Solve Multifamily Package Management Challenges with Swiftlane

Multifamily buildings are combating high package theft rates, influx of food deliveries, and other package delivery challenges. Swiftlane understands these problems and is using modern video intercom and touchless access control to overcome them. 

Below are the ways Swiftlane uses seamless video intercom, mobile unlock, and visitor access to solve these challenges while maintaining a high level of security and creating a visitor management strategy for residential buildings.

Table of contents

1. Grant Secure, Remote Access to Delivery Couriers
2. Set Up Virtual Front Desk or Virtual Doorman
3. An Alternative to Expensive Package Lockers
4. Prevent Package Theft
5. Securely Manage Food Deliveries
6. Track Delivery Events for Security Audit Purposes
7. Decrease The Amount Of Time Staff Spend Managing Deliveries
8. Never Miss A Delivery
9. Give Tenants Control Over Their Deliveries
10. Manage Access For Frequent Delivery Couriers
11. Manage Deliveries For Multiple Buildings
12. Implement a Complete Common Area Security Solution

Also, read:

• Guide to Apartment Intercom System
• Preventing Porch Pirates and Package Theft
• Best Video Intercom Systems for Apartments
• Challenges of Modern Apartment Delivery Management
• Challenges of Modern Apartment Delivery Management

1. Grant Secure, Remote Access to Delivery Couriers 

Every apartment building has their own way of granting access to couriers, whether it’s having dedicated front desk staff or package delivery concierge, creating a PIN code for them to use, or having them make an intercom call every time they get to the building. Unfortunately, key cards and PIN codes make it hard to know who exactly has access to the building and when, and they can be used at any time without restriction. Audio-only intercom calls can be missed and can never really confirm delivery driver identity. Porch pirates often pretend to be delivery drivers and get buzzed in via audio-only intercoms. 

Swiftlane uses video intercom calling and remote unlock to ensure secure entry every time. Video intercom calls can be received from anywhere using any mobile device to visually verify who is at the door. Swiftlane’s single-use PIN codes can be generated by tenants or property managers, distributed to delivery persons via phone, email, or text, and expire 5 minutes after initial use. Multi-use PIN codes can be scheduled to restrict access on any day or at any time to ensure access isn’t granted when it’s not necessary. All visitor access can be managed under Swiftlane’s intuitive, cloud-based admin dashboard that can be used to make changes to access remotely from anywhere.

2. Set Up Virtual Front Desk or Virtual Doorman

Not all apartment buildings have front desk staff or even staff that works on-site. When this is the case, Swiftlane allows multifamily buildings to set up a virtual front desk or a virtual doorman in order to manage all deliveries remotely. Delivery people simply make a video call from the touchscreen directory and the call goes directly to the admin assigned to receive the front desk calls. This could be off-site admin staff or the property manager. A single person is able to handle the front desk for many buildings. Intercom calls can also be programmed to call a backup admin should the first call go unanswered to ensure deliveries will always have access.  

3. An Alternative to Expensive Package Lockers

Package lockers, while useful in theory, do still have their setbacks. It has become impossible to predict how many packages an apartment building will receive on any given day due to the expansion and rapid growth of ecommerce. So, it’s impossible to predict how many compartments to get for a package locker. On top of that, package lockers tend to be expensive, big, and frequently require staff members to operate. Despite the best predictions, they still run short on storage which makes demand for compartment space high. The solution to this problem has been to charge tenants for a late pickup, which of course is not well received. 

Swiftlane Video Intercom is a complete common area solution that does not require any oversight or additional staff to operate. Tenants simply receive a video intercom call on their mobile device and can remotely unlock the door from anywhere. Access can be granted to a secure package room via remote unlock, and packages can be picked up by tenants from that room. Since tenants are buzzing the delivery people in, they are aware that there is a package waiting for them. Alternatively, tenants can generate single-use PIN codes that can be embedded in delivery instructions and used by couriers at the time of delivery.

4. Prevent Package Theft

Almost 25 billion packages were delivered in the US in 2020. As a result, package theft hit an all-time high with an estimated $6 billion worth of packages stolen throughout the year. 

Swiftlane ensures that a package is never left unattended to be swept up by porch pirates. Swiftlane allows delivery persons to make video intercom calls directly to tenants who can then remotely unlock the door after they have visually verified the delivery person is who they say they are. Which means no more package delivery imposters making unsolicited calls to any tenant on the directory pretending to be dropping off a delivery. By ensuring that tenants don’t miss delivery calls through the mobile app, packages can be safely stored on the secure side of the building every time. 

Swiftlane also allows apartment buildings to set up front desk intercom calling and virtual front desk. Delivery people who have multiple deliveries can call the front desk and that person can pick up the call from anywhere on any device — smartphone, ipad, traditional telephone line, computer — to let them in. 

5. Securely Manage Food Deliveries 

Just like ecommerce, food delivery apps and services have also been blowing up — largely thanks to the pandemic — and are projected to continue to do so as people are busier than ever and demand the convenience of online food delivery. But, this is making secure food delivery a challenge, especially for large apartment buildings. 

