The modern office has evolved to include not only open workspaces and flexible work policies, but also technology solutions that integrate with facilities and provide personalization for employees. For conference room scheduling software, it is imperative that a modern organization connects their employees with their software through mobile access, touch displays, digital signage and more. Using tablets like the Apple iPad or Microsoft Surface or kiosks to display information from your conference room scheduling software will provide greater ease-of-use to your employees and help improve your business operations.
Since COVID-19 forced many employees out of the office, organizations have been under pressure to adapt to modern technology solutions that work alongside their existing systems to upgrade their work environments. These technologies create a more digital, efficient workspace, but also address employees’ safety concerns.
For example, using tablets or kiosk displays outside meeting and conference rooms to allow for space booking or quick-view information provides a more connected experience for employees. These tablets and displays allow employees to see what rooms are available, release rooms that are no longer being used, schedule future meetings and resources, and provide up-to-date statuses of space utilization.
Tablets and displays outside conference rooms also help keep your employees safe by using push notifications and on-screen alerts that show when rooms are being cleaned and sanitized or if a room is closed due to contamination. They also facilitate social distancing policies with limits to number of seats or space occupants at one time.
The Benefits of Conference Room Scheduling Software Displays
On-location touchscreen kiosks or digital tablet displays help your employees work more efficiently and provide a personalized employee experience. Placing these displays outside bookable rooms makes it easier for users to check-in to rooms and book open spaces. Tablets in and outside of these spaces also provide real-time insight into which rooms are in use and by whom, as well as providing an access point for both employees and visitors to find information about upcoming bookings.
The major benefits of using a tablet display to share information from your conference room scheduling solution are:
- Anytime, anywhere meeting scheduling
- More productive and efficient meetings
- Managed real estate and space utilization
- Desk hoteling and desk booking software capabilities
- Robust reporting and analytics
Anytime, Anywhere Meeting Scheduling
Making your conference room management software accessible from anywhere is critical for a seamless employee experience. By using a room scheduling solution that is accessible via the web, desktop, mobile, tablet, kiosks and room signs, you ensure that meeting room information is available at any time, for any type of user. This kind of efficiency creates a ripple effect in the workplace, enabling better productivity and simplifying workflows.
Productive & Efficient Meetings
The death of any meeting is scheduling errors. When you're trying to maintain a productive atmosphere and encourage collaboration, it is important to physically or digitally have all your stakeholders in a room. Making this process easy is critical to promoting a productive atmosphere. With room scheduling solutions that are easily available across mobile devices and tablets, you ensure that every employee can access their calendar and booking options whenever they need. Digital signage outside these bookable spaces allow for easy check-ins and room releases, if meetings are cancelled or moved.
Managed Real Estate & Space Utilization
Especially with the newer focus on flexible workplaces and hybrid workforces, organizations are trying to better manage their real estate costs and make better use of their square footage. Conference room scheduling software gives real-time insights into space utilization metrics, helping inform budgets, streamline scheduling and increase real estate ROI. With tablet or kiosk displays, you can track room usage and establish patterns of behavior to better inform your space utilization strategy.
Desk Hoteling & Booking Capabilities
As COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the way we work and operate in an office setting, desk hoteling has risen in popularity. Desk or space hoteling allows employees to reserve unassigned seating areas in advance, instead of having dedicated desks for every employee. This concept allows for better employee safety, by providing private, clean spaces for them to work in. With a room scheduling solution, employees can book these areas anytime, anywhere, and can check-in or release rooms from their mobile phones, tablet, or kiosk displays outside rooms and seating areas.
Robust Reporting and Analytics
With real-time reporting, a conference room scheduling solution can provide information on:
- What spaces have been used and when
- Who booked and used the space and for how long
- How often these spaces are being booked and what rooms are empty more than full
- When spaces were last cleaned, and which ones need sanitization
All of these data points help you get a clearer picture of your office space utilization. With on-screen displays on tablets or kiosks outside rooms, you can use reporting features to show if a room is ready to use, in use, or scheduling for cleaning, allowing employees better visibility into whether or not they should use a particular room.
