Raleigh companies team up to keep older adults, their families, and senior living staff connected during COVID-19 and beyond

RALEIGH, N.C., June 17, 2020 – Bandwidth Inc. (NASDAQ: BAND), a software company focused on communications for the enterprise, and K4Connect, a mission-driven technology company that integrates the best in technology to serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, announced today a collaboration to deliver a newly enhanced critical COVID-19 communications tool to senior living communities – K4Community Hotline. K4Community Hotline is a recorded phone message feature that keeps residents, their families, and community staff constantly updated with the latest community information. K4Connect is leveraging the Bandwidth API and telecom platform to swiftly build, deliver, and manage this solution at scale. 

The senior living industry is continuing to manage the challenges brought on by COVID-19, and most essential is keeping residents and their families informed and connected as strict quarantine protocols continue. Technology has quickly emerged as an avenue to diversifying and expanding these communications both within and outside of communities. With K4Community Hotline, residents and families have 24/7 access to the latest information and caregiver stress is reduced as the hotline augments high volumes of daily inbound and outbound informational calls. Since the feature’s initial release this past March, 20 K4Connect senior living communities have activated hotlines and are averaging over 280 calls per day. 

“In early March we anticipated the Coronavirus would impact senior living like nothing we’d seen before, so we quickly pivoted to accelerate high impact solutions that provide communities immediate resources and relief. This is how K4Community Hotline was created and we’re glad to see communities valuing it,” said K4Connect CEO and Co-Founder, Scott Moody. “Leveraging Bandwidth’s enterprise communications expertise to deliver and manage this solution enables us to continue supporting the industry with an incredibly efficient and easy-to-use tool as it prepares for the anticipated second wave of COVID-19 impact in the fall.”

K4Connect customers are using the hotline feature to promptly deliver key communications including safety protocols, visitation policies, and daily community updates such as dining menus and virtual or socially-distanced activities. As the solution is fully managed outside of the community, no burden is placed on staff teams to configure or manage the hotline; staff need only update the recorded message with the latest information. “The K4Community Hotline has simply been our lifeline to families, residents, and staff members. It has given our team the ability to update each group with daily updates and critical information. The impact has been immeasurable,” said Carl Tarbell, executive director of Masonic Village at Burlington.

“K4Connect is a great group with an amazing mission,” said Adam Covati, Vice President of Research & Development at Bandwidth. “Given that they are also Raleigh natives, we were eager to find a way to work together. We’d been in talks previously, and after K4Connect built the prototype for the hotline, partnering with Bandwidth emerged as a natural choice. Their communities’ need for local numbers made our national coverage incredibly appealing. Plus, they needed a long-term provider they could trust as they continue to grow, and our customer-focused team helped them find the easiest way to get the K4Community Hotline up and running. We love what K4Connect is doing and look forward to a long partnership together.” 

For more information about K4Community Hotline, you can reach out to the K4Connect team at Hotline@K4Connect.com. K4Connect is the leading provider of enterprise-grade senior living technology solutions, currently serving tens of thousands of residents at over 800 premier continuing care, independent living, assisted living and memory care communities across the nation. The company’s flagship solution, K4Community, brings together the best in technology to serve residents, staff and operators alike. 

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About Bandwidth:

Bandwidth (NASDAQ: BAND) is a software company focused on communications for the enterprise. Companies like Google, Microsoft, Cisco, Zoom and Ring Central use Bandwidth’s APIs to easily embed voice, messaging and 911 access into software and applications. Bandwidth is the first and only CPaaS provider offering a robust selection of communications APIs built around their own nationwide IP voice network – one of the largest in the nation. More information available at www.bandwidth.com.

About K4Connect:

K4Connect is a mission-driven technology company that integrates the best in technology to serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, together with the people, communities and organizations that also serve them. We believe the future of senior living is in enabling Smart Senior Living Communities through tech-based solutions that truly impact the lives of older adults, wherever they live. Our premier solution, K4Community, provides smart products and features across Home, Wellness, and Engagement for residents, and Productivity, Building, and Insight for staff and operators. 

Based in Raleigh, N.C., K4Connect is currently serving tens of thousands of senior living residents and staff at over 800 continuing care, independent living, assisted living and memory care communities across the nation. For more information, please visit www.k4connect.com.

Amazon collaborates with senior living enterprise technology leader on COVID-19 initiative. K4Community software will bring community information, services, and communication just an “Alexa” request away.

