Every year, the tenants change at 3 000 apartments and corridor rooms. Such major and intensive administration requires the market’s best technology in order to offer the students the best possible service.
Now, AF Bostäder is launching a 100 % student-adapted case processing and service system, developed by an expert in this area – AF Bostäder.
All tenants of AF Bostäder are active students. Study periods are more spontaneous and varied than many people perhaps believe. The students alternate studies in Lund with studies in another city or abroad, many move in together or move apart, and some take sabbatical years and then resume their studies. There are many such examples and the number of people moving in and out is considerably higher than for other landlords. In any two-year period, AF Bostäder’s turnover of tenants is the same as the company’s number of student housing places.
“When there is a change of tenant at our housing, a number of matters have to be processed,” comments Maria, former Business Development Manager at AF Bostäder. “Firstly, the student searches for housing on our website and is given a place on the housing list. Then, information is gathered, a contract is signed, keys are collected and rent invoices are sent out. And for the student moving out there is giving notice, move-out cleaning, an inspection, return of keys, and the move out, all within the space of the one to two-month period of notice. The majority of these moves also happen at the same times, namely during the year’s two major student admission periods.”
AF Bostäder has long utilised technology in order to manage the processing and also offer a first-class service. Virtually all matters are digitalised, from searching for housing and signing contracts to booking laundry room times and move-out inspections.
“We have developed processes and flows that are unique to us, and the aim is for all parts of our operations to benefit our tenants,” says Maria. “Up to now, it has not been possible to adapt our flows to the standardised property and customer systems on the market. Furthermore, these systems are difficult to use and cumbersome. If we find a smart, labour-saving measure it could take years to implement it, as it must go through a consultation and approval process involving the other companies that use the system. Sometimes we are forced to make updates at exactly the time when admission periods end, just when we are most dependent on our system.”
AF Bostäder decided to design its own, powerful and easy-to-use system, based entirely on the students’ needs – a system developed specifically for student housing companies. The company introduced Diremo in 2016.
“Diremo is our new heart, a system that naturally connects our operations, housing and customers, and which is based on events, meetings and matters in our everyday work. In time, Diremo will support our flows right down to the smallest details,” says Maria.
The system was entirely designed in-house and considerable resources have been allocated to ensure the end result is of the highest quality. A large number of staff members have been involved in the mapping and inventory of working methods, requirements and needs.
“Now we can adapt case processing and further development according to customers’ requests and our own ideas. All improvements can be initiated in an afternoon instead of after several months of programming. And we can guarantee system stability for our admissions and tenants’ moves.”
“Diremo is also prepared for a growing portfolio and an increased number of cases. The interface is web-based and intuitive. Someone working with student housing needs only a simple run-through to understand how it works. And in the future our customers can expect an even better service, greater accessibility and simpler case processing.”
Latest update July 13, 2018