Streamlining maintenance is one of the most critical activities in community management.  Managers aim to increase the public appeal of the community and ensure the safety of its staff and residents.  The right technology can help managers not only achieve but optimize those goals. As you research HOA maintenance software options for your community, ask vendors these 5 questions.

1. Can residents submit maintenance requests?

Providing residents with a way to self-service and be notified about important things relating to their unit and the community increases engagement and builds trust.  When a resident identifies a maintenance issue in their unit or within an area that lies within the HOA or condo’s responsibility to fulfill, they need a way to inform management of it.  

[icon name=\”check-square\” class=\”\” unprefixed_class=\”\”] Can your residents…

• Submit work order tickets about their unit or common areas
• Add pertinent details about the issue
• Select access preference – Does the resident want to be at the property when the maintenance personnel arrives?
• Receive updates on when the issue was resolved
• View a history of all the tickets they have submitted & the status of each.

2. Can you manage maintenance tickets from start to finish?

A robust work order management system should not only provide managers with the ability to create tickets but to streamline them from start to end.  Managers should be able to triage tickets when they come in or are created, know the status of each ticket, and collaborate with staff members.

[icon name=\”check-square\” class=\”\” unprefixed_class=\”\”] Can your staff…

• Create unit level or common area tickets
• Add pertinent details and attachments
• Categorize and prioritize the ticket
• Assign a ticket to another manager, staff member, vendor, or yourself
• Automatically notify the assignee of the new ticket
• Change status or comment on the ticket.

3. Can you gain high-level insights on maintenance operations?

Community managers need access to high-level and granular data to understand their operations and make better-informed decisions.  Through the HOA maintenance software, managers should be able to easily identify the number of tickets open/closed per month, their staff’s workload, the tickets that have not been worked on for a long time, and how many tickets each vendor is working on.  Managers should be able to easily capture this information for a specific community or across their entire portfolio. In Pilera’s maintenance system, managers receive an automated report with all the tickets that haven’t been touched for 30 days. This insight is essential for managers to handle the workload of their staff and vendors, prioritize work, and ensure that nothing falls off their radar.

4. Can you search for resident data quickly?

When a resident calls, emails, or walks into the management office to report a maintenance issue for their unit, you need to quickly search through your resident listing to create the ticket.  An HOA maintenance software should have a robust search capability. Searching by partial names or addresses, a resident’s unit, email, or phone number will save managers and staff members time if they are managing hundreds of tickets.

5. Can you maintain a vendor database effectively?

Building good relations with your vendors is crucial to the upkeep of your community or apartment complex.  As a manager, you need to know which vendors are approved to work for certain communities, the services they can provide, when their COIs are expiring, how you’ve rated their services, and how to keep in touch with them for new projects.  

[icon name=\”check-square\” class=\”\” unprefixed_class=\”\”] Can managers…

• Track contact information, addresses, and maintenance personnel information
• Assign vendors to categories such as entry management, landscaping, plumbing, and more
• Automatically notify vendors of the new maintenance tickets assigned to them
• Assign vendors to work for multiple communities at once
• Rate vendors so you know who your preferred contractors are

Using the right technology when it comes to managing maintenance projects can make all the difference in contributing to communities that are well-run, safe, happy, and look good.  It\’s essential to ask these five major questions when researching maintenance software options so that you can give your staff the best tools.

About Pilera

Pilera Software is the premier community and property management suite that has helped thousands of community managers and back-office personnel enhance communications, improve customer service, and manage compliance and operations.  May we help your community achieve these success stories?  Book a demo to see how Pilera’s community management suite can help your company. 

Every day, HOA managers take on the responsibility of ensuring the smooth operations of their communities. With the constant stream of resident inquiries and the need to demonstrate your value to the board, it can be challenging to regain control of your day. This is the perfect opportunity to reassess your current processes and technology stack.

