Real Estate Technology and Software for 2005 The 'Wireless Canopy' and Other Tech Marvels
Four technology trends could impact the commercial real estate business in the next few years. They include network convergence, fiber equipment, "the wireless canopy" and certain emerging technologies, according to Dianne Giacovelli, national director of Business SmartMoves for SBC Communications, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. Giacovelli should know -- her team has been responsible for agreements to install and use fiber equipment in more than 140 million square feet of commercial property around the country.
Here is how she sees these technologies affecting commercial real estate:
Network convergence. Giacovelli says that Internet Protocol (IP), the language of the Internet, is being quickly adopted for many networks. In the past, networks had linked through private-line networks but now they are moving to total IP-based networks.
"Our business customers -- tenants in office buildings -- are evolving to these types of networks," she said. "They are not doing this overnight, but as they move from one location to another, they look at changing over their network. Instead of all these private networks for voice, data, video and other types of communication--it is all moving to one network, the IP-based network."
Fiber equipment. This technology is far more compact than the old telephone lines and therefore takes up less space in buildings. If anything, the old telephone rooms will be shrinking dramatically, which will be good news for the property owner.
The "wireless canopy." Giacovelli says that there is a strong move to wireless technology and it will co-exist in its various forms. "You might want to think of it as a kind of 'canopy' that forms over a metro area," she said. "There are things you do within the tenant space using Ultra Wide Band (UWB). It has tremendous capability to carry traffic, but it does not go very far--less than 30 feet. Then there is the traditional WiFi platform, which is used in public access spaces. Now, there is an over-arching platform called WiMAX. This has a five-mile range and it is found on rooftops, cell sites and campuses. Shortly, wireless will be interactive and interwoven and create a type of wireless canopy."
Below is a chart detailing the characteristics of the various wireless formats:
Emerging technologies. Giacovelli sees a big future for a number of emerging technologies:
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). This is the technology being pushed by Wal-Mart to tag and track its entire inventory. The SBC executive predicted that eventually there will be an RFID tag on everything, much like today's bar codes. She sees the technology being used in offices to tag files and records for quick retrieval, plus a multitude of other purposes.
Bio-metrics for security. Bio-metrics is a way to provide identification, based on physical attributes, to determine access. She said that bio-metrics should have a major impact on building security in the future.
New plasma panels. Plasma panels are expensive today but in 10 years, the price could plummet. Giacovelli noted that if these panels drop in price sufficiently, their use could become ubiquitous. She gave an example of using these panels in office buildings as wall covering; when a new tenant moves into a space and hates the wall covering used by the previous tenant, the landlord could change the wall covering to a print or a solid color with the click of a keyboard.
The miniaturization of the laser projector. While this may seem a rather limited-use innovation, Giacovelli said that, to the contrary, this innovation could be used in many areas of business and personal life. "With its miniaturization, the laser projector could be put into a PDA or a cell phone," she said.
Today, savvy commercial real estate professionals recognize the advantages of using new information technologies, and many of them rely on CoStar Group, Bethesda, Maryland, for electronic commercial real estate information.
CoStar reports that last year alone, more than 70 percent of leasing and sales transactions took place with its listing help -- with approximately four billion square feet of coverage -- including 1.14 million properties in 50 top U.S. markets.
CoStar notes that commercial real estate professionals need a complete picture of the marketplace. With enormous databases of properties and tenants, plus free news over the Web, CoStar Group helps them evaluate their opportunities more effectively.
CoStar Group is a national commercial real estate information provider, furnishing the user with a rich array of multi-market opportunities. Over the past decade, the company has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to perfect its state-of-the-art software technology and extensive research methods. More than 700 researchers, analysts and photographers canvass the country and retrieve the information commercial real estate professionals need. The result is an enormous database -- the foundation for all CoStar Group services -- that gives users a more complete picture of their markets, properties and tenants.
BudgeTrac®, Bellevue, Washington, has worked closely with end users to create a product designed for builders, construction managers and developers, according to the company. BudgeTrac project control and property management software serves both accounting and project needs through a unique design that presents independent perspectives on project costing and financial reporting.
Here are just some of the main features:
Enter multiple project budgets and revisions as information becomes available. Use a separate pending budget entry to forecast future changes without affecting the original budget or current revisions.
Design and use multiple cost code lists to meet the most sophisticated reporting requirements. Use cost code lists available to all projects to connect directly to designated accounts in the general ledger.
Allocate contracts, invoices, and purchase orders across multiple entities, projects and phases.
Project income control lets the user allocate contract revenue billings and loan draw requests across multiple entities, projects and phases.
Process multiple change orders and revisions as needed. Project cost control will track the original contract, change orders, reclassifications, pending change orders and non-contract commitments.
Produce loan draw applications based on lender categories and classifications. Select full or partial requisitions for items from project cost detail to preparing customized draw application forms.
Automatically create detailed accounts receivable invoices based on actual project cost or percentage of completion contracts.
Create sophisticated period-sensitive project reports using BudgeTrac performance indicators. Enhance custom project reports and financial statements by sending output directly to Microsoft Excel? spreadsheets.
Issue standard and custom financial statements on both a cash and accrual basis.
LoopNet, Inc., a leading information services provider to the commercial real estate industry, delivers a comprehensive suite of products and services to meet the national and local needs of commercial real estate firms, organizations and professionals.
According to Thomas Byrne, vice president of marketing and sales for the company, LoopNet operates a large commercial real estate listing service online, with more than $200 billion of property listed for sale and 2.6 billion square feet of space for lease. With more than 700,000 members, LoopNet is said to attract the largest community of commercial real estate professionals. LoopNet's LoopLink product powers the Web sites of more than 1,000 commercial real estate organizations and seamlessly integrates their Web sites with LoopNet's listing service. LoopNet customers include virtually all of the top commercial real estate firms in the U.S. There are currently more than 290,000 property listings available.
LoopNet also owns and operates BizBuySell, Inc., an online exchange for businesses for sale in North America. BizBuySell features in excess of 27,000 businesses for sale listings that are searched by more than 400,000 monthly visitors and has the largest database of sale comparables for recently sold businesses.
