Maintenance, Smart Home
Unlocking the door to data integration
The asset management advantages smart technology promises both housing providers and their residents is extraordinary.
Maintenance, Smart Home
Alongside benefits for residents such as reduced energy bills and lower carbon emissions, smart technologies will transform the way departments such as repairs, asset management, energy teams and call centres all work and communicate.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is changing the way data is collected and processed across a diverse range of sectors, including social housing. IoT aggregates and integrates enormous volumes of data across multiple devices in individual properties to provide immediate, contextual information to housing providers, combined with remote control capabilities.
But with an ever-increasing amount of data being imported from various sources and sensors in properties, it can become overwhelming. And it’s not just collecting IoT-derived data that’s important, but how that data is integrated by a housing team. Turning data into insights and therefore action is crucial in creating a successful IoT ecosystem.
With IoT, housing providers can gain a more interoperable and holistic view of what’s going on in their properties rather than relying on individual systems. However, when the velocity at which data is being collected and processed from smart technologies in multiple properties is so high, housing providers would benefit from a centralised platform for total system integration and a single view of all IoT-derived data and insights.
A central dashboard eliminates the cost and complexity of managing multiple documents and spreadsheets and enables housing teams to manage multiple assets from just a single platform. Data gathered from connected smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, smart boilers, utility readings or temperature sensors, creates a network of protection for a property.
For example, housing teams can analyse and automate processes using IoT-derived data to book predictive maintenance appointments and smart boiler servicing, test connected alarms remotely to streamline compliance checks or allocate better ventilation resources following sensors’ temperature readings.
FireAngel Connected, a purpose-built solution for home safety in social housing, has an open API enabling integration with other building and asset management software or dashboards to create a centralised view of actions based on insight. With the installation of a Home Environment Gateway in a network, housing providers can remotely monitor interlinked alarms, access real-time status updates and view instant diagnostic reports on the Connected dashboard for a more efficient, intelligent way to manage their portfolios of properties.
The solution can be deployed within the parameters of an existing budget and can be connected via cellular technology for higher reliability than wi-fi to ensure tenants are kept safe even if the internet connection is interrupted. Data is monitored in real-time to alert housing providers to the status of the alarms in their properties (for example if removed, triggered or in need of maintenance), eliminating wasteful visits, staff time and administrative fees.
Through the addition of Zigbee sensors, such as temperature & humidity, air quality monitors and water leak detection, landlords can expand the network of sensing inside a property.
The FireAngel Connected cloud-based dashboard reports real-time GDPR-compliant data for individual properties and devices. Using the dashboard, housing providers can quickly access the most important information, with an instant overview of urgent, active and FireAngel Predict® notifications to help with effective resource management.
Every aspect of a device is captured and logged automatically on the system, including installation, training and compliance records, to comply with the Hackitt report’s recommended ‘golden thread’ of data for a building. Within the installation dashboard, housing providers can view full alarm history reports for individual properties and carry out test events remotely. This can either be a sound test, with a resident’s go-ahead, or a silent test across all alarms in a property.
The Connected tenant app also brings tenants into the centre of fire safety, enabling them and their family to be aware of the fire protection network in their property and play an active part in mitigating their risk. Educating and engaging residents about the smart appliances and devices being installed will bring them along on the journey, demonstrating how IoT can improve their home environment, reduce the impact of fuel poverty and help save them money.
Using technology advancements such as IoT ensures housing providers remain compliant, and by integrating IoT data into a centralised dashboard with open API, it can unlock the ability to automate more services from maintenance to fire safety.
Find out further details on FireAngel Predict® or get in touch to discover more about our Connected technology.