What Features Should You Look for in Conference Room Scheduling Software Displays?
The most important function your conference room scheduling solution should serve is making your employees lives easier. With the new shift to flexible and hybrid working, plus COVID-19 safety measures, room and space booking now, more than ever, needs to be accessible and functional for any and every employee. Some of the critical features you need for your scheduling solution on display tablets are:
- Friction-free communication
- Room and resource filters
- Contact tracing capabilities
- Hardware, software and IoT integrations
Friction-Free Communication
Scheduling meetings and workspaces across devices, tools and departments is critical for your scheduling solution. A comprehensive solution should not only facilitate communication about bookings from anywhere, but also on any device, including tablet and kiosk displays.
Room & Resource Filters
When employees are booking rooms, they need to be able to see all applicable room details and resource options to book the right space for their meeting. The size of the room, seats available, available A/V and other technology resources, catering options and plenty of other details need to be laid out for users to easily select. With a scheduling tool available on displays and kiosks outside rooms, employees can book, cancel and move meetings directly from the display, allowing for more flexible booking options.
Contact Tracing Capabilities
A quality comprehensive conference room scheduling solution will provide options for sanitization and social distancing as well as contact tracing. If an employee test positive for COVID-19, your scheduling solution should be able to show you which rooms that employee used and when, and when it was last cleaned. It should also be able to show other employees when that space is once again available to use. Digital signage outside these rooms can show employees all relevant details and prevent spaces from being booked if they've been contaminated. This capability can also inform other employees who may have used the room around the same time as the infected employee, so they know their risk and can take control of their health.
Hardware, Software & IoT Integrations
A comprehensive scheduling solution needs to integrate with the hardware, software and IoT sensors your team interacts with every day. Conference room scheduling software should be available on all devices and needs to integrate with other tools your employees use, like Outlook, to provide up-to-date bookings and reservations across all systems.
Additionally, many building and workspaces are shifting to more IoT technology, like sensors and triggered workflows. For example, you should be able to connect your room booking solution with room sensors for HVAC, so that the HVAC systems only run when meetings are taking place. This cuts costs for your organization, saves energy and is better for the environment, and allows for a more personalized booking experience.
EMS Provides a Safe & Easily Integrated Solution for Meeting & Conference Room Booking
Accruent's EMS Conference Room Booking Software makes it easy for your employees and visitors to find their ideal place to work, collaborate and meet. Whether your employees need to book conference rooms, desks or huddle spaces, EMS offers a centralized solution that helps your organization cut costs and create a flexible, activity-based workplace.
EMS Integrates with many of the hardware and software systems your employees use every day through partner solutions and API. EMS integrates with:
- Digital signage technologies
- Popular tablet models, including iPad and Microsoft Surface
- Touchscreen kiosks & desk signs
- Occupancy sensors & IoT technology
- Microsoft Exchange / Outlook Conference Room Management
- Video conferencing systems, including Zoom and Microsoft Teams
- Skype for Business
- Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS)
- Facilities management systems
- Building automation systems / HVAC systems
MS Provides Data Safety and Security to Protect Your Organization
For our Cloud Services for EMS, we require our hosting providers to have ISO27001/ ISO27017/ISO27018/ISO27701 certification and be audited to SSAE 16/ISAE 3402 Type II, SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3. Data is backed up every 15 minutes and is segmented from other customers’ data. EMS encrypts Data-in-Transit (using HTTPS) and Data-at- Rest using AES 256-bit encryption. The EMS Cloud Services team monitors the software and hardware systems continuously for any potential risks or threats.
EMS also provides the governance, policies and procedures that maintain adequate capacity and quickly resolve operational issues. Governance covers all incident and release management issues, as well as proactive monitoring, reporting, and capacity planning. EMS offers Disaster Recovery (DR), and a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) through redundancies for servers, hardware, SQL databases, power, Internet connections, and HVAC systems.
Get Started with EMS Conference Room Booking Software Today
Looking for a conference room scheduling software solution to display on tablets and kiosks? EMS has you covered.
Watch our demos to see how EMS can help you maintain a more connected, flexible workspace.
Contact us today to get started on moving your organization to EMS.