 

RALEIGH, N.C., May 27, 2020 — K4Connect, a mission-driven technology company that creates solutions that serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, announced a new initiative with Amazon to support senior living residents during COVID-19. K4Connect is distributing over 8,000 Echo Dots to more than 40 independent and assisted living communities in West Coast regions highly affected by COVID-19, allowing residents to use voice technology to stay more connected while in isolation. Devices were donated by Amazon as part of a $5 million device donations program created in response to COVID-19, and will integrate with K4Community, K4Connect’s advanced enterprise solution designed for the residents and staff of senior living communities. The experience allows residents to immediately begin their voice experience with minimal involvement from community staff. Communities simply plug in the Echo devices and start enjoying all the benefits of Amazon Alexa, as well as various new capabilities from K4Connect that make community information, services, and communication just an “Alexa” request away.

Older adults are one of the most vulnerable and isolated populations experiencing this crisis. Senior living communities are working hard to keep residents safe and engaged while managing the impacts the virus has had on daily operations and the resident experience. Technology has quickly emerged as another avenue to manage this, keeping residents connected (with the community, each other and their families), informed, and engaged during periods of quarantine, and voice technologies like Alexa are making this even more accessible. The natural interface means the resident experience is as easy as talking and allows community staff to easily reach hundreds of residents in an instant. 

With the K4Community Voice integration with Amazon Alexa, communities are diversifying how residents access information (announcements, daily menus), creating new means of connection through voice-dialing with K4Community’s “Call My Neighbor” feature, and even reimagining daily activities with socially distanced or virtual events like Hallway Sing-a-Longs with Alexa. K4Connect also recently released the K4Community Hotline, a recorded phone message feature that allows community staff to keep residents and families constantly updated while relieving high inbound call volumes. This feature is also easily accessible for residents via voice through Amazon Alexa. 

“The opportunity to work with Amazon to serve older adults through this donation effort was obvious for us. COVID-19 has quickly magnified areas where voice technology can help, and fast – people need relief now,” said K4Connect CEO and Co-Founder, Scott Moody. “Our enterprise solution allows us to deploy, manage, and support these devices at scale and fully remote, meaning residents get the relief they need quickly and community staff teams are not burdened by installing or managing the technology.”

The program will reach over 40 senior living communities, including Eskaton, MBK Senior Living (MBK), and Front Porch headquartered in California, as well as Era Living, Horizon House, and Bayview in Washington. In late 2019, MBK teamed with K4Connect to lead its technology transformation through the K4Community solution which will support 3,400 residents and staff. As MBK President Jeff Fischer said, “Bringing K4Connect on as our technology partner allows us to uniquely deliver on our mission of providing quality programming and outstanding care for our residents. Our K4Community Voice pilots in 2019 were so successful that we immediately jumped at the opportunity to accelerate and extend that resource during COVID-19 and beyond.”

Eskaton, a K4Connect community partner since early 2018 and a leading not-for-profit senior living operator, is building upon its current K4Community voice implementation that is already seeing 80% daily resident usage. “Eskaton believes in creating adaptive living environments that empower the independence and well-being of all residents, regardless of age and ability. This mission is especially critical now as we face the continued challenges of the Coronavirus. We have long seen the value of voice for our residents through K4Community and this partnership has enabled us to seamlessly expand that quickly and at scale,” said Eskaton Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Sheri Peifer. 

K4Connect is the leading provider of enterprise-grade technologies for senior living communities, currently serving tens of thousands of residents at over 800 premier continuing care, independent living, assisted living and memory care communities across the nation. The company’s flagship solution, K4Community, brings together the best in technology to serve residents, staff and operators alike. 

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About K4Connect:
K4Connect is a mission-driven technology company that creates solutions that serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, together with the people, communities and organizations that also serve them. We believe the future of senior living is in enabling Smart Senior Living Communities through tech-based solutions that truly impact the lives of older adults, wherever they live. Our premier solution, K4Community, provides smart products and features across Home, Wellness, and Engagement for residents, and Productivity, Building, and Insight for staff and operators.

Based in Raleigh, N.C., K4Connect is currently serving tens of thousands of senior living residents and staff at over 800 continuing care, independent living, assisted living and memory care communities across the nation. For more information, please visit www.K4Connect.com.

We’re supporting White Horse Village with dynamic tech solutions that can truly transform the lives of all senior living residents and team members at this impressive Community.

