operations. The system doesn’t require a large amount of manual work to complete tasks and achieve desired results. For example, the automation of striking levies following an AGM, historically a manual process, has increased efficiency and guaranteed compliance with the applicable legislation. The Urbanise Strata Platform is far exceeding our expectations.” Moving forward and adapting to change, by utilising feedback from our customer base and an in-depth understanding of the strata services industry, has resulted in the Urbanise Strata Platform being trusted by world-leading brands to manage iconic projects across the globe.
Our clients have benefited from flexibility, mobile and tablet apps, self-service web portals, and most importantly, relevant to today’s Pandemic environment, remote access capability.
The Covid-19 Pandemic has enforced change in how the strata industry operates. For instance, most companies have transitioned to a work from home workforce. This means remote access to applications used at work is critical. Cloud-based software solutions, like Urbanise, are designed for this – all you need is an internet connection and you are good to go. Additionally, Urbanise’s remote access capability through mobile and tablet apps and self-service web portals offers further convenience and flexibility of managing strata portfolio’s anywhere and at any time of the day.
COVID-19 has also resulted in a significant change in our Strata Managers customer behaviours and preferred interactions. With physical distancing measures in place, owners need an electronic alternative to make payments and communicate through. The Urbanise Community App offers connectivity to banking payment gateways and effective communication tools to provide a unified channel of interaction with owners.
Setting the Stage for Change
The implementation process is accompanied with a thorough onboarding and training process; critical to positively influencing the uptake of a new system. Delivered by the implementation team, with assistance from subject matter experts within Urbanise, the onboarding and training experience enables our clients to transcend their current strata management pains.
Partnering with our clients, our trainers provide personalised training as a foundation for ongoing success with the Urbanise Strata Platform. Our competency-based training is based on the client’s unique workflows and industry best practices and can be delivered in-person, or remotely, and is aligned to the roles and responsibilities specific to an individual’s job. Clients also have access to additional training information in our online Knowledge Base resource library.
Workshops held during the implementation period also allow our clients to use the Strata Platform in a live environment with training data sets. Properties are set up where users apply their knowledge of the system and learn further about the fundamentals in a controlled environment. This process has proven to be most helpful for new customers as it has enabled their staff to see the demonstrated benefits of the Urbanise Strata Platform before going live with their portfolio. Although our platform is intuitive and easy to use, our training goes beyond the basic software so that our clients can utilise all features and maximise their investment in the Urbanise Strata Platform.
Guy Garreffa from StrataPoint explains “I was concerned the training and onboarding process would be complicated and overwhelming, but the instructions and five days of training along with ongoing support has instilled confidence in myself and the team at StrataPoint to be able to use the Strata Management Platform to its full potential.”
Going the Extra Distance
As a customer-focused organisation, we are committed to providing outstanding levels of support to all our clients. Our expert support team is readily available via telephone, online chat and email to resolve queries and ensure our clients make the most out of the Urbanise Strata Management Platform. The online Knowledge Base, consisting of in-platform guides, training materials and tools, also offers our clients an opportunity to raise support requests of which our support team will promptly troubleshoot issues.
Lisa Matijevic, Urbanises Global Manager in Operations states “Our clients consistently mention that they are happy with the level of assistance provided by the Support Team. They are online and available via live chat, phone and email from 7am to 1am AEST and can assist all clients to find appropriate solutions for their queries in a timely manner.”
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