The Importance of Meeting Room Booking Software

Meeting room management is just one of the many disciplines under the Facilities Management umbrella. The effectiveness of meeting room management has a direct impact on the overall performance and financial standing of an organisation. From cost savings to service perception, it is important the meeting rooms, conference rooms and other publicly available spaces are managed efficiently. Understanding how a rooms and spaces are used and whether they are used effectively is a key to saving money by maximising spaces. For example, you may find that empty rooms are still consuming electricity and heating. There could be instant cost savings here, by closing down the room for a set period. Or, perhaps a room suitable for 50 people has actually been booked for just a hand full of people. In this scenario it’s quite common for resources to be sourced elsewhere and at a cost to the business. These are just two instances where room booking systems can help by efficiently managing all the rooms and resources and provide a global picture to make informed decisions.

Facilities Managers employ different techniques to manage rooms. Some of the most common methods are listed below.

• Integrated Software (CAFM/IWMS)
• Standalone Room Booking Software
• Bespoke In-house Software
• Excel Spread sheet
• Whiteboard/Post-it Note or Diary
• Outlook Shared Calendar

Depending on the desired outcome it’s important to find a solution that works for with your processes and is within budget. However, as you would expect the low-end or free options may not offer any added value to the organisation to help identify cost saving, improve efficiency and perception.

Managing meeting rooms can be a complex process due to various configurations, rules and limitations. The more complex the process, the more advanced the software needs to be to effectively manage bookings. Integrated and Standalone solutions often provide a wealth of configuration and information that can help Facilities Managers or Service Providers configure systems to monitor trends and performance. The right meeting room booking system can provide you with all the information you need to optimise resources and to save the organisation money. Some of the key questions room booking systems can help answer, include:

• Room Utilisation – What is utilisation percentage of a room?
• Capacity – What is the average number of delegates per booking, per room?
• Trends – Are there any peak times for bookings?
• Cost Control – What is the internal cost of operating a room?
• Satisfaction – How do clients perceive the service you offer?
• Usage – Are meeting rooms being used efficiently?

Common Issues

Some of the common issues faced by Facilities Managers when managing meeting rooms include:

• Double Bookings
• Manual Error
• Over Booking Resources
• No-Shows
• Utilisation Visibility
• Client Visibility
• Cross-Department Coordination/Communication

These common issues have a direct impact organisation and can lead to negative perceptions of the services provided by the Facilities Department. Meeting room booking systems are designed to tackle these issues, by providing an efficient and validated software solution.

Why Software?

Many departments still operate on using paper-based, spread sheet or similar ad-hoc methods. It’s highly unlikely that such approaches will provide any real benefit to an organisation. Specialist meeting room booking systems provide a series of advanced tools designed for the industry to help streamline operations and communication between clients and various departments, offering a smooth and constant service.

Web-based client facing room booking systems provide a window into Facilities Management operations, enabling clients to review room availability, instantly preventing double bookings or duplicate booking requests. The whole booking process can be carried out online, thus freeing the resources of back-office staff that would normally manually process bookings. Said resources can then re-focus on other key areas of service.

For complex booking procedures, integrated or standalone room booking software is the perfect partner. Often supporting a vast range of configuration options, you can control booking processes and enforce limitations, ensuring that bookings are made, amended, confirmed or cancelled in a controlled environment.

With a good quality system in place and structured information going in, you can get valuable information out. As you would expect, most room booking systems provide a series of reports that will help to answer the questions provided above and more. This fact based information can help you refine process to streamline operations, maximise room usage and save money.

Meeting room bookings systems can also link with other modules which may be used by other departments or individuals. For example,

• Links with porterage systems for equipment moving or room preparation
• Links with visitor systems to alert reception staff or security of visitor attendance
• Links with catering systems to deliver cater requirements for the day

There are many, many possibilities available with meeting room booking systems. This is only a very brief introduction to the types of processes and functionality you can expect to receive. If you are looking to procure a room booking system, it is highly advised that you have a clear understand of your processes, goals and budget.

Summary of Benefits

• Never loose or double book rooms
• Never over book other resources such as equipment
• Self-service web portals enable clients to review availability and create bookings or requests online
• Streamline Communication between various departments i.e. facilities, catering
• Control and centralise booking processes and procedures
• Generate reports for informed decisions
• Prevent manual errors
• Provide a professional service to both staff and external visitors
• Configurable to your business rules
• Save time and cut costs
• Create repeat bookings with ease
• Issue automatic email notifications
• Automatically link with other modules
• Data can be backed up and restored easily
• Control user permissions
• Easily search and retrieve booking information
• Apply business rules to rooms
• Review room utilisation and trends
• Increase productivity of administration teams
• No need for disparate systems or paper based processes

CAFM Innovation ...the future of Tabs Systems

Since 1992, Tabs FM Ltd have supplied the Facilities Management industry with advanced Computer-Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) software systems. A product which organically grew from close monitoring of the FM industry and close collaboration with clients, spans over forty modules across three platforms and consists of logically thought-out functionality.

Since the early incarnations of the product suite, technological advances offered greater scope for system performance and possibilities. The early releases of the product continued to support technological advances through constant modifications and adaptions. However, considering the life span of the product to date, future proofing and re-energising Tabs Systems using newer technology is high on the agenda.

