At Virtual Doorman, we have a bit of problem: Real doormen don’t like us! That’s because we’re providing a service that, in many ways, makes them obsolete. While there are some expensive buildings that will always have doormen as a prestige symbol, our remote doorman service is more than enough to handle the needs of many buildings that would rather not have to have a real person on duty 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week.
But why are so many building owners and managers switching over to remote doorman services? Isn’t one as good as the other? In most cases, the answer is clear: virtual doormen provide advantages that just can’t be beaten. Let’s take a look at some of the most common reasons people are switching to a virtual doorman system.
No Payroll
Without a doubt, this is the primary reason that most building managers decide to go with Virtual Doorman. We’re not talking about small saving here, either. By not having to have a doorman on call around the clock, buildings can end up saving 90% on their doorman services. That cost savings can be used to improve the building, keep rent from rising, or just be pure profit for the building owner.
How can we provide such savings? First of all, there’s a considerable amount of automation involved. Renters will be able to open doors remotely with their phones, both for the main doors and for their own apartment. This means that our virtual doormen — actual people manning the system — don’t need to respond every time someone walks into the building.
Even more important, our remote doormen are watching over multiple buildings at a time. A real-life doorman can only watch one building, and 95% of the time they aren’t doing anything at all. Our virtual doormen are much more efficient because they don’t experience nearly as much downtime and are able to watch over multiple buildings.
Language
How many languages does a typical doorman speak? They might be able to greet tenants in a few languages, but that’s it. But there are more than 6,000 languages in the world, 800 spoken in New York City alone, and about 135 commonly spoken languages in NYC. Doormen simply can’t keep up.
With the latest version of our virtual doorman, tenants can be greeted in their own language. That’s a nice little touch that a real doorman just can’t pull off.
No Awkward Chit Chat
The personal touch offered by a real-life doorman can be a pleasant experience for some people. They might even like to get to know their doorman and don’t mind the banter as they make their way to the elevator.
But in reality, most people just aren’t interested. It might sound mean, but it’s true. Life in New York is hectic, and most people would rather just have the automatic doors work for them than make small talk with someone they don’t really know.
Are You Ready For A Virtual Doorman?
Those are far from the only reasons that building owners choose virtual doorman, and, in fact, we’ll be back in the next blog to give you even more reasons why our remote doorman services are a good idea. But if you’re already convinced, click here to compare the service options you can get with Virtual Doorman. We look forward to working with you!