By: Tara Hurlebaus

May 20, 2020

White Horse Village leverages the latest technology advancements to keep residents connected during the coronavirus pandemic.

Connectedness and relationships are foundations of the active senior living community’s mission and are critically important to the physical and emotional health of residents during the current crisis.

In 2019, the community in Edgmont Township, Delaware County, partnered with K4Connect to bring connected-life capabilities to residents and team members. White Horse Village’s strategic plan includes implementing technology solutions to meet the evolving needs of the 550 residents and 375 team members across its 96-acre campus. Current and future deployments include:

• K4Community, a community system that integrates every aspect of community life into a single solution, serving the needs of residents, families, team members and managers. The solution combines the latest in-home automation, communication, engagement and voice technologies, as well as team and operator tools and resources. Current deployments of K4Community include Digital Signage and Insertion Channel capabilities.

• K4Community Plus app, a new resident experience platform to virtually connect and engage individuals more easily with other residents, family and team members. The app features include video communication, social feed, voice-activated functionality and integration, smart home and community information and programming.

“Our timely investment in K4Connect’s solutions has eased the strains of the current restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic and enables our residents and team members to stay connected during a stressful and unprecedented time,” said Len Weiser, president and CEO of White Horse Village. “The app will give residents the ability to stay apprised of campus happenings and allows us the ability to remotely communicate with residents on general information and important updates 24/7.”

The Resident Technology Advisory Committee, a group of technology-minded residents, participated in beta testing the K4Community Plus app. The committee encourages tech innovation on campus and offers various training classes for residents.

“We’re excited to support White Horse Village with dynamic solutions that can truly transform the lives of all residents and team members at this impressive Community,” said F. Scott Moody, co-founder, CEO and chief member advocate of K4Connect. “Len and the whole team were excellent partners in beta testing K4Community Plus, it’s exciting to now release it for the entire community to enjoy.”

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Read the story on Reading Eagle, here!

An exciting musical event brought to thousands of senior living residents across the country, May 2 at 6pm ET

April 28, 2020

During a time when senior living residents are more isolated than ever, we are proud to partner on an initiative to bring them joy. Introducing, the virtual Sunshine Concerts series hosted by Tony Award-winning Broadway actress Laura Benanti!

As COVID-19 hit and impacted nearly every part of our lives, the shutdowns across the nation also put a halt to music and theater performances thousands of students had been preparing for this year. Laura’s viral #SunshineSongs campaign took off on social media, calling on all students to share their performances from home – and the response was overwhelming. Laura called on friend and community activist, Kate Deiter-Maradei, determined to give them an audience and with who better than older adults who could enjoy these wonderful performances as they remain in quarantine.

K4Connect is bringing this curated experience directly to our communities, enabling residents to view the show directly via the K4Community App. And in partnership with Seniorly and Prompt, the show is extended to friends and family – and the entire public! – to all tune in together and join the virtual watch party Saturday, May 2 at 6pm ET.

Read more about the initiative and the viewing details in the press release below:

View Livestream here: https://bit.ly/sunshineconcert1

On the heels of her viral social media campaign, #SunshineSongs, Tony Award-winning actress Laura Benanti is partnering with K4Connect and Seniorly to bring joy through music to senior living communities, Children’s Hospitals, and beyond! On Saturday, May 2nd at 6:00 PM ET, the Sunshine Songs Concert will present the first intergenerational live viewing experience. In March, Laura created #SunshineSongs, to invite students across the country to share videos of the performances they were not able to give this year due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Laura first partnered with her friend Kate Deiter-Maradei to explore a way to distribute the performance videos to senior communities and Children’s Hospitals, as a result creating the Sunshine Concert event which will be live viewing party on Laura’s YouTube page.

COVID-19 has suddenly changed the way we are all living, but for older generations and hospitalized children around the world, the impacts have been particularly significant. In senior living communities and Children’s Hospitals, residents and patients under strict quarantine safety measures are unable to visit with family or friends. Together with the teams at Seniorly and K4Connect, they are hoping to remedy this by bringing a little bit of joy by streaming a variety of performances from #SunshineSongs.

“I was talking to my mom (Linda Benanti, a renowned voice teacher) and she shared how disappointed her students were that their school musicals were canceled due to Covid-19. These shows bring entire towns together in celebration of their talented young people and I wanted to provide a platform for them to be seen and celebrated! The tremendous outpouring of love on social media for #SushineSongs led me to my friend Kate Deiter-Maradei (a community activist) and together we devised a plan to bring #SunshineConcerts to vulnerable communities (our beloved Seniors as well as our young people in Children’s hospitals) that might not be active on Social Media.”

