Case Studies

Cloud-Based Web Application for Self-Guided Apartment Tours

Posted in Application Development, Internet of Things (IoT), Web Application Development

Summary

DMC developed a cloud-based solution to enable prospective residents to tour apartment complexes unattended. Prospects sign up for a tour at participating properties by visiting a public facing sign-up form, where they can enter their contact information and complete a credit card verification and/or ID verification depending on the requirements of the property.

Before their tour, prospects receive entry instructions via email and/or text and download a customized tour app, which provides guidance and highlights via Bluetooth proximity beacons as prospects tour the property. Meanwhile, the property staff can analyze and manage their leads, prospects, and tours through a private web application.

Solution

Background

Tour24 offers a self-guided tour experience to properties wishing to attract more prospective residents. With traditional property tours led by leasing office staff, prospects have to email or call back and forth with a staff member to schedule an appointment, and then typically take off work to visit the site. With tour24’s pioneering self-guided process, prospects can sign up for a tour time from their phone or computer and visit the property whenever it works best for them.

Despite the absence of a leasing agent, the tour experience is still quite interactive, with customized tour app guidance and feedback throughout. The app also reacts to the proximity of Bluetooth beacons, showing users custom content specific to where they are in the property and recording the location.

After the tour is complete, the property staff can view a full history of the locations prospects visited and feedback they provided to make sure the tour experience is working as desired.

Tour 24 demo

Integrations

The solution integrates a wide variety of services to allow properties to provide the highest possible flexibility. Properties with an existing Outlook/Exchange, Google, or iCal based leasing calendar can connect it to tour24 so they can view and manage tour24 appointments in the same way as their existing appointments.

Properties that wish to have some collateral in case of damage can collect prospect credit card information through a secure payment provider. Finally, buildings that want to confirm the identity of the prospect can require the prospect to provide document and facial similarity identity confirmation.

For properties with a locking front door, tour24 has integrated with a commonly used building access control solution to provide prospects with secure temporary access to property buildings. DMC developed a custom windows service application which is installed at the property to communicate locally with the building access control solution. The windows service can then insert and delete temporary prospect access codes as required based on commands received from the tour24 cloud application.

Learn more about DMC's Application Development Services as well as our Microsoft Azure Cloud Solutions and Services.

Customer Benefits

  • Full-service, self-guided apartment complex tours for end users
  • Configurable alert options for prospective residents and property managers
  • Effective reporting tools to analyze user traffic and preferences
  • Integrated with a wide variety of services to ensure flexibility and broadest possible adoption base

Technologies