There is no disputing that onsite teams are busy. They juggle prospect outreach, real-time resident requests and community events throughout the day—just to name a few of their duties. 

Navigating through a clunky operating system shouldn’t be an additional time constraint. 

Software should speed up the process rather than slow it down, particularly by automating tasks that, if done manually, would be more of a time drain than bingeing on a nine-season docudrama. At the 2022 Entrata Summit session The Power of Automation – Entrata OS, members of the company’s training team shared the most recent automation updates designed to help teams free up that valuable time. 

Perhaps most notably, advances have been made that automatedly guide the prospect through the journey, from real-time application updates to digital resident move-in checklists.

“It’s great when your teams know what’s next for each applicant,” said Wyatt Moore, Director of Product Training for Entrata. “But what’s even better is when applicants know where they are in the lead-to-lease process, and they know what they need to do next.”

While many operators use a contact point feature to set up automated emails, they now have the capability to send out automated text messages, as well. 

“Texting is the new email, especially for Gen Z,” Moore said.

The operating system has also been modified to enable teams to set their own “timeout limit” after a certain amount of idle time to prevent potential snafus. In furthering the efficiency quotient, the system has become more adept at uncovering potential duplicate leads. 

“The system will now provide a warning about possible duplicates,” said Hyram Balzer, Director of Product Education for Entrata. “Say that we create a guest card for Allison, and then Allison later visits your website. The system is not going to double-create a lead here—the system is going to take Allison’s information, put it in the activity log and indicate that as a secondary lead source, Allison also visited your community website.”

The operating system can also auto-approve applicants when certain thresholds are met and send final documentation to the new resident. 

“Stop working for the system,” Blazer said. “Let the system work for you.”

While virtually all major software providers are capable of scheduling and automating routine charges, the Entrata OS differentiates itself, according to the panel, in that it can automate conditional charges such as insufficient notices, accelerated rent and lease violations. The system also has been updated to handle advanced delinquency measures and can be customized to automate the start of the eviction process.

“Everything we do is customizable, and we’re eager to learn how we can make Entrata work for you,” said Allison Routson, Director of Education and Knowledge Management for Entrata. “Some operators have little idea about the full suite of functionalities, and we offer on-demand resources and onsite training to help maximize the automation process.”