Seniorly will be providing the technical and creative live streaming expertise in collaboration with K4Connect’s distribution. The live stream event will be directed by Ashley Rodbro and produced by Stephanie Cowan. Prompt, a mission-driven education company, is developing the website and providing creative support.

Introducing the LUX® KONOse, offering increased visibility, focused ease of use, and adjustment assurance to create the best experience for residents of senior living communities.

MILWAUKEE – (April 23, 2020) – Johnson Controls today announced one of the first smart thermostat products to address the senior care market. Designed with seniors in mind, the LUX® KONOse offers increased visibility, focused ease of use and adjustment assurance to create the best experience for residents of senior living facilities. The Energy Star® certified thermostat is the latest innovation from the Johnson Controls brand of LUX Products, which are known for their intuitive design and technology. The introduction of the KONOse also marks the start of an exciting new collaboration between Johnson Controls and K4Connect, a leading technology partner for senior living communities.

“The KONOse enhances senior comfort through an easy-to-understand display and improved control for those with limited fine motor skills,” said Justin Pasquale, product management, thermostats and sensors at Johnson Controls. “It also provides connectivity, energy efficiency and cost savings for facility managers.”

The KONOse is an extension of the KONO smart suite of products for commercial facilities. To increase visibility, Johnson Controls designed the KONOse with larger primary and secondary digits as well as enhanced backlight options for ideal viewing in all environments.

When it comes to ease of use, large icons on the KONOse like a flame and snowflake call out heating and cooling functions, while an “emergency heat” function visible only to facility managers allows for passive monitoring. Users can rotate the thermostat’s dial to easily adjust the set temperature or push the dial to change HVAC modes. While adjusting the set temperature, the KONOse displays the new temperature as well as the current HVAC mode to ensure the user is setting the temperature in the right direction. These intuitive settings and tactile feedback are specifically tuned to users who have limited fine motor skills.

And on the connectivity front, the KONOse offers a host of features to help facility managers and residents alike effortlessly control comfort and savings. It leverages the power of the Z-wave smart home technology hub, allowing managers to easily connect all smart devices throughout the facility. The thermostat is also compatible with the LUX app so users can make temperature and scheduling adjusts from any device.

Through Johnson Controls design partnership with K4Connect, the LUX KONOse is now part of the most advanced enterprise technology solution in senior living. Built specifically for residents, staff and operators, K4Connect helps deliver a great experience for residents while providing insights to help operators improve their overall business health.

“Our K4Labs team tests hundreds of IoT devices for older adult-friendly design and functionality to ultimately determine the devices we prefer to integrate with,” said Derek Holt, executive vice president of development and chief operating officer at K4Connect. “It was exciting to work with Johnson Controls to design the KONOse and we look forward to bringing it to senior living communities across the nation.”

The LUX KONOse is available now through K4Connect dealers. To learn more, visit pro.LUXProducts.com/KONOse

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About Johnson Controls
At Johnson Controls, we transform the environments where people live, work, learn and play. From optimizing building performance to improving safety and enhancing comfort, we drive the outcomes that matter most. We deliver our promise in industries such as healthcare, education, data centers and manufacturing. With a global team of 105,000 experts in more than 150 countries and over 130 years of innovation, we are the power behind our customers’ mission. Our leading portfolio of building technology and solutions includes some of the most trusted names in the industry, such as Tyco®, York®, Metasys®, Ruskin®, Titus®, Frick®, Penn®, Sabroe®, Simplex®, Ansul® and Grinnell®. For more information, visit www.johnsoncontrols.com or follow us @johnsoncontrols on Twitter

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Leading senior living technology innovator enhances flagship technology solution, introduces new app for older adults when they need it the most.

 

RALEIGH, N.C., April 22, 2020 — K4Connect, a mission-driven technology company that creates solutions that serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, today announced the release of its new K4Community Plus resident application. The new app redefines the digital experience for older adults, taking the best experiences of today’s popular social media platforms and integrating them into a sophisticated application specifically designed for them. K4Community Plus allows community residents to easily and efficiently connect with family and friends, engage and socialize with their community and fellow residents, as well as control their smart living environments all from their personal devices. K4Community Plus is now available to all existing K4Connect senior living community partners, as well as new partners.

