At Inman Connect Las Vegas, July 30-Aug. 1, 2024, the noise and misinformation will be banished, all your big questions will be answered, and new business opportunities will be revealed. Join us.
Software company Entrata has acquired Colleen AI, an artificial intelligence-based tenant communication tool, executives announced Thursday. Terms of the deal — Entrata’s second in the past 12 months — were not disclosed.
TAKE THE INMAN INTEL INDEX SURVEY FOR JUNE
Entrata plans to roll out what it calls “Autonomous Property Management,” which will make “workflows increasingly automated and portfolios more efficient while simultaneously delivering an elevated resident experience,” according to the announcement. Powering that vision will be what comes from the Colleen AI deal, a product called ELI+, or an enhanced version of Entrata Layered Intelligence.
Entrata CEO Adam Edmunds said the acquisition will augment the company’s Autonomous Property Management initiative, adding that it “significantly accelerates our vision.”
“Through this combination, operators can power end-to-end automated workflows and interactions,” Edmunds said in a statement. “This, in turn, will allow teams to concentrate on meaningful resident connection and high impact tasks to positively impact the resident experience and, ultimately, NOI.”
ELI+ will be layered in the existing solution’s many components to add pace, data accuracy and enterprise-wide connectivity by closing the distance between data gaps, enabling features to react faster and given human decisions better levels of clarity and justification.
“There are thousands of data variables within the Entrata OS, and ELI+ leverages all of them to automate and contextualize every interaction — a clear advantage over other, non-native AI solutions.” the release stated.
One such product example of how AI will better server property managers day-to-day will be evident in what’s called “Conversational Context Switching,” according to the company.
The process allows each tenant interaction to be immediately contextualized with the resident’s goal for reaching out, and then automatically leverage the resident’s occupancy history to address other potential discussion points, such as a problematic payment method or renewal interest. This kind of automation keeps the individual engaged, prevents fragmented communications and bolsters overall interaction quality.
“One of the key challenges to effective AI is high-quality and current data,” said Itamar Roth, CEO and co-founder of Colleen AI, in a statement. “By introducing Colleen AI as native technology to the Entrata OS, the efficacy will be unmatched in the multifamily industry, dramatically accelerating the possibilities for autonomy in many areas that don’t exist today. We are thrilled about the innovation potential this combination brings.”
Other products being shipped in conjunction with the acquisition include a new suite of property management tools focused on the resident experience called PMS, Homebody, a “a fully integrated resident financial services offering.” and a utilities component to streamline billing and maintenance activities.
In July 2023, Entrata acquired Rent Dynamics, a system for reporting on-time rent payment history to credit bureaus.
Colleen rolled out a voice AI for rent collection earlier in 2024, Inman previously reported. Colleen Voice is believed to be an industry first, a conversational experience originating from property management software that can contact tenants to inquire about late rent, fees, specific amounts and other critical lease terms.
Entrata states it serves more than 20,000 apartment communities and three million residents.
