Estate communication – a better way

3 min read

One of the best things about living in a residential estate is the community – and there are a lot of reasons why that’s good. Community is all about sharing – sharing knowledge, sharing experiences, and sharing responsibilities.

But we don’t live in the kinds of communities we did a few hundred years ago, where you knew everyone because you had grown up with them, no-one had ever gone further than the next village, and you could find out anything you needed to know by simply spending half an hour at the village well. That’s community by default, almost because you have no choice. But, no. Our communities are not like that.

Our communities are made up of extremely active, often very busy, and decidedly mobile people, so functioning like a community can be tricky without an efficient communication system.

Enter REDi Estate Community Portal and mobile App, the latest addition to REDi’s basket of integrated digital solutions.

Now your whole community is as close as your phone or tablet.

The REDi Estate Community Portal includes both a web application for use in a desktop environment as well as a fully featured mobile application for use on either iOS or Android devices – that effectively communicates official estate-related news to any number of people virtually instantaneously.

 

How it works

The heart of the system is the central database of owners, residents and other estate stakeholders, which is kept up to date in real time. Other estate databases, like security or admin, can be integrated and the system allows for different levels of access for management, property owners, owner-residents, tenants, service providers, etc.

The things you can do with the app are quite amazing, but also very user friendly. REDi Estate Community Portal has been designed specifically for estate communities, using recongisable communication interfaces similar to WhatsApp and other social applications. In addition to official estate communications and administrative information, you can select to receive push notifications relating to estate events, or from various community groups and forums.

Estate management can access the web app using a desktop environment to perform various administrative tasks and send communications, manage and send utility bills, send out notices and newsletters, and create, for example, a calendar of events. There’s also a built-in MarketPlace section through which various estate service providers can communicate directly with residents regarding their services, special offers and promotions.

As an owner or resident in the estate, once you’ve downloaded either the iOS or Android mobile app, and updated your profile, you’re ready to communicate – as much or as little as you want. One of the most important aspects of your profile will, of course, be choosing how you’d like to be communicated with and about what – users can set notification preferences in the settings section of the app.

 

Here are just some of the functions the app can perform.

• The homeowners association (HOA) or body corporate can communicate information about levy increases, meetings or any other admin issues, and even circulate agendas.
• Instant access 24/7/365 to estate news, articles, events, community forums and all relevant documentation directly from the app.
• Service providers as well as the various facilities on the estate, for example, the golf club or the coffee shop, can inform residents of any special offers, closures or other news.
•  Estate management can inform residents of any issues like temporary swimming pool closures, road maintenance, or even the burning of firebreaks in the wilder parts of the estate.
• Any security issues can be immediately circulated to all residents via push notifications. And it’s a great way to poll the community in real time about specific issues.

But it’s not just a one-way top-down system. Owners and residents can interact directly with the estate administrators and managing agents, chat and comment on forums, search for notifications that they remember reading two weeks ago, check utility accounts, vote on polls, and update and respond to the estate admin.

Pretty much all the things you would have said – or heard – down at the village well a thousand years ago. Villages haven’t really changed. Technology has. So estate communication – a better way.