However, with the ever-improving technology landscape and so many software options available, it\’s easy to feel overwhelmed.  How do you identify the right technology partner that will help you boost operational efficiency and improve client relations? In this article, we share a list of 7 important factors to consider to make searching for new software easier.

1) Diverse resident communication & engagement options

Communicating regularly with residents is vital because it reduces frustration, helps you operate more efficiently, and leads to overall community satisfaction. Residents of all ages and backgrounds have their own preferred methods of staying connected. For instance, older residents, who may not be tech-savvy, tend to favor postal mail or phone calls. On the other hand, millennials prefer text messages. 

Does your current software or process ensure that everyone feels included?  If not, it\’s important to consider adopting software that offers diverse communication options.

With HOA management software, you can cater to the unique preferences of your residents by offering text messages, email, phone calls, postal mail, websites, portals, and community-only discussion boards. Everyone can receive important updates and stay connected in the way that suits them best. By letting residents choose how they want to hear from you, you can increase participation and alleviate the workload for your team.  

Here are some features your automated communication platform should include:

• Phone, text, email, and postal mailing options
• Distribution groups
• Resident communication & language preference
• Advanced scheduling
• Templates
• Message delivery analytics
• Invalid contact reports & troubleshooting
• Strong message delivery reputation

Pilera Communications

Pilera\’s all-in-one messaging tool covers every aspect of your communication lifecycle.  You can cater to every demographic with phone, email, text, and postal mailing options.

Our dynamic distribution groups automatically update as residents join or leave the community, so you know you’re reaching the right people. Plus, you can track the delivery of your messages in real time and know who opened a text or email or picked up a phone call. Our team monitors delivery reputation, guaranteeing your messages reach every time.

2) Eliminate repetitive tasks

Is data entry, managing repairs, or fielding board member tasks taking up a lot of time? If so, it\’s important to consider HOA software that simplifies your workflow and helps you regain control of your day. That way, you can focus on what matters most, such as improving client relations. HOA software enables you to automate time-consuming tasks like communicating with an entire community, storing and sharing documents, managing maintenance, tracking resident requests, and managing resident data. 

Here are some ways that HOA software can help you automate vital community tasks:

• Maintenance – Residents can submit work orders, which you can assign to your team and monitor for completion. You can send automated notifications to vendors, staff, and residents, keeping everyone informed.
  
• Document management – You can store and organize community documents such as CC&Rs, meeting minutes, financial statements, and newsletters.  You can restrict access to documents to staff, board members, tenants, and owners to increase security and ensure no unauthorized access to confidential documents. Residents and board members can then login and view documents, thus reducing calls to the office. 
  
• Events – Manage community gatherings and meetings more efficiently with features such as recurring events and email notifications. Residents can log into the portal at their convenience and stay up to date about the latest community.
  
• Architectural reviews – Residents can submit architectural change requests online and supply photos or documents.  You can assign ACRs to committee members to approve digitally.  Residents can track their requests online, reducing the need to contact the office for updates.  When you have one place to streamline your ACR process, you can reduce paperwork, speed up the review process, ensure compliance with community guidelines, and improve resident satisfaction.
  
• Online payments – Residents can make payments online, helping you create a predictable flow of operating income for the communities you manage.
  
• Voting –  Online voting or survey platforms eliminate the need for paper forms and manually compiling responses. With HOA software, you can conduct board elections and other voting activities securely online and view results instantly. 

How Pilera can reduce administrative burden

Pilera’s HOA management platform takes the burden out of managing important community tasks such as document storage, maintenance, ACRs, events, voting, and more.  In our recent client survey, 89% of managers say that time savings with Pilera freed them up to work on more strategic tasks for their communities. Having a single place to manage essential community tasks opens up an environment for managers, board members, residents, and vendors to all work together on their shared community goals.

3) Stability

Whether doing on-site visits, working in the office, or at a meeting, it\’s important to have reliable tools to work uninterrupted from anywhere. We recommend choosing software that is known for its stable and reliable performance.  Before investing in software, research user feedback on review platforms like Capterra to understand what your peers like and don\’t like about a particular software vendor. Then, schedule a demo with your interested software providers to help you understand how they can solve your challenges and serve as a technology partner you can rely on.  

