There has been a substantial increase in college students using technology as a part of their college experience, with 73% of students stating that they can’t even study without technology as noted by Property Management Insider. Technologies to improve efficiency and the resident experience continue to increase day-by-day in this sector, which is poised to change the landscape over time. According to MFE Student Housing, there are three technologies to pay attention to in the student housing sector.
Facebook integration with applications like SmartClick, “an online account portal which allows students and parents to pay rent electronically, view their tenant leger, and make service requests,” as expressed by Derek Mearns, Associate Editor at Multifamily Executive and Apartment Finance Today magazines. The laundry experience is catching up with times with Heartland Payment Systems Campus Solutions introduction of the Waverider system, the “company’s WaveRider system allows students to pay for each load of laundry using a debit card instead of cash or quarters.” With additional features like mobile communication integration, your laundry will now tell you when its ready.
The last tech innovation to look for relates to security. Derek notes that “Recent advancements in near field communication (NFC) technology and radio frequency identification (RFID) have made it possible to unlock your door by just sending a signal from your mobile phone to an electronic lock receiver.” With over 90% of the Arizona State University students wanting to use this “virtual key” system and NFC chips becoming a standard in smartphones according to his findings, and an estimated 5.14 million students expected to be college bound by 2014 its no wonder why this technology is a highly anticipated trend.
US Postal Solutions has also jumped on the technology bandwagon incorporating the latest technology for its package tracking software, PackageLog. PackageLog is a package management software that notifies students when their packages have arrived, reminds them if they don’t pick up their package deliveries in a timely manner, with the ability to update them of upcoming student housing activities and events.
These amenities will likely soon be expectations as technology continues to evolve and weave itself into campus life. Examples are things like food service, waste, and mail service which were once considered amenities and are now just expectations. As the nations leader in mail delivery service for on and off-campus housing, it can sometimes be difficult to explain to student housing professionals that mail delivery services can be an outsourced amenity, just like food service and waste management. Mail delivery services and inbound package management is an amenity that continues to be under utilized in the student housing industry. By capitalizing on efficiencies developed over 12 years with the newest integrated technologies, US Postal Solutions is at the forefront of student housing trends as we enter 2013.
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US Postal Solutions is the nation’s leader in the student housing mail management industry, for both on/off-campus mail management services. The US Postal Solutions, Inc. companies offer mail delivery management, delivery services and package logging / package management software. For more information regarding US Postal Solutions, please call us today at (866) 378-8157 or visit us online at www.uspostalsolutions.com.
