Palace Property Management turns SMS into a core feature for property managers

For Palace Property Management, SMS was not just another add-on feature. It solved one of the most persistent problems in property management: getting tenants to respond quickly and keeping a reliable record of those interactions. 

Palace provides property management software to thousands of realtors across Australia and New Zealand, supporting more than 1,000 small and medium real estate businesses managing over 150,000 properties. In a market where software platforms compete on practical value, communication is a critical part of the offering. Property managers need fast ways to chase late rent, confirm inspections, follow up with tenants and maintain clear records of every interaction. Palace found that phone calls and email often fell short, while SMS consistently got better responses. 

That made Sinch Engage (formerly MessageMedia) a strong fit. Palace integrated SMS directly into its platform so messages could be sent from the system and recorded against each tenant, with replies captured there as well. For property managers handling hundreds or even thousands of tenants and tradespeople, that created a far more practical and dependable communication workflow than relying on personal devices.

Michael Abbott says SMS quickly proved to be one of the most effective and popular ways Palace clients communicate with tenants. The biggest difference was responsiveness. While tenants might ignore calls or let emails sit unanswered, text messages were much more likely to be seen straight away. That made SMS especially useful for rent reminders, inspection alerts and other messages that needed a timely response. 

The integration also added an important layer of recordkeeping. Because texts and replies were stored inside Palace, property managers had a stronger communication history to rely on if disputes arose or if staff changed over time. Abbott noted this was particularly important in tribunal matters, where a clear record of communications could help protect the realtor, property manager or owner. SMS also helped support accessibility for some tenants, including those for whom written communication is easier than phone calls. 

For Palace, the value of Sinch Engage went beyond day-to-day tenant messaging. SMS became a core part of the software suite and an important selling point because of its speed, reliability and functionality. Abbott even used the feature during product demos, sending live texts from the system in seconds to show prospective customers how it worked in practice. 

Over time, SMS became less of a nice-to-have and more of a default expectation in property management software. Palace says it has been one of the most heavily used functions on the platform and has played an important part in the company’s 30% year-over-year growth.