Pilera has a 99.9% uptime, so you can count on uninterrupted access to the platform.  Our platform is also built with other measures in place, such as fault protection for communications and a responsive design so you can work from anywhere.

4) HOA Management Software that grows with you

The industry is continuously evolving, and so should your software. Consider choosing an HOA software solution that updates its platform regularly, is responsive to market changes, and can adapt to your needs.

One of the common myths about finding new software solutions is that a software provider may offer more features than you need. This often results in you overpaying for features you don\’t need, potentially diminishing the value you provide to your clients. Choosing a software provider that can tailor its offerings based on what you need is important. That way, you can feel confident that you\’re getting value.

At Pilera, we are committed to providing our customers with the best tools to improve their workflow. Pilera regularly rolls out new features, enhancements, and bug fixes on a monthly basis.  We continue to develop many new features backed by our client\’s feedback, such as discussion boards, bulk ticket creation and editing, and more. Our software is designed to cater to the unique requirements of management companies and associations of all sizes and processes. With our a-la-carte model, you have the freedom to choose the specific products that meet your needs. As your business grows, you can easily add more products to further streamline your operations.

5) Proven customer service, training, and onboarding:

The right technology partner should be there to assist you with questions when you need it, right from onboarding and throughout your journey. In the beginning, it’s essential to have comprehensive onboarding and training so you can start managing your communities more effectively. On-demand and responsive support helps you to get quick resolutions to your questions, so you can focus less on getting help and more on the tasks that matter. It’s important to ensure your chosen software solution offers many ways to get help when needed.  These include self-help options such as videos and help articles.  It’s also essential to have rapid email and phone support for detailed questions.  

Pilera’s support team is highly regarded for providing exceptional service in a timely manner, at no additional cost.  We also offer many ways to get help via phone, email, a self-help knowledge base, and videos.  Our onboarding team guides you through the rollout process and provides extensive training to help you get started.  

6) Visibility & security:

You’re working with a lot of community and resident data daily, so security should be a top priority.  Choosing a software provider that is built with security in mind is vital.  Look for a software solution that offers password-protected portals and different permissions levels.  That way, the right people in your organization can access only what they need.  

Pilera is built with industry-standard security from the ground up to keep your community’s data safe.  Our cloud-based platform is hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), which has been proven to work in the toughest situations.  Our team is on call 24/7 to handle any security or stability issues.   

7) Value for Money:

Maximizing the value of your software is essential to improve operations and grow your company. Digitalizing all your community processes, such as communications, document storage, resident data management, forms, and voting, can reduce paperwork, time, and money.  Through task automation, you can allocate more time and resources towards other important aspects of community management, improving productivity, keeping your team happier and organized, and enhancing client satisfaction. View community management software as a positive long-term investment for your company rather than an expense.

Pilera\’s community management software helps you automate repetitive tasks and provides on-demand access to important community information. In our recent client satisfaction study, managers report getting one day back per week on average.

Resource: Community Management Software ROI  

Conclusion:

Choosing the right HOA management software can help you boost efficiency, improve resident satisfaction, and create stronger client relations. Your chosen software should be easy to use, flexible to meet the needs of diverse communities, reliable, and secure. In a tech-driven world, where communication is critical, and residents expect quick and accurate updates, HOA software plays a vital role in the success of your communities. By considering the factors above, you can find a software provider that will cater to your specific needs, optimize your workflow, and achieve ROI – leading to happier residents and less stressed management teams.

Smarter HOA Management with Pilera

Pilera Software is the premier community and property management software that has helped thousands of community managers enhance communications, improve customer service, and manage compliance and operations. To learn how Pilera can help to improve efficiency and reduce costs, book a personalized demo. Discover how you can communicate with residents 30x faster and regain work efficiency by 25% with Pilera today!

