One of the team’s first and most transformative rollouts was Amazon’s Alexa. With voice-activated Alexa speakers installed in residents’ rooms and in common areas, residents can simply call out to ask a care team member for help. In the past, such a request would be phoned into the front desk, routed to the care team center, then forwarded to an individual caregiver, who’d respond in person. “That’s a lot of steps,” MacRae explains.

With the Alexa units in place, requests are sent directly to a care team member’s cell phone. But the real coup was integrating the Alexa units with technologies already used by other parts of the organization. Now, thanks to MacRae and company—and countless conversations with tech providers—residents can use voice commands to access information previously siloed in various departments’ systems. For instance, a common request by residents was for an online calendar of meal options. First, MacRae worked with the company that created the Masonic Homes’ digital activities calendar to develop a menu calendar. He then integrated the new calendar with the Alexa units, so residents could hear what was for dinner that night or see it displayed on their TV screen. For all that behind-the-scenes work, the end result is straightforward and effective: “Alexa, what’s for dinner tonight?”

Alexa was also integrated into the system used by the maintenance team, so residents can submit a work order by voice, whether in their own apartment or in common areas like hallways. Saying “Alexa, there’s a light out” creates a digital ticket that’s sent to the maintenance team instantly. “Innovation isn’t only about creating something that no one else has thought of,” Smith says. “It’s about taking an idea and giving it new life in a completely different field.” The ultimate system is easy to use and easy to support—MacRae’s goals for every new piece of technology. “I love looking at complicated things and making them simple,” he says. “To me, it’s like an art form.”