The complete hot desk booking software for today's agile workforce
How can agile working impact real estate costs?
One of the key drivers towards lowering real estate costs is the effective management of hot desk or hoteling space. For example, by just increasing desk ratios from a 1 to 1 desk allocation policy to desk sharing, significant cost savings can be achieved.
Don’t just take our word for it. Check out our ROI calculator to see how Rendezvous could offer tangible real estate savings for you.
Without a robust agile workplace software solution, it is almost impossible to judge how well, or not, your desk space is being utilized. Rendezvous agile workplace software takes away the guesswork as you can see clearly when the desks are being used and with our real-time sensor technology you can pin-point exactly from end to end exactly which desks are being occupied. Armed with this information from the agile workplace software you can begin to make informed and data-driven decisions with regards to the agile workplace. You can see at a glance how space is being utilized both in real-time and build up a historical picture of desk usage.
Once our clients begin to use Rendezvous they begin to enjoy an immediate ROI. Where they once anecdotally believed they had, for example, 50% desk occupancy they may be surprised to find that they have only 40% desk occupancy. By taking the necessary corrective action and increasing their space utilization by only 10% they may find themselves saving tens of thousands of dollars per year across their agile workplace.
What can agile working do for your staff’s productivity?
To make desk sharing a reality, staff need to able to view space availability and book space easily, both around key activities and the location of colleagues.
Offering agile working is now essential for companies looking to attract top talent. Today’s workers want to feel trusted that they can get on with the work coupled with a desire to choose their own workspace on their own schedule often working alongside members of other teams. Watch our video to see how this has worked in practice using our agile workplace software for international research firm, IDC, as their differing teams now get the opportunity to cross-pollinate ideas thanks to agile workplace booking software.
Agile workplace software, from mobile apps to desk sensors and digital signage deliver the greatest levels of staff productivity.
Discover how the Rendezvous solution with mobile apps works in practice
Check out the infographics and videos below to find out how easy it is to book a desk using our mobile app or plan even the busiest day in the office using our QuickBook solution.
Agile working can be implemented in many ways, from a simple desk sharing model, to mandated desk booking with social distancing and sanitization automatically supported. An increasing trend in the service sector is the concept of Reverse Hoteling, where staff with assigned desks can easily release the space to colleagues in a group, thereby making the best use of space. Technology is now a key element in planning a productive day in the office.
Change can be scary. Luckily, our recent agile technology white paper is packed with actionable information about how you can best implement an agile working booking solution and what the key components are required to make it a reality based around your needs.
Some questions you may need to ask yourself are
How many desks need to be managed?
What element of the desk population needs to book in advance?
Is there any space left for simple “touch down” that doesn’t need booking?
Does desk check in/out need to be mandated?
What’s your approach to mandating check in/out?
Is it an option to scan a QR code on a desk?
Do staff need to use access cards to check into desk space?
What are the timeslots for desk booking; hourly, half day, full day?
What happens if someone doesn’t show up for part or all of the time?
These are just some of the questions to consider. Before you begin you may want to consider getting other departments such as HR involved and, indeed, the staff themselves. Find out if they would prefer a more open plan approach, whether they need huddle spaces or more private areas for work. You may find that different teams have different needs – marketing may prefer a more collaborative environment whereas accounts or legal may prefer a more discreet setting. Once you have done this kind of scoping exercise then it is easier to implement agile working and achieve optimum productivity for your staff as you will have designed it around their needs.
Let us help you – download the white paper today to get a checklist of items you need to embark on this journey.
- Hot Desk Booking
- Check-In/Out
- The Open Desking Model
- Reverse Hoteling
- Booking a Meeting Room
- Utilization Data
The Rendezvous agile workplace booking software offers a highly visual solution to desk booking, including floorplan booking and full integration with desk sensor technology. With social distancing in place, floorplan booking has really come into its own – both as a handy way to book a desk as well providing a visual representation of a safe place to work. What’s more we have built-in cleaning time so your staff can rest assured that they are safe.
We believe in flexibility so we offer a number of different ways for you and your staff to book desks. From the native mobile app to QuickBook to our sensor technology, which utilizes an easy to use real-time floorplan, they all have one common aim – to save you time. Our agile workplace software solutions are so easy to use and with full integration to Outlook they save your staff time having to remember their bookings – it’s all there ready for them on their calendar.