As we enter a brand new year, we’re excited to reflect on the features we\’ve released last year.  Furthermore, for us at Pilera Software, this past year has been a thrilling journey filled with innovation and commitment to making our community management clients’ jobs easier!  This blog article will share an overview of new modules, improvements, and achievements in 2023! 

New Modules

We continue to develop new modules based on our clients\’ needs to help you create more self-sufficient communities. From brand-new modules to improvements, our software has evolved to cater to the growing needs of modern community management.  

1) PileraVOTES

If you’re tired of delays in community decision-making, worried about security, or have to deal with the tedious chore of manually counting votes, PileraVotes can help!  We just introduced PileraVotes, a more streamlined way to run secure and fair voting or elections in your community association.  Our new voting platform allows you to reach quorum faster, improve community decision-making, and increase satisfaction.  Our beta clients have experienced 80% owner participation with the platform.  

How PileraVotes simplifies your community’s voting experience:

• Easy to use & modern voter portal
• Vote on anything – surveys, amendment changes, and elections
• Questions customized to your community’s needs with candidate write-in options
• Fractional voting with unit weights
• Restrict to one vote per unit
• Secure access link
• Tamper-evident technology
• Instant tallying with visual charts & reports
• Integrated with your daily workflow for resident engagement and communication. 

Learn more about E-Voting for your HOA or Condo community in our release notes.

Resource: Guide to Running Smoother HOA Elections 

2) PileraPROCURE (Request for Proposal Software)

Securing qualified vendor bids and contracts for your communities can pose a challenge. That\’s why Pilera launched Pilera Procure (in partnership with RFP Plus), a cutting-edge RFP tracking solution. It centralizes all your request for proposal (RFP) tasks, vendor communications, and documents in a single location, simplifying data retention. Our RFP solution streamlines your processes, saving your team valuable time, fostering stronger vendor connections, and ensuring you can get the best bids for your communities. 

How our RFP management solution makes your procurement process more efficient:

• Manage your entire process, from sending an RFP to finalizing a vendor.
• Automate RFPs quickly with bulk sending and assignment
• Get board member approval on RFPs
• Track vendor and staff responses directly within the RFP
• Protect your community with license expiration notification reminders to managers and vendors.
• Dashboards and charts that give you visual insights into your RFP progress
• View accepted/rejected vendors per category
• All RFPs, documents, and communications are in one place.

Improvements

We firmly believe that community management software should make your lives easier, not harder.  Alongside introducing new products, we prioritize continual improvement of our existing functionality. We aim to improve the workflow of the functionality you use and love to bring greater efficiency to your team.  

Message Inbox

The Message Inbox is the newest addition to PileraCONNECT, our Communications module.  For busy community managers juggling multiple tasks, sifting through endless emails to locate a vendor or board member\’s response can eat up valuable time. Our new Message Inbox changes that. Now, you can find email responses within seconds, not hours. This inbox consolidates all email conversations from residents, vendors, board members, and fellow managers that originated within Pilera. The powerful search and filtering capabilities let you find conversations in a snap. 

Architectural Change Request Committees

The ACR committees feature was a popularly requested feature among our clients who needed a better way to streamline the review and approval process for ACRs.  We introduced the ACR Commitee Role, which you can assign board members and residents to so they can access ACRs, approve/decline them, and stay informed throughout the process.

Ticket Charts

Want to track the trend of open versus closed tickets? Easy! How about a breakdown of your team\’s tasks based on priority? Or a chart showing ticket assignments? We\’ve got you covered!

Ticket Charts are designed to quickly highlight operational trends and the work affecting your communities. Explore these charts across various ticket types—from work orders and support to ACR, violations, and more—to gain quick insights into your team\’s activities.

Ticket Messages

View a history of all conversations from vendors and managers/assignees within the ticket itself, eliminating the need to search through your emails endlessly. 

