Everything your team needs to configure before the first maintenance request arrives. Complete these steps in order and you will be fully operational from day one.
Imagine it is your first Monday with Mawudu Wowomo. Your onboarding specialist has walked you through the platform. Now you are sitting at your desk ready to configure it for your portfolio. This checklist covers exactly what needs to happen — and in what order — so your setup is complete and correct.
Most property management companies with portfolios under fifty units complete the full setup in two to three hours. Larger portfolios with complex vendor networks may take a full day. Either way, the effort happens once. After that, the platform handles the coordination automatically.
Keep this checklist open as you work. Each item is self-contained and can be completed independently, though the recommended sequence below avoids needing to revisit earlier steps.
Before adding any properties, make sure your account structure is correct and your team has appropriate access.
The admin email receives all system-level notifications and has full access to all platform settings. Verify this is a monitored inbox, not a shared alias that might be ignored.
Mawudu Wowomo supports three roles: Admin, Manager, and View Only. Assign Manager access to the staff handling day-to-day dispatch. View Only is appropriate for bookkeeping or ownership contacts who need visibility without dispatch authority.
Configure what constitutes after-hours for your operation. Emergency tickets received after hours can be set to auto-dispatch immediately, or to send a notification to an on-call contact for manual review. This configuration affects how the system behaves when your office is closed.
The system ships with standard urgency definitions. Review them against your operational standards and adjust the descriptions to match your vocabulary. What you call an "emergency" and what the default defines as one should align before the first real ticket arrives.
Add your properties and configure unit-level details that appear on work orders.
Enter each property in your portfolio. The address feeds directly into vendor dispatch notifications, so accuracy matters. Use the address format that matches what vendors are familiar with for each location.
For multi-unit properties, enter each unit number. Tenants will select their unit when submitting a request, and work orders will reference the specific unit in all vendor communications and reports.
If vendors need a key code, gate access, or a specific parking location, enter those details at the property level. They will appear automatically on every dispatch notification for that property without anyone needing to remember to include them.
Each property can have one or more email addresses designated for monthly owner reports. Enter the property owner's email here. For properties managed under a company umbrella, you may enter a portfolio contact instead.
This phase is the most time-intensive part of setup. Accurate vendor configuration is what makes the dispatch system work correctly from the first ticket.
Add each vendor your company currently uses. Include their name, business name, phone, email, and preferred dispatch contact method. Vendors who prefer text dispatch should be flagged accordingly — the platform respects contact preferences.
For each vendor, select which trade categories they cover. A vendor who handles both plumbing and HVAC should be assigned to both. This drives the automatic routing logic.
For each trade category, designate your preferred primary vendor. Then assign at least one backup. When the primary is unavailable or unresponsive within your configured response window, the system routes to the backup automatically.
Verify that every trade category that can produce an emergency ticket has a vendor assigned to the emergency dispatch list. A gap here — an electrical emergency with no vendor configured — will create a problem on a Sunday night. Address this during setup, not during an actual emergency.
Configure how the platform communicates — both to your tenants and to your internal team.
The four tenant notification templates — request received, vendor assigned, work scheduled, and work complete — each have default copy. Review each one and adjust the language to match your company's communication tone. Tenants will see your company name in every notification.
Select email, SMS, or both for tenant notifications at each stage. Different stages can use different channels — for example, the initial confirmation by email, and the work scheduled notification by SMS. Configure based on what your tenant base responds to.
Once your properties and units are configured, activate the tenant portal. The platform generates a unique submission link per property that you include in your tenant welcome packet or lease documentation. Tenants do not need to create an account — they submit via the link and receive notifications at the contact information they provide.
Configure the day of the month and time at which owner reports are automatically generated and sent. The first day of the month is a common choice, but some managers prefer the fifth to allow final December completions to close properly.
A quick test run confirms every piece of the workflow before real tenants begin submitting requests.
Use a personal email address to submit a test maintenance request through the tenant portal. Attach a photo. Submit it. Confirm you receive the "request received" notification at the email address you provided.
Log in as a manager and view the test ticket. Confirm the urgency tier and trade category assigned are correct. Dispatch it to a vendor — ideally yourself or a team member to test the vendor notification. Confirm the dispatch notification arrives with all expected details.
From the vendor view, mark the test ticket as complete. Confirm the completion timestamp records correctly. Verify that the "work complete" notification arrives at the tenant email used during the test. Delete or archive the test ticket before going live.
Once your portal is active, your tenants need to know how to use it. A short announcement in your next tenant communication covers the basics: maintenance requests should now be submitted through the portal link, they will receive automatic updates at each stage, and the old phone-in process is no longer the primary channel.
Keep the portal link in multiple places: lease agreements, your welcome packet, a pinned notice in building common areas if applicable, and your company website. The more accessible the link, the faster tenants adopt the new process.
Most management companies see near-complete tenant adoption within two to three billing cycles. Tenants appreciate the visibility. The notification system delivers what most manual processes cannot — consistent communication without requiring anyone to remember to send it.
Include the portal link in a QR code printed for each unit. Tenants scan it once and have the link saved to their phone.
Frame the new system as a benefit to tenants: faster response, automatic updates, no more wondering if anyone received the message.
Our onboarding specialists walk through each phase with you, answer configuration questions, and make sure your vendor routing is correct before you go live.