Swiftlane allows food delivery drivers to search for their order recipient’s name in the intuitive touchscreen directory and make a video intercom call directly to them. Tenants can remotely unlock the door, so there is no need to meet the delivery person outside or in the lobby. 

Tenants can also give the delivery driver a single-use PIN code to gain access to the building upon arrival. The unique PIN code expires and can no longer be used to gain access to the building after 5 minutes of initial use. 

6. Track Delivery Events for Security Audit Purposes

Every multifamily building manager or owner knows that security incidents happen. Breaches in physical security happen, whether it’s vandalism or package theft. Unfortunately, these incidents are very hard to keep track of when they do happen. 

Swiftlane captures and stores photos of access events in the activity feed on the admin dashboard. The easy-to-use dashboard can be remotely accessed at any time for the highest level of visibility to who was in the building and when. 

7. Decrease The Amount Of Time Staff Spend Managing Deliveries

Building staff spend hours each week receiving, sorting, and organizing packages. They also spend a significant amount of time intercepting food orders and make individual calls to residents to pick them up. The seemingly small amount of time it takes to do each of these tasks add up and becomes very time-consuming altogether.

Swiftlane Video Intercom allows delivery couriers to enter the building without building staff assistance by distributing single- or multi-use PIN codes. These PIN codes can be used to access the front entrance as well as the package room without any gap in security for occupants. By eliminating the need for building staff to oversee delivery couriers and the packages they deliver, they are able to focus on more high-level, productive tasks. 

8. Never Miss A Delivery

Everyone has gotten a “Sorry We Missed You” post-it on their door followed by an extra trip to the post office to pick up a package they missed. This is a huge inconvenience for tenants. Even worse is if a package is left unattended and picked up by a porch pirate. 

Swiftlane Video Intercom offers buildings multiple ways to receive packages so that a delivery is never missed. Single-use PIN codes can be shared in delivery instructions for one-time deliveries. Multi-use PIN codes can be generated and distributed to recurring couriers via text, phone call, email, etc. 

Alternatively, video intercom calling can be routed right to the front desk or receptionist via mobile phone, landline telephone calling, browser, or tablet. Two-way or one-way video calls can also be made directly to whom the package is being delivered. Individual incoming intercom calls can also be received on mobile phone, traditional landline telephones, computer browser, or tablets. Once a call is received and the delivery person verified, remote access can be granted from anywhere. 

9. Give Tenants Control Over Their Deliveries 

The simple fact is tenants want more discretion over their deliveries. This means being able to track and access their packages when they arrive. No one wants nor has the time to adhere to specific package room or mailroom hours. But this is hard to achieve without sacrificing the security of deliveries. 

Swiftlane Video Intercom effectively solves this problem by maintaining the highest level of security for deliveries while also granting recipients the most flexibility to pick up their packages. With either unique PIN codes or video intercom calling, couriers can deliver packages to secure locations at any time. Occupants can then access the secure delivery area at their own discretion to receive their packages. 

10. Manage Access For Frequent Delivery Couriers 

Many apartment buildings have delivery drivers that come to the building to drop off packages every day. In this case, property managers give out key cards or other forms of access to the driver to make sure they always have access. But, this makes it hard to keep track of who really has access to the building, and there is no way to restrict access once it’s given out.  

Swiftlane allows property or building owners to easily manage access for frequent or recurring delivery couriers through the cloud-based dashboard. From the dashboard, delivery PIN codes can be easily scheduled to grant or restrict access on any day at any time. Admins can see which couriers have access and their access history. They can also update access schedules, grant, or revoke PIN code access.

11. Manage Deliveries For Multiple Buildings

Many times, property managers are responsible for overseeing several buildings. But, it’s impossible to manage deliveries for several locations at once. Especially given that different apartment or condo buildings frequently have different systems that only operate on-site. So, the property manager needs to be physically present to use the intercom or delivery management system. 

With Swiftlane, property managers can oversee delivery access, credentials, and trends across any number of locations under one platform. Swiftlane’s intuitive, remote, cloud-based platform allows buildings to be consistent across their entire portfolio. 

12. Implement a Complete Common Area Security Solution

Package delivery has become a complicated challenge for multifamily buildings. Current package management solutions like package lockers, package rooms, and audio-only intercom only solve a portion of the problem. So, apartment buildings will often combine different solutions like a package locker and package management software with an audio intercom and separate access control system. Managing so many different systems just for package deliveries becomes expensive and time-consuming.

Swiftlane is an all-in-one video intercom and access control system used to easily manage common area security under just a single platform. With Swifltane, tenants can manage their food and package deliveries along with any other visitor that would need access to the building. Property managers can manage every aspect of common area security — from deliveries to visitors to maintenance or cleaning staff — with the intuitive, cloud-based dashboard to give their tenants the highest level of security.