An efficient facilities management team can produce thousands of dollars in savings for business, and new technologies are empowering facilities management teams to provide more efficient and cost-effective service, according to the second-quarter edition of "Ask the Expert," featuring Randy Cone, senior vice president of Transwestern's facilities management services. In this edition, Cone outlines three specific technologies that can positively impact clients' bottom line.

INFRARED DETECTORS

Infrared sensors are a minimal-cost technology that can potentially free up unused space. For example, infrared detectors in a conference room measure body heat to determine how many people use the space and for how long. Analyzing the data could show that a company needs a smaller conference room than it currently has, which would make the unnecessary space available for other uses.

EMPLOYEE ACCESS CARDS
Facilities management teams can partner with the human resources department to track employee access cards, showing how many employees are on-site, what days they are there and what hours they work. This valuable information can be used to optimize parking or even implement a shared workspace strategy.

BENCHMARKING
In order to determine whether a new program or strategy is successful, a company must be able to track the performance and compare its facilities to other businesses. Obtaining benchmarking statistics from a knowledgeable facilities manager allows company decision-makers to gauge the effectiveness of its overall strategy. For instance, Transwestern benchmarks properties against its 341 million-square-foot portfolio of leased and managed space and can make comparisons on a local, regional and national level.

Staying up-to-date on these types of technologies is part of what makes a successful facilities management team. By outsourcing facilities management, a company's executives can focus on their core business and tap into the expertise of the facilities management team. The most successful partnerships are those built on mutual trust and an equal concentration on both long-term and day-to-day operations.