Make sure that your real estate is fully utilized. No shows cost money and cause frustration. Release unoccupied desks automatically so that those staff who really need the desk can get to use it.
Whether you want to use a desktop, a mobile device or Outlook we have a solution for you with full integration to Office 365 and Exchange. Additional vended services can be easily added to a booking.
We have designed the agile workplace booking software solution to fit around your needs. Desks can be auto-released at a time specified by you and time for cleaning of desks can built in to desk bookings. Catering and facilities staff can be notified via Outlook or app.
See at a glance, and accurately, how many desks are occupied and where there is availability on our easy to understand and highly graphical digital signage.
Get the best return on your hardware investment. Our partnerships with leading panel providers and our flexible API mean that there is a solution built for you with integration to QR readers and RFID check in/out.
Check-In/Out
To ensure desks and other workspaces are well utilized, many companies mandate a check-in/out process. NFS support two different approaches, using QR code scanning (a low cost option) which is scanned on arrival and departure, or an RFID based messaging panel (Embrava), which can be used to display name and booking status as well as important information, for example, a desk may be out of service or be blocked for cleaning.
Users can see at a glance whether a desk is available or in the process of being cleaned or has been blocked out of the desking pool for social distancing reasons
With social distancing still being important for the foreseeable future, the agile workplace management software solution enables facilities managers full control of which desks are blocked and which are free
For the utmost safety and efficient desk turnaround the cleaning teams are notified immediately once a person has finished at their desk so it can be thoroughly sanitized for the next person
We believe in efficiency. No more having to remember key pad codes or carry multiple cards or use multiple apps – use one card which gets you access to the building and to your desk.
See in action how IDC are using Rendezvous agile booking software to improve space utilization and foster collaboration
One of the biggest challenges in desk management is how space is used in practice. Many companies operate a first come first served policy for at least some workspace types, combining presence sensing with digital signage, so staff arrive at the facility and use digital signage to locate a free desk. Rendezvous sensing technology also integrate with Way Finding solutions, enabling staff to easily locate a space in a large floorplan or locate a space near a colleague.
Utilizing the Rendezvous sensor technology enables you see at a glance not only your current desk and room occupancy using digital signage but also to build up a cumulative picture of space usage over time. Clients using the agile workplace software benefit from fast user adoption and a wealth of data they can use to make informed decisions about future real estate configuration and acquisitions. Clients using the agile workplace software have reported cost savings running into millions – for example a major professional services firm in London merged their two London offices to realize a £13 million saving using sensor technology data.
In fact, it couldn’t be simpler to use – the staff member views the available space on a live availability floor map, selects their space, walks up to the space and settles in. The sensor detects their presence and checks them in and out.
As a real estate manager you can easily see on the dashboard how many desks and meeting rooms are occupied as well as staff who can easily spot a free desk or huddle space. As soon as a desk is vacated it becomes available on the screen.
Typically an agile worker can waste up to thirty minutes a day just looking for a quiet or collaborative space to work. With the sensor technology they can see in seconds what is available even across many floors.
Real-time and historical data is collected and stored automatically and as it is based on real usage it could not be any more accurate. Dispense with manual surveys and get all the data you need at the touch of a button.
A typical implementation of the sensor technology can be done in a matter of three days from the discreet positioning of the sensors under desks to the setting up of the dashboards – data collection begins from day one of go live.
Increase desk ratios and reduce desk surpluses. With a wealth of data at your fingertips you can see clearly how the space is being utilized and where there is spare capacity and opportunities for rationalization.
Here is a typical user journey
A person's presence can be detected and monitored with desk sensors
Person arrives, selects a desk and is automatically checked in
Available desks and huddle spaces are clearly shown on digital signage
Accurate reporting of space utilizationReverse Hoteling
The ability to easily release desk space for a colleague or group to use, when not in the office significantly increases space utilisation. This can now be done efficiently using the Rendezvous Reverse Hoteling Module, an easy to use desk management feature, designed with service businesses in mind.
Here is how this feature works and the key benefits:
The powerful MyDesk feature in our QuickBook app now gives you full power over how your desk is allocated. For example, when you are on vacation you can release your desk into desk inventory.
