If you’ve come to this article wondering, “What is an interactive community map?” then you’re in the right place!
Simply put: directions from Apple Maps, Google Maps, Waze, etc. take you right up to your community, while an interactive community map guides you in and through it. Some maps provide the basic layout of your community while others offer detailed and helpful tools for residents, guests, delivery drivers, and even prospective residents.
Let’s dive into why interactive maps are beneficial, how they can be used to improve your community, and how you can have your own custom interactive community map with Community Boss!
How do interactive maps enhance your community?
Interactive community maps create a level of accessibility that wasn’t possible before! The intimidating task of navigating your community is no longer a reason to sweat; anyone can pull up the map, note their current location, see where they are in proximity to their desired destination, and find their way.
Picture this:
Your friend invites you for happy hour at their new apartment. They share their address and unit number with you, plus instructions on where to park. You park in a spot and cross your fingers it’s a guest space.
After fifteen minutes of wandering aimlessly, you finally call for more directions, only to realize you parked in the wrong garage and have been circling the wrong building.
You get back in your car and call your friend two more times to confirm where they live. Finally, they come outside to meet you and direct you to the correct location. You feel bad for pulling them away from the other guests until you realize everyone else did the same thing.
Now let’s add an interactive map to this scenario:
Your friend invites you to happy hour at their new apartment. Before you arrive, your friend forwards a link to the interactive community map along with their unit number. When you pull into the community, you open the map and locate the nearest guest parking spaces in relation to their unit.
Clear signage identifies the guest parking spaces so you don’t even question if you’re in the right place. The map also includes built-in guest parking registration, which means you can register your parking space before you even get out of your car.
The blue-dot geo-location shows you where you are and where your friend’s apartment is, so you follow the map to their apartment without a hitch. This was the first time you visited a community without the usual anxiety that comes with feeling lost and out-of-place.
Although this scenario only involved one visitor, similar situations occur daily with guests, delivery drivers, and potential residents. With fast-growing technology and more communities popping up every week, help yours stand apart — to residents and guests — with the convenience of an interactive community map, such as Community Boss’ helpful Community Directory!
8 Ways Interactive Maps Improve Your Community
1. They add another level of convenience:
A virtual interactive map is more modern and convenient than old-style maps and written/verbal directions.
2. A smooth experience for guests:
Guests of residents have an easier and better experience than ever before! Finding guest parking is a breeze, registering to park takes the click of a button, and locating their friends’ apartments doesn’t require calling them for step-by-step directions.
3. Time-saving for onsite teams:
Modern mapping removes unnecessary confusion for visitors and eliminates the need to hand out paper maps or provide verbal instructions to direct new residents, visitors, maintenance, or delivery drivers. We know too much time is spent on pointing people in the right direction — let them easily find their way with an intuitive map.
4. Easy deliveries:
Front-door and package locker delivery times are faster and easier. A pop-up pin shows the desired location and geo-location makes it simple to track along the way.
5. Parking is simplified:
Clearly labeled parking zones on the map make it simple for guests or retail visitors to know where to go once they pull in. They can then register and pay (if you have paid parking options) for their parking from the map.
6. Benefits new residents:
New residents can find everything with ease. Mailboxes, recreation rooms, package lockers, fitness centers, etc. are all displayed for a helpful move-in experience.
7. They cater to people’s expectations of tech-focused, self-service experiences:
Not to mention the value-add of useful proptech! Interactive maps make life in your community more seamless, more accessible, and more efficient.
Self-service features for residents are the future of property management. In a 2022 CX Tech Survey, 33% of respondents stated that they already offer online amenity reservations. If you have reservable amenity spaces or items, your residents and visitors can easily reserve them from the map.
8. Simplified move-in processes:
The survey cited above also found that 50% of respondents already offer automated solutions for resident move-in or onboarding. Your community’s interactive map can include self-guided, tailored move-ins.
When moving to a new apartment, new residents face an overwhelming amount of stress. The survey notes that moving is ranked the #1 most stressful life event above getting married, divorce, and having children.
Imagine the convenience for a new community member to move-in at their own pace while your staff can be efficiently working on other tasks. In fact, the survey found that online resident onboarding solutions can save staff 2.5 hrs per move! Win-win!
How can you implement your own interactive community map?
So at this point, you may be wondering, “This is awesome! How can my community have an awesome interactive map?” Community Boss gives you everything mentioned above — and more!
Community Boss’ Communiy Directory makes it easy to visit, navigate, and deliver to your community. It’s a comprehensive virtual map for your residents, guests, delivery vehicles, emergency personnel, and even your staff.
Our mapping team considers all of your community’s relevant information and uses your current maps to render a customized, high-quality digital map. We can map multiple floors, all the levels of garages, amenity spaces plus the reservation links, and more.
If it’s in your community, we can map it!
Any community type, whether mid-rise, high-rise, or garden-style, is well suited for an interactive map. Custom-branded signage makes it easy for guests, residents, and delivery persons to scan the QR code and quickly pull up the map.
A Community Directory from Community Boss includes:
- A digital map for any type of community
- Parking spaces and garages
- Multi-level buildings
- Amenities and reservation links
- Custom-branded signage with QR codes
- And more!
Let’s recap…
Interactive community maps are a great tool to enhance your community. They go beyond the bounds of driving directions and take residents and guests the extra mile in and through your community.
Do you want to reduce the number of times your team gives instructions to delivery drivers? Wish there was an easier way for visitors to identify guest parking? Wonder if there’s a solution to simplify the move-in process for new residents?
Provide an interactive map so everyone can find where they're going with ease. Schedule a free consultation to discuss how Community Boss’ Community Maps can improve your community!
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