“Our company exists to serve older adults through technology that adds value to their lives. This mission has never been more important than right now as older adults – and the senior living communities serving them – are turning to technology solutions to help manage the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said K4Connect CEO and Co-Founder, F. Scott Moody. “K4Community Plus brings material present day utility to senior living, enabling communities and their residents to truly connect, communicate and engage in secure, meaningful ways both in and outside of the communities they live in. Isolation is one of the more significant challenges they’re facing today, which is why our expediting and releasing K4Community Plus now to better support them was incredibly important to us.”

Even beyond today’s crisis, older adults today are increasingly engaged and interested in technology and online experiences. The K4Community Plus design and functionality is inspired by the ease and intuitiveness of social media platforms to bring older adults the ultimate digital experience in an application that uniquely suits their needs and lifestyles. Several senior living communities beta tested the new application and as White Horse Village resident Sam G. said of the experience, “I’ve been very happy with the [K4Connect] program and hope to have it expand to include many other goodies! This technology is the future!”

The solution integrates the latest in communication, engagement, smart home and information technologies to promote better, more independent lives for residents. Through K4Connect’s patented operating system, called FusionOS, senior living communities benefit from comprehensive enterprise technology deployment, management and support, enabling seamless integration with community systems and minimal management or training required of staff teams.

Key K4Community Plus capabilities include:

• Community Social Feed – Senior living communities can now reach residents with a wide variety of curated content and important information in the style of a social media feed. Residents can securely browse community updates and information, browse external content like news articles, and directly engage with community activities and events (save, sign-up, etc.).

• Dynamic Communications & Voice – Communications features span the ability to message and call fellow residents as well as voice-activated options for resident-to-resident communication with the “Alexa, Call My Neighbor” feature. Voice features also include numerous ways to communicate with staff whether using Alexa to call the front desk or get the latest community updates through our voice-activated Hotline feature.

• Friends & Family Experience – Loved ones stay connected to residents and the community with constant access to important community information and updates (a particularly critical tool as communities continue to navigate COVID-19) and direct communication with their resident family member through the only native video calling social feature in senior living, as well as messaging, and photo-sharing.

• Customized Smart Home – Residents can control and customize their smart living environments, such as temperature and lighting settings, directly from their mobile or tablet device.

• Optimized Community Information & Programming – Residents have their community at their fingertips by bringing community information, communication and programming to a digital platform. From important announcements and dining menus to virtual or in-person events and activities, residents are not only able to remain informed but also encouraged to engage and socialize with their communities. The events reporting tool also brings value to staff, providing insight into trending resident interest in community activities that can inform future programming.

In response to the continued impact of the Coronavirus on the senior living industry, K4Connect is offering fully remote installation of K4Community Plus to any senior living community at no cost for the coming months. Reach out to the company at CovidInfo@K4Connect.com for more information.

K4Connect is the leading provider of enterprise-grade technologies for senior living communities, currently serving tens of thousands of residents at over 800 premiere continuing care, independent living, assisted living and memory care communities across the nation. The company’s flagship solution, K4Community, brings together the best in technology to serve residents, staff and operators alike. All communities currently using K4Connect’s flagship K4Community solution will continue to have access until they migrate to K4Community Plus.

To learn more about K4Connect and its technologies, visit us at:

https://www.k4connect.com/solutions/

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About K4Connect:
K4Connect is a mission-driven technology company that creates solutions that serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, together with the people, communities and organizations that also serve them. We believe the future of senior living is in enabling Smart Senior Living Communities through tech-based solutions that truly impact the lives of older adults, wherever they live. Our premier solution, K4Community, provides smart products and features across Home, Wellness, and Engagement for residents, and Productivity, Building, and Insight for staff and operators.

Based in Raleigh, N.C., K4Connect is currently serving tens of thousands of senior living residents and staff at over 800 continuing care, independent living, assisted living and memory care communities across the nation. For more information, please visit www.k4connect.com.

Senior living leaders continue to drive innovation in assisted living, further expand partnership to bring next-generation technology to residents and staff

 

RALEIGH, N.C., Jan. 29, 2020 — K4Connect, a mission-driven technology company that creates solutions that serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, announced today the further expansion of its partnership with HHHunt’s Spring Arbor Senior Living, operator of Spring Arbor assisted living communities across the Mid-Atlantic. Throughout 2020, HHHunt’s Spring Arbor Senior Living plans to expand its technology offering with new voice technologies, while adding additional communities to its K4Connect-enabled portfolio of communities.

