Challenge
AMLI wanted to make apartment hunting easier for renters by providing apartment information online. Most of the information that a renter would need for an apartment type—including the location and amenities of the apartment community, the floorplan, and the rent—was easy to provide on a website. What was difficult to provide was information on the units of a particular apartment type that would be available when a renter wanted to move, because availability changes constantly as other renters move into or out of apartment units.
AMLI needed a tool that a renter could use to obtain the latest information on the availability of apartment units. The tool would need to work with a secured database of apartment information. It would need to work in AMLI’s website as well as in the websites of apartment listing services that worked with AMLI.
AMLI also wanted the tool to provide marketing features. The tool would need to provide a way to send an email that indicated that a renter was interested in a particular apartment unit. To aid AMLI with market analysis, the tool would need to keep track of which website the renter used to find the apartment.
Expert Object solution
Expert Object developed the Check Availability service for AMLI. Check Availability combines user screens with scripts that work with AMLI’s database of apartment information.
When a renter selects a type of AMLI apartment from a website, the site displays a link that will launch the Check Availability service.
The Check Availability service displays a form that allows the renter to specify a moving date.
After the user specifies a date, Check Availability obtains from AMLI’s database of apartment information a list of the apartment units that will be available on or around the desired date:
If the renter selects one of the available units in the list, Check Availability displays a form that the renter can use to send an email to the manager of the apartment community. The email identifies the website that the renter used to select an apartment.
The Check Availability service integrates both with the AMLI website and with the websites of the apartment-listing companies that work with AMLI, such as apartments.com:
Result
Expert Object's Check Availability service enables renters to select online an AMLI apartment that meets all of their requirements, including their desired moving dates. Renters can use Check Availability to obtain the latest information on when apartment units will be available for rental.
