The 138 Student Living (138SL) will be seeking to improve the operational efficiency of its student accommodation business at The University of the West Indies, Mona, with the introduction of the Manager Plus software.

Now in its first phase of implementation, Manager Plus is an online inventory and asset management software that also provides maintenance management services.

According to 138SL CEO Cranston Ewan, the new platform will allow the occupants of almost 1,500 rooms across nine towers at The UWI to log maintenance, housekeeping and other issues into a central system using a dedicated QR code. The company can then schedule and track the completion of tasks relating to each logged concern.

"This will result in a faster and more efficient response to customer-related issues while maintaining adequate control and management of inventory, assets and associated costs," Ewan further explained, adding: "It will also assist in preventative maintenance scheduling."

The 138SL on January 30 commissioned the maintenance and housekeeping customer response feature with the inventory and asset management components scheduled for implementation by the end of March.

Ewan shared that Manager Plus will complement the company's Resident at the Centre programme as it advances the vision of further embracing digital technology as a key driver of 138SL's operations.

"One of the most important components of our business is the service we offer to our residents. We are always exploring ways in which we can improve our service delivery and the living experience," the CEO continued.

To this end, he said that responding to issues in real time will reduce the length of time to resolve them, and is a core value of the company. The implementation of the new software will address the "fragmented and inefficient" channels of communication that impacted on the management of maintenance and other issues.

The CEO pointed out that prior to Manager Plus, it would take 138SL more than its standard commitment of less than 24 hours to resolve issues, and some issues "would go unresolved".

"Manager Plus will consolidate those [communication] channels into one electronic system for ease of management and control. When fully rolled out, we expect to improve our response time to within an average of eight hours from the time the issue was logged," he said.

As part of the company's digitalisation strategy, it introduced Proxy Click — a visitor management system that allows the registration of visitors, including service providers and contractors, entering it premises — in 2020. The system was launched to improve security and safety measures.

Ewan said the introduction of Manager Plus is an integral component in the company's growth as it commits to the continuous improvement in its operation through digitalisation.