Three Connectivity-Related Issues To Consider To Keep Residents And Building Staff Happy

New multifamily housing continues to enter the market with developers delivering new residential communities across the country. 

The result? A multifamily environment in which the prospective renter is free to comparison shop.

“It's a highly competitive market for building owners,” said Lacy Silberman, sales director at Quantum Fiber. “That is why, when attracting and retaining residents, it helps to offer internet — especially fiber-optic internet — as an amenity to differentiate your property from the building next door.”

The Quantum Fiber Connected Communities team provides tailored technology solutions for clients who include property owners, developers and builders. Silberman said the “future-ready” fiber internet it provides can help increase a property’s value as well as benefit a building’s staff and residents.

But while fiber optics are the company’s area of expertise, she noted that a reliable internet provider needs to offer more than good technology. Top-flight service, which can only be offered if the provider becomes part of the building’s community of residents and staff, is also necessary, Silberman said. 

At a recent project in the Northwest, Quantum Fiber upgraded a property's copper wiring with fiber and installed WiFi equipment that gave residents instant internet activation and high-speed, reliable and secure service. It was a big transformation for the building and its residents that necessitated entering each apartment unit to switch out equipment.

Those kinds of projects can have repercussions for an apartment community’s staff, especially if residents are inconvenienced by the work, said Silberman, who is responsible for leading Quantum Fiber residential and small business sales activities in the Northwest. 

However, Silberman said Quantum Fiber, along with its Connected Communities services, combines high-speed internet with concierge-quality support for communities. 

The local Quantum Fiber representative kept residents apprised of progress. Then, once the install was complete, the information campaign was followed with a launch event and celebration for residents.

“We hosted a get-together with appetizers that doubled as a workshop,” Silberman said. “Residents and property staff appreciated the follow-through.” 

To help ensure fiber-optic rollouts and day-to-day connectivity go smoothly, Silberman said there are three things that building staff need to consider to help them select the right vendor and keep tenants and employees satisfied.

“It’s important that property staff have the support they need to help residents make an informed decision about which internet service to use when they move in,” Silberman said. 

Residents have choices in how they get their internet, including options such as cellular service or cable. When they don’t get the internet service they were expecting, it can create friction with property management staff, particularly if it takes a while to determine the cause, she said.

Silberman said fiber technology by Quantum Fiber is “incredibly fast," reaching up to 8-gigabits-per-second symmetrical speed in select locations, as well as reliable and secure. 

“We try to make it as fast, easy and seamless as possible,” Silberman said. “The equipment’s preinstalled, so when a resident moves in, they just go to our website, sign up and they will be online quickly.”

“We live in the neighborhoods where our communities are located and we build stable portfolios,” she said. “We value long-term relationships and getting to know the properties we service over time. 

As a result, it’s easy for residents and property managers to know who to call and how to reach them if an issue needs to be resolved, Silverman added.

“We’re close by and can quickly come on-site and help,” she said.

Silberman said local representatives can also help with the bane of many residents: Moving in, which can require coordinating with multiple utilities and vendors. On the internet front, Quantum Fiber can ease their burden, she said.

Being local and prioritizing long-term relationships with properties has ancillary benefits. This is especially important for property management at multifamily communities that struggle with employee turnover.

“There’s always a gap when a new person has to get up to speed on their role and the property’s unique features,” Silberman said. “When turnover happens, we are right there to help and we have the institutional knowledge of what happened at the property to make any transition easier.”

Silberman said the human factor is an important differentiator for Quantum Fiber.

“We live locally, so we know the favorite venues and restaurants,” Silberman said. “We know the concerts happening this weekend. This is knowledge we share with property staff to help them forge that connection with their residents. We are local experts.”

The Quantum Fiber “connected communities” philosophy ensures that support is customized to each property's needs and personality.

“It’s not one-size-fits-all,” Silberman said. “We take the time to sit down with a community’s managers and ask: ‘What’s your community like? What does support look like for you? What are you prioritizing?’”

One manager might be keen to leverage her building’s lobby for resident events, another might be casting about for move-in gift ideas, while a third might need office hours where residents can speak with a Quantum Fiber expert face-to-face. 

Whatever the case, “we step up,” Silberman said. “On a community-by-community basis, we come up with a game plan on what support looks like. We aren’t forcing a property to fit into one mold of what we do and that’s whether the property is brand new or older.”

Fiber-optic technology is the foundation of what Quantum Fiber offers, Silberman said.

“But it’s genuine relationships based on trust that yield the tailored solutions and ultimately provide the enhanced experience for residents and property staff,” she said.

This article was produced in collaboration between Quantum Fiber Connected Communities and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com. 

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