This expansion comes three years after HHHunt signed on as K4Connect’s very first customer to implement K4Community, the company’s flagship technology solution designed for senior living, in 2017. Over the years, hundreds of residents and staff have benefitted from responsive environments enabled by smart home automation, more connected experiences through digital content and communications, and improved engagement with community activities, staff, family and fellow residents. The technology has also helped improve the organization’s overall occupancy, sharpened its market differentiation and positively impacted operational costs. The addition of leading-edge voice assistant technologies will now give Spring Arbor residents and staff voice-activated control of smart home features, community content and daily activities. 

“K4Community has brought tremendous value to our senior living portfolio. Our residents and staff truly value it, and we’ve seen tangible operational ROI including, as an example, a meaningful contribution to a 15 point vacancy decrease at one of our communities,” said, HHHunt SVP of Spring Arbor Senior Living, Richard Williams. “We’re committed to continuing to leverage innovative technologies like voice to provide great experiences for our residents and staff with K4Connect, which is why we’re planning to extend the K4Community solution from today’s 10 to 13 Spring Arbor communities while expanding our original agreement from two years to four more years.” 

Voice technology has proved more than a novelty for assisted living residents, including easing access and engagement for those with visual and mobility impairments, and in communities voice-enabled to date, seeing over 70 percent daily adoption rates. Spring Arbor will introduce voice through Amazon’s Alexa across all of its K4Community-enabled assisted living communities this year, providing voice-activated community content, automated home features and K4 Alexa Skills customized to community needs. And residents are already seeing the benefits, as one Spring Arbor of Crofton resident said, “The fact that it can call the front desk is very beneficial.”

“We firmly believe the future of senior living is in Smart Senior Living Communities, and HHHunt is a prime example of that journey. When we first worked together, voice-first technology wasn’t even on senior living’s radar. Now, we’re bringing this technology to hundreds of residents using the same extendable system we implemented three years ago, K4Community,” said K4Connect CEO and co-founder F. Scott Moody. “We’re excited to continue our innovative partnership and for what’s to come in 2020 and beyond.”

K4Connect is the leading provider of enterprise-grade technologies for senior living communities, currently serving more than 28,000 residents at over 120 premier continuing care, independent living, assisted living and memory care communities across the nation. The company’s patented (28 US patents to-date) operating system, FusionOS, on which K4Community is built, is the first and only of its kind in senior living.

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About HHHunt

HHHunt is a diversified regional real estate development and management company with residential communities in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Maryland. HHHunt, with primary offices in Blacksburg, VA, Richmond, VA and Raleigh, NC, employs over 1700 people in the areas of community development, home building, apartment living and senior living development and management.

About K4Connect

K4Connect is a mission-driven technology company that creates solutions that serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, together with the people, communities and organizations that support them. K4Connect’s solutions integrate the latest in Smart Home, Smart Wellness and Smart Living technologies into a single easy-to-use solution designed specifically for and with those they serve. The Company’s premier solution, K4Community, is currently being used by tens of thousands of senior living residents and staff across the country. For more information, please visit http://www.k4connect.com

Leading senior living technology provider introduces technology assessment and innovation roadmap for senior living communities.

RALEIGH, N.C., October 24, 2019 — Senior living has reached a crossroad with innovation that will ultimately shape the future of the industry. National trends in the next-gen resident population, ongoing caregiver staffing challenges and an increasingly competitive market for community operators are turning the industry toward technology for solutions. Today, K4Connect, a purpose-driven technology company that creates solutions that serve and empower older adults and those living with a disability, introduces the K4Connect Workshop & Technology Assessment, a strategic technology initiative that enables senior living communities to transform into a Smart Senior Living Community.

The K4Connect Workshop & Technology Assessment empowers senior living communities to embrace and benefit from the technology disruption impacting the industry. Built on a foundation of decades of enterprise technology experience, patented technologies and established best practices, K4Connect leverages its maturity model method to guide this process. Senior living communities across the country are seeing the benefits of this strategic process through enhanced offerings and business efficiencies, including improved resident experiences, increased competitiveness and streamlined workflows.

“Innovation by nature is a journey with no destination — it’s constantly evolving. We recognize that many communities today are just getting started with technology and it’s critical they have the infrastructure in place that prepares them for the future,” said K4Connect CEO, Co-Founder and Chief Member Advocate, F. Scott Moody. “Our Workshop & Technology Assessment method helps the communities we serve better understand where they are today, and the right steps to take as they evolve into what we believe is key to the future of senior living — the transformation toward Smart Senior Living Communities.” 

