Optima Camelview

Upscale Scottsdale Condominium Delights Residents and Optimizes Operations with Parcel Pending Package Lockers

Challenge	Solution	Results
The concierge team at Optima Camelview, an upscale 700-unit resident-owned condominium community in Scottsdale, Arizona, was overwhelmed with the time it took to process package deliveries manually. Instead of addressing resident needs and requests, the concierge team spent nearly nine hours daily on package management, creating a frustrating situation for both residents and staff.	In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, the community’s HOA decided to investigate package lockers as a way to provide 24/7 package service to their residents and to allow their onsite staff to focus on other resident needs. The board selected a Parcel Pending by Quadient smart locker solution with a package room to accommodate oversized items. The adaptation period was short, and residents and staff quickly got used to smart locker technology and its benefits.	Parcel Pending smart lockers have resulted in a 66% reduction in the time concierge staff spend on parcel management. Delivery times are shorter, fewer packages are lost or misplaced, and residents can now pick up packages any time of the day, irrespective of concierge service hours. The smart lockers are a clear success. Residents and staff have embraced the technology and appreciate the convenience, security, and time gained back. More time allows staff to focus on more complex and personalized resident interactions.

Too Many Deliveries and Not Enough Time to Focus on Resident Needs

The Optima Camelview Village is an upscale, mid-rise condominium community of 700 owned units in Scottsdale, Arizona. Developed by Optima, a design-driven real estate development company, the property is managed by Associated Asset Management (AAM), an Arizona-based homeowner association (HOA) management and service provider.

With an architecturally innovative design of 11 terraced and bridge-linked buildings, the community offers a pedestrian-friendly shaded environment of lush, interconnected, landscaped courtyards. A mixed-use development that responds to Scottsdale’s urban desert climate, Optima Camelview is primarily residential with some commercial space, including an on-site restaurant.

Before the installation of Parcel Pending smart lockers, the property’s on-site concierge service had three staff members working daily, specifically dedicated to package management. Since the lockers were installed, these employees can now focus on higher level resident interactions instead of dealing with incoming deliveries. They can devote more time to resident onboarding, special services such as notarial activities, and general support. And, when necessary, they still have time to help residents locate items in the package room.

Package Management Overwhelms Concierge Staff

Before the community had lockers, all three concierge staff members were working from 7 am to 6 pm, dealing with a time-intensive package management process. Typically, two employees would notify residents of deliveries and deliver packages to residents’ doors, while the third employee would help by fielding resident requests regarding expected deliveries. When volume spiked, all three staff members had to dedicate their full attention to delivering and processing packages.

Not only was manual package management cumbersome and time-consuming for employees, but it was also an underwhelming experience for residents. The time and labor required to manage packages meant employees had less time to help residents with other essential concierge services. This resulted in additional delays and frustration for everyone involved.

Concierge staff had to input new package deliveries in a ledger and then send out notifications by hand to the residents, a process that typically took all day. Due to the number of packages and the need to process them manually, deliveries were often delayed for hours and sometimes several days. By late 2020, at the height of the COVID pandemic, the concierge team was processing more than 150 packages a day.

Parcel Pending Smart Lockers Provide a Cost-Effective Solution

The HOA Board of Directors heard about Parcel Pending from a resident. When they started looking into options for package management, Parcel Pending was at the top of the list for consideration. At the end of 2020, with the pandemic in full force, Optima Camelview installed 17 Parcel Pending smart locker towers as well as a connected package room. The connected package room can accommodate oversized items that do not fit into the lockers. It is accessed through the same controllers that operate the lockers. In late November to early December of 2020, in the first 6 weeks post-installation, the property received almost 12,000 packages through the lockers and package room – an increase of over 1,600 deliveries compared to the same period in the previous year.

The intuitive and easy-to-use smart locker technology made the transition for residents and staff quick and easy. According to Abigail Blitz, Optima Camelview’s Maintenance Coordinator, “As people got more comfortable, they really liked using the smart lockers. They like being able to pick up their packages after our offices are closed.” Her colleague Mario Milani, Community Manager, agreed. “It’s great. Residents love it!”

Easier, Secure Parcel Pick-Up Means More Time to Attend to Residents

With Parcel Pending smart lockers and a connected package room, management and concierge staff at Optima Camelview have seen significant improvements in the quality of service for those living in the community.

Not only do employees have more time to attend to residents and work on more critical tasks, but fewer packages are lost or misplaced. “Compared to before, when everything was done manually, we have very few people not finding their packages,” noted Mario Milani.

Additionally, there is an increased sense of security since packages are kept safe in the lockers for residents to retrieve at their convenience. “Not only are smart lockers more secure,” said Blitz, “but we definitely also have more time to attend to residents since we’re not checking packages manually for nine hours a day.”

The Parcel Pending smart locker technology that Optima Camelview installed has resulted in a 66% reduction in the time spent on package management. Concierge staff no longer have to manually notify residents about deliveries and then deliver packages to residents by hand. Together these time savers represent close to 126 work hours saved per week.

Residents love the convenience of the lockers, including the ability to pick up packages outside of concierge service hours. They also appreciate that the lockers can be used for internal distribution of items such as invoices and gift drop-offs such as flowers or makeup samples. And, as Blitz pointed out, “it’s been nice to focus on resident requests instead of being surrounded by thousands of boxes every day!”

Quadient, the leading provider of innovative package management solutions for multifamily communities, was founded with a simple goal in mind: to make package delivery easy and intuitive for everyone. With over 70 million packages delivered annually, Parcel Pending by Quadient offers a wide range of solutions that ensure safe, secure, and on-demand resident package retrieval.

For more information about how Parcel Pending by Quadient lockers can work for your community, fill out the form below.