How busy Epping Forest District Council relies on Rendezvous room and desk booking software

Epping Forest District Council Trusts Rendezvous Room and Desk Booking Software

Busy Epping Forest District Council serves over 130,000 local people – and when it decided to streamline room and desk booking in council buildings, it turned to Rendezvous Workspace technology from NFS.

The leading workspace management system now makes both room and hot desk booking effortless, and has helped the Essex council in its efforts to support its hybrid workforce.

Council staff can now book the internal or external-facing meeting space they need in a few clicks of the Rendezvous app on their mobile, or pre-select their hot desk for visits into the offices.

As a result, workspace utilisation has been enhanced, and council staff have been relieved of unnecessary organisational admin.

David Balding, Head of Facilities for Epping Forest District Council, said: “Rendezvous has enabled us to bring the booking and management of space into a single platform. We were previously using Outlook and other tools to do this with mixed  results and no real management information.

“We now have important information like space utilisation data and our staff have the tools to book space. This was particularly important in the return to the office strategy, as it supports our safe and structured return to the office plan.”

As part of the project, the council chose cutting-edge ONELAN meeting room panels to integrate with the Rendezvous meeting room booking software.

The integration means they can manage check in and out of meetings quickly using the room panels, which also display key information such as upcoming meetings.

David Balding said: “User acceptance of our new booking platform has been very positive and we see great value in the integration between the booking system and the digital signage platform deployed, Reserva from ONELAN.

“This integrated approach to workplace management supports an important aspect of our digital transformation plans for the council.”

Rendezvous does more than manage meeting rooms and desks – it also helps staff make their meetings perfect by organising aspects such as car parking and meeting catering.

The council also uses the Rendezvous self-service interface, so when someone makes a booking it automatically generates an appointment in their Outlook calendar. They can then manage their bookings directly through Outlook if they want to.

Even use of the impressive council chamber has been streamlined. Users familiar with Exchange can book it directly through Outlook, but they can also use a plug in, where they can additionally order services such as hospitality.

The new system was put to one of the biggest tests during this year’s local elections – at this busiest of times, Rendezvous proved invaluable in helping staff book space in a jiffy.

NFS CEO Luis DeSouza comments, «  We work with many local government organisations, so I am delighted that Epping are really gaining valuable efficiency benefits as a result of our technology. It is also clear that the Rendezvous mobile app will be a great tool to support staff returning to the office, offering convenience, flexibility and safety, all invaluable facets of any new workplace strategy. Our range of integrations, like with Reserva panels also complement perfectly a digital transformation initiative”.

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