How can we set up a Meeting Room Booking system?
- Blog
- September 27, 2023
Meeting rooms are one of the most important spaces in an office, where major discussions, decision-making, and brainstorming occur. Even in the hybrid work system, the main reason people return to the office is to attend meetings. Workplaces are evolving, and to increase the productivity and efficiency of employees, the meeting room booking system has become increasingly popular. In this article, let’s learn more about the meeting room booking system.
What is a Meeting Room Booking System?
Imagine how it would feel to convene your employees at a specific time for a meeting, only to find out that the meeting room you’ve booked is filled with people because the previous meeting is running over. It is a frustrating situation because your meeting attendees will have other scheduled commitments to attend to, and it is a hassle to arrange the meeting all over again. This is where the importance of a meeting room booking system comes into play. A meeting room booking system is a tool where you can reserve meeting rooms effortlessly. It can simplify the process of booking a room and avoid overlaps with other bookings. This centralized booking tool facilitates an efficient workplace with productive employees.
Benefits of Meeting Room Booking System
A meeting room booking system offers a lot of benefits beyond simply simplifying the reservation process. Here are some of the ways in which a meeting room booking system can benefit your organization and employees.
Ease of Booking
With an automated room booking system, your employees can view which rooms are available for the date that they want to hold a meeting. Mobile apps can help you search for rooms and do your bookings on the go. It also makes you feel at ease, knowing that you have a room reserved and don’t have to spend a lot of time searching for a meeting room. Whether it’s a sales meeting, training session, brainstorming session, or any other purpose, you can make use of room scheduling software to reserve a room ahead of time. Meetings can also be rescheduled or cancelled depending on the availability of the attendees, and the room status automatically updated.
Optimum Utilization
Often, scheduled meetings can get canceled at the last minute. This could be due to several reasons, but it means that the meeting room will remain unoccupied for the reserved time, and no one can make use of it. With a meeting room booking system, reminders can be sent to the attendees so that they don’t forget about the meeting. In case a meeting gets cancelled, or the space is no longer required, the room will be shown as available for others, allowing another group of people to use it. Real time occupancy tracking can also be setup using IoT sensors to facilitate automatic check-in or to monitor whether the booking is being availed.
Timely Notifications
Another advantage of a room scheduling software is to inform people about the meeting’s location and time. This ensures that all your meeting attendees are notified of the meeting, allowing them to arrive on time. Additionally, when meetings are rescheduled or cancelled the invitees will be automatically notified. Notifications can be by email or text messages or popups.
Usage Analytics
A meeting room booking system allows facility managers to understand how spaces are utilized. The system provides them with insights into the scheduling data , such as which rooms are more popular, why some rooms are less booked, whether small meetings are held in large spaces, and so on. With this data, managers can make informed decisions on how to efficiently manage spaces within the office.
Increased Efficiency
To ensure that meeting rooms are efficiently utilized, your organization can establish certain rules that define advance booking period, check-in windows, maximum duration for bookings, etc. Restricting or facilitating selection of rooms based on the purpose of the meeting and number of attendees can ensure optimum utilization. You can also setup rules to enforce that multiple bookings are not done for the same person at the same time. Approvals for booking requests can also be mandated for specific rooms where this is required. All these can result in a very efficient and automated management of your schedulable spaces.
How to Set Up a Meeting Room Booking System?
A meeting room booking system can help your organization efficiently manage its spaces, ensuring time savings and reduced conflicts. Here are some steps you need to follow:
Understand Your Needs: Determining your organization’s needs is the first step in setting up a meeting room. Consider factors such as the number of rooms, their sizes, required resources, and the scheduling policies that people must follow when booking the rooms.
Choose a Meeting Room Booking System: Meeting room booking systems range from simple to complex. Before selecting a system, take into account your organization’s needs, budget, ease of use, customization options, and integration capabilities to implement the right software.
User Training: After finalizing the system, you need to train the users to use it effectively. This may require group or individual training sessions and communication of scheduling policies to ensure a smooth and productive utilization of the system.
Monitor Usage: It is important to monitor the system’s usage once it has been implemented. Tracking usage data and requesting feedback from users can help you analyze how the system is being utilized and identify any necessary improvements.
What Can a Meeting Room Booking Software Do?
- Employees can sign into the room scheduling software through desktop or mobile to check or confirm the availability of a meeting room.
- You can effortlessly book a room if one is available without having to rely on administrative staff.
- Sending invites to all your meeting attendees can be done through this software, mentioning the purpose of the meeting and the venue of the meeting.
- You can communicate any prerequisites that attendees must follow, such as wearing a face mask, etc.
- The system can automatically cancel the booking if it is not checked in within a stipulated time, freeing up the room for others to use.
- In case the meeting needs to be rescheduled, you can choose a new date, new time, and a new room when rescheduling the meeting. Using room scheduling software, you can also request any amenities required for the meeting, such as notepads, white boards, projectors, etc.
Why Choose VLogic’s Room Scheduling Software?
VLogic Systems’ Room Scheduling Software is a centralized, simple, and easy-to-use software that enables streamlined room booking from desktop or mobile device at anytime from anywhere. Since the software is located in the cloud, users can access and check the availability of meeting rooms anytime. Any scheduled or canceled meetings are reflected in the system in real-time to avoid any confusion. Users can also select rooms based on the amenities available in the room like projector, video-conferencing equipment, etc. The granular access control functionality of the software enables managers to restrict the reservation of certain rooms. While booking the room, the user will be able to see its actual location in the as-built floor plan drawing. This can be made accessible to the invitees also. By streamlining the booking process, VLogicFM’s room scheduling software ensures effective utilization of space, resulting in a more productive and efficient workspace.