Other Ticket Improvements  

• Create and update tickets in bulk – Speed through your work by duplicating and updating tickets in batches.  These enhancements are great if you need to assign similar tickets to the same staff member or close multiple tickets at once and need to notify the resident. 
• Create tickets directly from the dashboard – Managers, board members, and residents can save time by creating or submitting tickets right from the dashboard in Pilera. 
• Select ticket attachments – When replying to a ticket, you can choose which attachments to include in your email.  For example, you can send a different attachment to a vendor than a resident.  Once sent, you can also track the attachments you send as part of a conversation in the history of the ticket.  
• Modify ticket attachments – You can also easily add or remove new file attachments to a ticket and retain the history in the audit logs. 

Vendor Improvements

• Filter dashboard by vendor – See the workload associated with vendors in your community anytime.  
• Manage vendor staff in different departments – You can add multiple staff members from a vendor company to the database and allow them to be assigned tickets.  That way, you can communicate more easily with an employee from different departments, such as accounting, a triage person, or the owner of the vendor company, etc. 
• Set a default vendor assignee – To avoid any confusion about who should be assigned work orders from a vendor company, you can set a default vendor contact to be assigned work orders.
• Invalid contact information – In the app, you will see if a vendor staff member cannot receive notifications because their email address is invalid. 
• Vendor communication tracking – Email communication with vendor staff is now tracked in the Message Center. Additionally, vendors can reply to work order and RFP tickets and their responses are tracked in the Message Inbox.

Achievements 

Pilera earned recognition as a top software performer across multiple industry reports last year!  We couldn’t have done it without the support of our amazing clients, who inspire us to keep innovating!  

GetApp for Exceptional Performance in Property Management Software Category

In July 2023, Pilera was recognized as a Category Leader by GetApp, a free online service that helps organizations find the right software in the property management technology space.  GetApp’s recognition of our software in this category is a significant achievement.  Pilera has an overall rating of 4.8/5 on GetApp.  Check out our reviews here!

FrontRunner for Property Management Software by Software Advice

In June 2023, Pilera was recognized as a top-rated product by Software Advice in their 2023 FrontRunners Report for the Top Property Management Software Category.  In their report, Pilera ranks as one of the highest-rated products for its customer service and usability.    Check out the reviews here!

Capterra Shortlist for Property Management Software

Capterra is a popular free online service that helps organizations find software that’s right for them.  In June 2023, Pilera was recognized as a Top Performer in the 2023 Capterra Shortlist for Property Management Software.  With an overall rating of 4.8/5, our clients rated Pilera the highest for its customer service and ease of use. 

What our customers say:

“Pilera has been influential in helping me become more acclimated to my job as a property manager. It allows me easy access to reaching out to residents, as well as tracking the history of communication between management and homeowners. I would absolutely recommend this software to any and all property management firms.”

Nick K. (Capterra)

“Our office now runs all our resident interface and communications through Pilera. The resident portals have been a big hit with our residents. I can’t tell you how happy our Boards are with our reporting capabilities. What we really appreciate from a business perspective is the level of support and the constant improvement culture Pilera exhibits. They don’t rest on their laurels. They continue to improve on their offerings.”

Carlos (Source: Software Advice)

“I love that the software is not complicated. It is very user-friendly. I love that it provides a “go-to” place for our residents to keep up with the community and their accounts. I also love that Pilera offers great customer service that is professional, reliable, and provides resolution when I have an issue.”

Sierra (GetApp)

Conclusion

In 2023, our team was hard at work releasing brand-new modules and improvments, all shaped by our customers\’ feedback! This year, we\’re excited to bring new features to help you create self-sustaining communities, improve your team\’s workflow, and grow your company!  Stay tuned to our releases this year on our blog! 

About Pilera

Pilera Software is the premier community and property management software that has helped thousands of community managers enhance communications, improve customer service, and manage compliance and operations. Book a personalized demo so you can see firsthand how Pilera can help improve efficiency and reduce costs.