Guest Blogs
As a partner of Inventory Hive, we are proud to announce their latest app update which includes their most game-changing feature yet: the Diary Management with Maps add-on.
After a year of dedicated research and development, the new feature aims to revolutionise how property inspections and visits are coordinated.
The Challenge: Coordinating Property Inspections
Inventory Hive’s research showed that property managers often face significant logistical challenges when arranging inspection visits. Communication with tenants, scheduling with inspection teams, and the administrative work that these tasks entail can be both time-consuming and costly. If not properly managed, these visits can also lead to unnecessary travel and increased fuel expenses.
The Solution: Diary Management with Maps Add-on
To address these issues, The Inventory Hive app has developed the diary with maps add-on. This feature integrates seamlessly with staff diaries and schedules, and includes Google Map integration to help visually plan the most efficient routes for an inspector’s day. This add-on also provides travel and time calculations and mileage monitoring to help you track and reduce your carbon footprint.
Key features include
- Manage all inspector staff diaries and schedules from a calendar and/or map view of their working area.
- Use Google Map integration to visually plan the best route for an inspectors’ day.
- Calculate travel times to set realistic routes for inspectors.
- Automatically schedule recurring interim property visits based on the last appointment.
- Automatically send appointment details to tenants without manually emailing or telephoning.
- Automatically receive tenant confirmation of their consent to using management keys or confirm their attendance.
- Re-schedule appointments based on real-time availability of inspectors.
- Link reports to appointments to monitor accurate data in terms of job timeframes for different job or property types.
- Download all daily appointments to the app to have all necessary information for the day in one place.
Beyond the main features of the Diary with Maps add-on, Inventory Hive have also added some additional benefits to the software:
- The ability to create contacts and assign them to each property.
- A key code reference field at property level to assist with key management.
Inventory Hive’s CEO Richard Abbots reports, ” Scheduling and co-ordinating interim visits are the most time-consuming office admin tasks that a property manager can undertake. It requires frequent manual intervention in the form of tenant emails, texts and phone calls that take-up a lot of unnecessary time. Our Diary with Maps add-on has been built to give property managers back that lost time, whilst giving inspectors the tools to navigate between properties and reports effortlessly when out in the field.”
Demo and Support
Inventory Hive have prepared a short demo video for the Diary with Maps add-on, you can watch the video here.
You can also access a helpful support section for the Diary Management features on the Inventory Hive website (login required).
Mandatory App Update
Please note, to make use of this new feature, an update is required on your iOS or Android devices. The browser version updates have already been pushed live, so no action is required there. However, please ensure to update your app version (if auto-updates are not installed on your device), to ensure you can use the app and enjoy the new features.
The iOS (Apple) Appstore and Android Google Playstore have the updates ready for you to download.
Inventory Hive and Tenancy Deposit Scheme working together
The Tenancy Deposit Scheme and Inventory Hive run two expert led, CPD accredited courses.
Led by Michael Hill of TDS and Richard Abbots of Inventory Hive, the courses guide property professionals through reporting at each stage of a tenancy, making the process as smooth as possible.
Course 1 ‘Pre-tenancy activity and inventory check-in’ – The first course includes an introduction to inventory check-ins and practical tips for compiling reports. The session focuses on key vocabulary/terminology and what to include in an inventory report.
Course 2 ‘Mid-term visits and end of tenancy check-out’ – The second course focuses on mid-term visits and end of tenancy check-out reports. The session includes practical guidance on undertaking reports, alongside how reports are approached by an adjudicator when considering deposit deductions.
To register for our on-demand training, visit TDS Academy.