A meeting room booking system is software that allows people and employees to book meeting rooms and track their use. This type of booking system is often used by businesses, schools, and other organizations and in flexible workspaces like popular hybrid workplaces. Meeting room booking systems can be web-based or installed on computers, kiosk screens, or as an app on your smartphone.
What do you want from your meeting room booking system?
When choosing a meeting room booking system, there are several factors you need to consider. The first is what you want the system to do for you. Do you need the meeting room booking system to book and manage meeting rooms for your entire organization? Or just for specific departments or teams?
You'll also need to decide if you want a web-based or an installed meeting room booking system. Web-based systems are often more affordable, but they can be less reliable and often have fewer features than installed meeting room booking systems. Installed systems require the software to be installed on computers or kiosks and meeting room booking panels in your office, and as we said before, they can be more expensive, but with that, you often get more nice features.
Room Booking 101 – How to start room booking successfully
Finally, think about how important mobility is to you. Meeting room booking systems come in both mobile and non-mobile versions. If you have a more hybrid workspace and your team and employees frequently meet off-site or need to book last-minute meeting rooms, you'll probably want a mobile version of your meeting room booking system that is also connected to your desk booking system.
Why do companies need meeting room booking systems for their meeting rooms, and what are their benefits?
Get some real-time data
In times like these, it's essential to ensure you're getting the most out of your meetings. You might have some employees working from home while others are at the office. Thanks to the power of real-time data, you can easily schedule the correct type of conference room based on how many employees are in the office and which also has a screen and speaker setup for the employees working out of the office.
Without real-time data, gathering data on what meetings are happening and when can be tricky. It can be hard to keep track of everything if you've got many locations spread over multiple buildings.
One way around this is to look at meeting room availability within your organization and then book those rooms based on demand. This approach might work well if you have a fixed schedule of meetings that doesn't change very often. However, if you're planning on having ad hoc meetings, you'll struggle to predict what might happen next, and having real-time data for your meeting room booking system is a must.
Managing conference rooms - creating success at your office
Having real-time data available makes it very useful to see meeting room occupancy across all the meeting and conference rooms. By monitoring the status of meeting rooms and upcoming meetings 24/7, employees can easily reserve rooms without worrying about ending up with double-booked office space.
Indoor maps to better locate the meeting room
What is a meeting room booking system without the ability to view an indoor map of the office space? The ability to accurately represent meeting room locations within a building is one of the most important features of a meeting room booking system. With more employees working remotely than before, the importance of having reliable information about the office space layout and where to find all the meetings and unused rooms is crucial.
Better coordination between employees
A well-planned meeting room booking system will help employees better coordinate when and where a specific meeting should occur. Knowing when certain coworkers in your team will be in the office will make the whole booking situation much more straightforward. Instead of hoping that the entire team will be in the office on the same day, a great meeting room booking system will let you pick a day and a specific meeting room based on when and where the meeting will occur.
What is a meeting room booking device?
Meeting room booking devices are hardware tools that allow employees to reserve meeting rooms through a visual interface. The devices are usually meeting room screens that also work as a room booking system installed outside every conference room. The meeting room booking display will work as a booking system, but it will also let you see the current meeting schedule and other essential meetings.
Having these devices installed outside of every conference room will allow for a much easier way for employees to reserve or cancel a room very quickly. The devices usually have a touchscreen interface that allows users to select the date, time, and duration of their meeting. Some of the more advanced meeting room booking devices also allow for integration with other office tools, such as calendaring software like google calendar or outlook.
Which is the best meeting room scheduling software?
To answer this question, you need to understand your needs and what type of office space you have.
Conference Room Booking – common problems and how to solve them
Maybe you already have a desk booking system and are now looking to add the possibility of adding a booking system that lets you also book a meeting room quickly. Having meeting room scheduling software is also a great way to keep track of all the meetings in your office.
Many different types of meeting room booking software are available, and each has its own set of features. Therefore, it's essential to find the right system for your needs and use it to its full potential. Here at Flowscape, we can help and guide you in the right direction. And make sure you find the best meeting room booking system for your business.
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