During the two-day Workshop & Technology Assessment, K4Connect leads communities through a step-by-step process that evaluates and educates on technology, culminating with a customized ROI report communities can then leverage to build and implement an execution plan. Core elements of a community’s assessment include: 

• Infrastructure – assessing the current technology infrastructure to identify the physical framework needed to support its digital transformation. 
• Communication – digitizing communications across – and beyond – the community to significantly enhance connectivity between residents and their loved ones, as well as staff. 
• Environments – creating responsive, smart environments through enterprise IoT that generate community-wide data-driven insights for residents, staff and operators. 
• Services – enhancing and expanding community experiences for residents and staff through digital tools, experiences and support. 
• Wellness – leveraging digital health and wellness to better engage residents in their personal health, as well as generate greater visibility and awareness for community staff. 
• Insights – implementing advanced technologies such as AI to provide data-driven intelligence that creates business efficiencies, great experiences for residents and more productive staff. 

“We have long recognized the impact technology would eventually have on our industry. Prior to implementing K4Community across our communities, K4Connect’s Workshop & Technology Assessment helped us pinpoint some key focus areas in our innovation-driven transformation across our communities. As we move forward, K4Community allows us to implement the latest in technology, yet do so as part of one integrated system,” said United Methodist Communities President and CEO, Larry Carlson. 

K4Connect is the leading provider of enterprise connected-life technologies for senior living communities, currently serving more than 27,000 residents at over 120 premiere continuing care, independent living, assisted living and memory care communities across the nation. The company’s patented operating system, FusionOS, is the first and only of its kind in senior living. To learn more about K4Connect’s Workshop & Technology Assessment or to inquire about scheduling a session for your community, visit us at www.k4connect.com/demo 

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About K4Connect

K4Connect is a purpose-driven technology company that creates connected-life solutions that serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, together with the people, communities and organizations that support them. K4Connect’s solutions integrate the latest in Smart Home, Smart Wellness and Smart Living technologies into a single easy-to-use solutions designed specifically for and with those they serve. The Company’s premier solution, K4Community, is currently being used by thousands of senior living residents and staff across the country. For more information, please visit www.k4connect.com.

 

Advanced senior living technology seamlessly connects residents to health and wellness, social engagement, and home automation tools.

K4Connect, a purpose-driven technology company that creates solutions that serve and empower older adults and those living with a disability, announced today its expansion into New Jersey through a strategic partnership with United Methodist Communities (UMC), an influential provider of residential and community-based services for older adults.

United Methodist Communities will deploy K4Connect’s premier connected-life senior living solution, K4Community, reaching more than 1,600 residents and associates at its full-service campuses throughout New Jersey: Bristol Glen (Newton), Collingswood, Pitman and The Shores (Ocean City).

K4Community is specifically designed for older adults and is the most advanced technology solution in elder care and services today. The comprehensive solution integrates the latest in home automation, connected health and wellness products, as well as social engagement services, ultimately empowering everyone at UMC to live simpler, healthier, and happier lives.

“We’re excited to introduce K4Community to our four full-service campuses. Our residents and associates are eager technology adopters and we strive to meet those interests through the services, tools and amenities we provide,” said Travis Gleinig, Corporate Director of Information Technology for United Methodist Communities. “K4Connect sets us up for seamless, ongoing digital growth and uniquely aligns with us as a mission-based organization. We know with K4Connect, resident value and support comes first – a key point of value for us as a service-driven organization.”

Residents across UMC’s full-service campuses will now be able to control their apartment homes with automation features, such as smart lighting and thermostats, along with enterprise-level voice access to content and community services through their Amazon Alexa devices. The communities will also have access to content creation, management, publishing and digital signage, which streamlines communication, and allows residents to see the latest news and updates directly in their homes and throughout their campuses.

“I think the use of technology in our lives is inevitable and beneficial,” said Anne Bozek, a resident of United Methodist Communities and member of the Bristol Glen Echo Club — a resident driven group that meets to learn and gain a higher level of comfort with technology. “It helps me connect with my children and grandchildren who live far away.”

K4Community will also supply operators and associates with tools to provide the best in care and hospitality. Enabled by K4Connect’s enterprise operating system, FusionOS, UMC will receive comprehensive backend data reporting and analytics that drive operational efficiencies and cost savings, and provide valuable resident behavior insights.

