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Computer-Aided Facility Management (CAFM) enables facility managers to plan, execute, and monitor all activities involved in space and workplace management, asset management, reactive and planned preventative maintenance, operational facility services, room reservations, and other customer service requests. Also, information from Computer Aided Facility Management Software (CAFM) solutions allows managers to improve long-term planning of space, facilities, maintenance, services, and budgets to ensure complete alignment with core business needs.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines Facilities Management as the "organizational function that integrates people, place, and process within the built environment to improve the quality of life of people and the productivity of the core business." However, the physical buildings and assets that spring to mind when using terms such as 'built environment' and 'facilities' no longer cover the full scope of what is needed to integrate people, places, and processes to improve.
The built environment and facilities management is moving rapidly into the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Building Internet of Things (BIoT). For universities looking to provide competitive and connected environments for their students, staff, faculty, visitors, and surrounding communities, facilities management teams must be able to manage the traditional physical infrastructure aspects while also expanding to manage the digital infrastructure of a campus of the future; This makes CAFM Software a must-have in Infrastructure Facilities Management.
An example of this expanding focus for facilities management includes car parking. Car parks on campus must be monitored for safety and security reasons and receive inspections and physical upkeep. However, for campuses looking to offer smart parking features, there will be new assets, such as parking space sensors and digital information points, to maintain. With this feature, students commuting to campus can interact with their university's mobile app to request a parking space nearest their classrooms. A smart app using location management will be able to predict the student's arrival, reserve a space, and provide the student with an automated and unique access code.
To provide a service like this, the physical layout and capacity of all the car parks and spaces on campus must be known and recorded. The data must be accurate, available, and structured in a usable way. Digital models will be needed, and each parking space must be equipped with accessible technology and sensors to indicate the real-time usage of each space. These physical sensors become a new asset for the facilities management teams to manage, as does the data the sensors produce. The campus must also be equipped with the appropriate mobile and Wi-Fi service so that the devices students use to request spaces and select locations can stay connected with no interruptions.
This blend of physical and digital infrastructure management offers exciting possibilities when applied to classrooms, campus security, cameras, access, fire, HVAC, lighting, comfort control, indoor air quality, energy supply, and more.
Research and advisory company, Gartner, Inc., explores these possibilities further and defines the 'smart campus' as "a physical or digital environment in which humans and technology-enabled systems interact in increasingly open, connected, coordinated, and intelligent ecosystems. Multiple elements, including people, processes, services, and things, come together to create a more immersive, interactive, and automated experience for students, staff, faculty, and stakeholders of a university or college.
With facilities management deemed the appropriate department to manage this 'immersive, interactive, and automated experience' that is being transformed by the possibilities of technology, so too must the FM profession go through a transformation, developing into, perhaps, the term 'infrastructure management' to describe better the growing scope of responsibilities, both physical and digital. Facilities management professionals must be poised and ready to embrace the exciting future of campus management.
Cryotos provides a cloud based mobile run application that can greatly ease the facilities maintenance processes and make any campus a smart campus.
Specifically designed for educational institutions, shopping, restaurant hubs, and public service spaces, the Cryotos CMMS restroom management system provides a convenient tool for monitoring restroom cleanliness and improving restroom service. The system's interactive feedback terminal enables patrons to submit a service request and allows cleaners to document completed services. Patrons can use the intuitive touch screens installed in restrooms to send service requests to the cleaning supervisor and provide details of specific problems. After a request is submitted, the system transmits an email/SMS alert to the smartphone of the cleaning supervisor, who then initiates the necessary corrective action. Cleaners are required to log into the system with their unique ID to enable the system to document scheduled visits, response times, and completed tasks.
If you're looking for a top-quality CMMS Software to help with facilities maintenance management, you really can't go wrong with Cryotos. This software has everything you need to keep track of maintenance tasks, schedule work, and more, and it's easy to use and highly customizable. Plus, the support team is fantastic and always available to help out.