Designed to maximize space utilization and provide complete flexibility, and it’s a proven solution for managing your estate of hot desks.
Our reverse hoteling feature is available in both our intuitive desktop web application and our QuickBook mobile app. The solution is very flexible to configure with options to create booking groups.
Get in touch today to find out how we help you get the maximum return on your real estate – we have a full range of solutions for hoteling, space utilization and measurement.
Using the web app it’s a simple process to make a desk available with an easy drop down to replicate the process across multiple desks.
The spaces are easily managed through the desktop web application or the mobile app. Its integration with Outlook makes it even better to send booking reminders and cancel notifications.
Booking a Meeting Room and Services
For staff visiting the office to collaborate on projects, resources like meeting rooms and services will need to be booked. This could potentially be a long-winded process and with meeting room space often a much sought-after commodity it pays to get in first.
With Rendezvous agile workplace management software, this can all be done as part of a single booking experience using the self service, mobile ready booking app, QuickBook Factsheet.
QuickBook has been designed specifically for your agile workforce who just want a minimum of fuss in booking a room. This agile workplace software is also ideal for secretaries and personal assistants who need to book a succession of meeting rooms. QuickBook takes what used to be a 30-minute process and reduces it to a five minute one – ideal for workers on the move and a great time saver for the admin team.
With its seamless integration to Outlook all attendees are instantly aware of the room booking via email and catering and facilities teams get email confirmation of the vended services required. Set up and break down times are also built in as standard ensuring a professionally run meeting. Any cancellations are also notified by email – minimizing food waste as well as keeping attendees in the loop.
We believe in flexibility so no compromise in functionality whether you use a phone, a tablet or a desktop. You get to enjoy all the same great features – the choice of device is up to you.
It’s still the number one office productivity suite. QuickBook saves time – all bookings made in Rendezvous go straight in the attendees’ Outlook calendar. Any changes to the meeting are updated in the calendar and emailed to attendees
Simply add any catering requests or equipment requirements easily with a few swipes on the touchscreen. Requests are emailed straight through to the relevant teams. If you operate a chargeback system then vended services are immediately posted to the correct cost centre.
In this day and age no one wants the inconvenience of installing software on a device by device basis – particularly if you have an agile team who rarely visit the office. A few clicks and the team are good to go.
Utilization Data /Analytics
One of key drivers for better utilization and space planning is having access to real time data on how and where space is used. With Rendezvous desk booking, you have all the information you need to make important decisions on desk management, ideal if you need to review desk ratios, better understand why space is booked and not used or simply to fully understand the profile of utilization at different times of the day to inform future booking policies and drive continuous improvement.
Rendezvous Dashboards provide real time information on a range of occupancy metrics, as well as important information on most and least used workspaces. Our Analytics dashboards, with live and historical desk utilization information on desks, using Rendezvous sensor technology, deliver invaluable operational and future planning information.
The NFS presence sensing technology provides real time and historical information on how space is used, in a highly granular format, helping the FM to make critical decisions like, what areas of the floor to use and how space can be reconfigured.
Today, meeting room occupancy at the people count level is having a significant impact on actual space utilisation and real estate costs. This graphical information, can be used to inform critical decisions; how many large rooms are needed, which rooms can be removed from service, what costs can be saved by reducing room servicing?
What our customers say
”The Rendezvous room booking system has contributed to the journey the Trust has started in moving forward to a more agile working environment. Now that the Trust has started the agile working journey, it will look to consolidate and improve space utilisation while at the same time improving the working environment.”
Terry Murphy
Assistant Director of Property
Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust
”This new technology has increased our productivity at DLA Piper. NFS Rendezvous software is simple to use — once we got it set up it was easy to book meetings.”
Kevin Wertlieb
Senior Unified Communications Engineer
DLA Piper
”Rendezvous was the application of choice for room booking having been successfully used in the US for years. Since the initial global implementation, our scope has expanded and we’ve continued working with NFS to modernise a new building with panel technology and implement hot-desking. The commitment, flexibility and expertise of our consultant has allowed for seamless transitions and I look forward to seeing where this technology takes us in the future.”
Sharyn El Amir
Senior IS Project Manager
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner