BANGING on the wall to get a neighbour to turn their stereo down is set to become a thing of the past – at least in one corner of Edinburgh.
Scotland's first residential intranet system has been introduced at the massive Quartermile development, allowing residents to log problems.
Other features will include links to order fresh bread from a local bakery, arrange laundry collections
and a real-time bus tracker.
And residents will one day be able to leave messages for neighbours, chat with them on a community forum, or post notes to everyone in their block.
Intranet systems – standard at large firms – are already popular at new blocks of flats in London.
Richard Fischer, new business director at Vicinitee, the London-based firm that set up the technology for Quartermile developer Gladedale Capital, said: "This is the beginning of the tools at Quartermile.
"As more residents move in and demand grows, more services can come. It is encouraging communication. I live in a tenement block and I have spoken to my neighbours twice in eight years. You have a tendency to go to work, come back at different times and pass neighbours by like ships in the night. This facility is there to enhance the community."
He said that the firm can provide message boards and forums that allow residents to talk with each other and air any problems.
An early version of the site has been launched for the first residents to move into Quartermile, on the old Royal Infirmary site.
It can be used as a "home page" for all internet users, and provides information such as travel and news, what's on, shops and services and customer care.
It also allows users to communicate with the estate's concierge service, and log problems such as faulty facilities.
The city information, designed for people coming in from outside Edinburgh, features a list of all cafes, bars and restaurants within 1… miles of the site.
Ken Aitken, Quartermile's estates director, said: "It is a system designed to help the resident. It also allows us to put up news items so that we can inform residents about such things as a window cleaner being onsite on Monday afternoon."
He added that the site could be developed and expanded further. "It is early days yet and we will have to wait and see how useful it is to residents," said Mr Aitken. "It is an added tool for the site and an added attraction. It is a fairly new idea and we are confident that people will find it very useful."
