Apps make our lives easier in so many situations. Soon all German and, afterward, all Austrian tenants of the BUWOG Group will have a customised app that considerably simplifies communication with the residential property company.
3,000 trial tenants already use the BUWOG app
Our objective is quite clear: we aim to steadily improve and develop the service for our tenants. Creating our own BUWOG tenant app was just one logical step in this regard. Only a few residential property companies offer their own apps, which is why we are also pleased to take an important step toward the future and digitalisation in the residential property industry, always in regard to the needs of customers, of course. The BUWOG Group’s long experience in Austria and Germany dealing with residential tenants contributed equally to the implementation of the tenant app.
We’re convinced of it: both tenants and tenant service employees will save ample time communicating by app. Tenants can contact us from any preferred location by app and send questions or damage reports while out or on break from work. That means calls to our customer hotline or even a personal appearance in our service centre are no longer necessary. On the other hand, we can also reach our tenants more quickly to ask whether the assessment of the damage reported took place on time and to their satisfaction. Of course it is up to each tenant to decide to what extent he or she wants to communicate with us using the new app or by conventional means.
The BUWOG app is currently in the final test phase. We have selected 3,000 trial tenants from our German residential portfolio who have received access to the app and, on the basis of specific cases, are identifying where we can still improve the app and what functions we should adapt to refine it. So a very heartfelt thanks to the trial tenants involved!
The central functions
With the BUWOG app communication with us will simply be more flexible. Questions or damage reports can be communicated directly by app from the tenant’s smartphone or tablet-PC to the BUWOG Group’s tenant service. Tenants can also contact their manager, caretaker or accounting office, ask questions about their utility bills or download forms.
Changes in their master data can also be easily and quickly transferred via app. The latest information from the BUWOG Group can also be found on the “bulletin board”, and responses are provided to frequently asked questions from tenants in the FAQ section. For damage reports, which can be reported round the clock to the relevant technicians, the tenant also has the option of uploading up to two photographs and stating two desired dates to meet for remedying the damage. In many incidents of damage this makes a preliminary inspection by management or a workman superfluous, and coordinating the appointment also is also quicker and smoother. After the work is completed it is possible to submit an assessment.
The future timetable for the BUWOG Group app
After concluding the test phase the tenant app is to be available throughout the German residential portfolio. The plan is to contact all BUWOG tenants in Germany before Christmas 2016. We are also working to expand it for Austrian tenants. In this regard, the tenant app will probably be available in the first quarter of 2017.
The app will be available for both Apple as well as Android devices. It can be downloaded at no charge under the keyword “BUWOG” in the Apple Appstore or Google Playstore. After installing the app on the smartphone or tablet-PC, only the tenant ID and individual password has to be entered before the tenant can use the various functions. The registration data is provided to all tenants in a personal letter.
From this point on you’ll be kept up to date on the BUWOG tenant app on this blog.
