Complete Guide to Space Planning Software Terms
Room scheduling. Desk hoteling. Space utilization. Making the best use of your organization's real estate starts by understanding key space ...
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Anywhere, anytime meeting scheduling is a must in the modern office. See how digital signs and kiosks connect your employees and improve your operations.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
With real-time reporting, a conference room scheduling solution can provide information on:
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
Plenty of demand still exists for prime retail corridors, and given the spare supply outlook, the probability is high that the retail real estate market will remain tight throughout 2024.
Smaller neighborhood centers are gaining traction, but high inflation has raised the costs of materials and labor, resulting in greater insurance premiums and payouts. Nevertheless, people are starting to prefer a smaller, familiar, and personalized shopping experience.
Managing the full real estate lifecycle can be challenging and complex. Common issues like selecting new sites, managing lease scenarios, and extended project timelines can cost a business time and money.
Leveraging real estate site planning and market analysis are the beginning stages of the process flow. This is where you identify goals from a real estate strategy standpoint. Think about running a demographic and psychographic analysis to determine market preferences. Then you can tailor the space accordingly.
p>Consider developing a concise budget that includes all pre-opening expenses. Then, prioritize these expenses based on necessity and the potential ROI.
It doesn’t matter how smart you are when it comes to buying retail real estate, if you’re not taking care of it effectively.
A diversified CMMS (computerized maintenance management system) and a trusted service provider network help retailers navigate an increasingly competitive market.
When it comes to lease administration, features and functions tailored for multi-site retail include:
The retail real estate sector continues to evolve, as retail performance comes back to life after the pandemic. Store openings outpaced store closings in 2023, despite weaker retailers falling by the wayside.
Retail asset and lifecycle management software is evolving to ensure your organization can reduce costs and maximize the value of every square foot of your multii-site retail CRE portfolio.
Ready to unlock the full potential of your retail real estate and facilities management? Find out how in the full eBook, Maximizing Retail Success in 2024.
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