“United Methodist Communities has provided premium care to New Jersey residents for over a century. We’re thrilled to join as their technology partner, continuing this legacy of service through innovative solutions designed to enhance the lives of their residents and associates,” said F. Scott Moody, Co-founder, CEO, and Chief Member Advocate of K4Connect. “This expansion into New Jersey is also an exciting milestone for K4Connect. We look forward to working with United Methodist Communities to continue to evolve our partnership and how we can best serve their communities.”

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K4Connect currently serves more than 15,000 residents at over 75 premier retirement and care communities across the nation. To learn more about K4Connect and its current and future technologies, please visit http://www.k4connect.com

Senior-focused innovators join forces to bring cutting-edge technology solutions to the rapidly expanding aging population, ultimately empowering them to live simpler, healthier and happier lives.

CHICAGO and RALEIGH, N.C., June 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ —K4Connect, a purpose-driven technology company that creates solutions that serve and empower older adults and those living with a disability, today announced a strategic partnership with the Ziegler Link•Age Fund II, LP (the “Fund”). Through this partnership, K4Connect joins a roster of emerging portfolio companies specializing in technology products and services specifically designed to support the aging and post-acute care market. 

K4Connect is the leading provider of enterprise connected-life technologies for senior living communities, currently serving more than 15,000 residents at over 75 premiere retirement and care communities across the nation. The Fund’s partnership comes during a period of significant growth for K4Connect as the company looks to continue to advance its product leadership, accelerate new partner integrations and further expand its customer base.

The Fund is a limited partnership that seeks to invest in companies who are improving aging and post-acute services in the United States and around the world. The Fund seeks to invest in growth companies who are able to dramatically improve the healthcare IT or healthcare services landscape for our aging population. The Fund’s Limited Partners include many the most innovative and progressive senior living providers, healthcare systems and strategic service providers in the United States, Canada and Australia. 

“K4Connect is a particularly exciting partnership for the Ziegler Link•Age Fund. Their approach to advancing the senior living industry is anchored in deep technology expertise, while maintaining a constant pulse on the needs of the residents and communities they support. We’re thrilled to add them to our specialized portfolio of companies that are dedicated to providing innovative solutions for this population that has historically been severely underserved by technology,” said Chief Investment Officer of the Ziegler Link•Age Fund, John Hopper.

The aging population is experiencing unprecedented growth and this expansion is quickly revealing shortcomings in support, care, and resources traditionally available to this demographic. The world-wide 65+ population is set to double to over 2.5 billion people by 2050, but affordable senior housing availability is at risk and caregiver shortages are a growing challenge. At the same time, older adults are starting to adopt advanced technology like never before. K4Connect is bridging this gap through comprehensive, scalable technologies specifically designed to improve the lives of older adults, ultimately empowering them to live simpler, healthier and happier lives.

K4Community, K4Connect’s flagship solution specifically designed for senior living communities, is an enterprise end-to-end solution that integrates the latest in smart home automation, connected health and wellness products, as well as social engagement services for senior living communities. With K4Community, senior living staff see returns on productivity with a streamlined dashboard tool, while residents are empowered to live more independently through tech-enabled environments – including voice-activated features through a custom Amazon Alexa integration. K4Community is built upon K4Connect’s patented operating system, FusionOS, an advanced multi-modal edge-cloud architecture and the only of its kind in the senior living industry.

“We share a mission to serve like K4Connect, with a focus on serving older adults, a population that has long been underserved by technology,” said, Ziegler President & CEO and Head of Investment Banking, Dan Hermann. “K4Connect has developed a sophisticated solution that meets the needs of seniors today, while establishing technology infrastructure that will support generations to come.”

K4Connect was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Raleigh, N.C. The company recently announced a Series B financing round led by the second largest insurance firm in the world, AXA Venture Partners, bringing the total funding raised to more than $27 million.

“This support from the Ziegler Link•Age Fund is an exciting step forward for us, during what has already been a fantastic year of growth for K4Connect,” said K4Connect CEO, Co-Founder and Chief Member Advocate, F. Scott Moody. “We’re honored to add the Ziegler Link•Age Fund to our unique bench of investors who value our mission of providing technology that encourages simpler, healthier and happier lives for those we serve.”

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To learn more about K4Connect and its current and future technologies, please visit www.k4connect.com