In 2007, Tabs FM embarked on a redevelopment program of the core system interface. The aim was to break the restraints placed by the current platform and support system deliverability/sustainability for the foreseeable future. After an intense Research and Development phase, a .Net Framework and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) language was chosen as the platform and technology for the re-development of the core management application. The chosen technology offered great opportunities to enhance user interaction and supports simpler deployment and development.

At the time of selecting the future technology, the presence of purely web based CAFM systems had evolved dramatically. The decision to develop a purely web or PC based application was a difficult one to make. To solve the issue, the development team produced an infrastructure that has the power to deploy as either a Local Network/PC –Based application, or as truly Web Based CAFM solution from a centrally developed application.

As expected, the development of the core architecture and re-development of all existing functionality/reports across the range of modules, took a considerable amount of time. The development team worked around the clock, developing, testing and reengineering the new CAFM system.

In addition to the system rebuild, the development team introduced new features, modules and system enhancements, such as ‘Drag and Drop’, ‘Drill-Through’ report analysis, CRM/Enquiry Management/Global Works Planner/Auto Project Analyser/Event Management /Intelligent Survey/Resource Panning modules. Tabs Systems has evolved extensively and will continue to provide a supporting and centralised software solution for many clients.

Some of the technical and user benefits include:

Technical
•High level data security
•Great flexibility and opportunity for our development
•Improved version control
•Simplified upgrade procedures
•More options around deployment

User Perspective
•Concise, intuitive display forms
•Advanced search facilities
•Improved associated document management
•Enhanced user interaction
•Contemporary, familiar look and feel

CAFM Mobility

For years Microsoft led the field in mobile technology for Facilities Management and other commercial sectors for rugged business devices. In recent years the procurement of Smart Phones and Tablet devices has grown rapidly. With reduced hardware costs and exciting possibilities provided by mobile technology, the Facilities Management industry has steadily moved forward with deploying iOS and Android mobile hardware solutions to streamline operations. Tabs FM have seen this reflected in the arena of rugged devices also, with the introduction of Android operating system on selected rugged hardware. With iOS and Android competing strongly against Windows Mobile 7 in the mobile arena, Tabs FM’s talented development team have created new system interfaces for all three of these platforms, ensuring that no matter the mobile hardware a client wishes to use, a compatible solution is available.

Product Launch

Tabs FM began previewing the new product release in early 2012. The new systems were also presented at the Facilities Show 2012, with a fantastic response.

An official product launch party is scheduled for the 12th of June 2012, where all aspects of the new system will be discussed, including hands on experience. All Tabs FM’s clients have been invited to this landmark event in Tabs FMs history. These are exciting times for Tabs FM.

It’s been almost 5 years considered and steady development that has today produced the path one of the world’s most technically advanced CAFM solutions.

Introducing CAFM Systems for Financial Directors (Business Case)

If you've produced a business case before for similar products or services, you'll no doubt already have a good understanding of what to include in such a document. This guide is designed to help those who may not be too familiar with business cases. It may also offer inspiration to those who already have experience. Either way, we hope this helps.
In a tough economic climate, it is even harder to convince Financial Directors to part with money, especially when there are potentially large sums involved with the procurement of a CAFM system. To overcome this challenging hurdle, often a powerful business case may be required to persuade those who hold the purse strings to release funds for the good of the business or Facilities Management operation. In our minds we may already know the benefits a CAFM system can offer. The goal of a business case is to prove that funding would be well spent and is a sensible Return on Investments.

Context

A great starting point is outlining your current position and service offering. Whilst Facilities Management plays a critical role in the smooth operation of any organisation, highlighting and promoting the core functions performed provide the groundwork for the business case, e.g. Maintenance, Room Booking, and Statutory Requirements etc.
For each core function, describe how this impacts and supports the core business objective and operation. Are there legal requirements to fulfil such obligations? Do any of the services you provide offer any cost saving benefits, improve efficiency or perhaps even raise the profile of the organisation? If possible, include any facts, figures and statistics. For example,

• Out of the number of reactive calls received, how many are completed with the SLA?
• What's the total value of your assets and asset cost forecast for the following year?
• How many meeting rooms and room bookings do you manage?
• How many 'clients' does your department support on a daily, weekly basis?

When pondering such questions, make note of questions you cannot answer accurately. These could form part of the reasoning for requesting budget approval for a CAFM system.
Metaphorically speaking, there are many hats a Facilities Manager must wear. There are also many objects a Facilities Manager must juggle to coordinate activities. Address the key functions of your department in your business case to highlight the importance that your department must operate as smooth and efficient as possible, so the rest of the business can continue without disruption.

Strengths and Weakness

As with all organisations and departments, there are undoubtedly areas that excel and those that lag. When considering the multiple disciplines a Facilities Management department must perform, documenting all strengths and weaknesses maybe a challenging task. Try breaking it down into smaller chunks by focusing on the strengths and weakness for each function, grouped by headings such as:

• Process
• Communication (Internal and External)
• Team Moral
• Data Accuracy
• Operational Visibility
• Utilisation/Efficiency
• Client Perception
• Resources

Introducing CAFM

The term CAFM, may not be well known outside the remit of Facilities Management. Before describing the deliverables a CAFM system can offer, take a moment to write a brief introduction to CAFM for the benefit of the Financial Director and also IT departments.

• What's is CAFM
• How can it be delivered
• What are typical modules

Deliverables

Having identified several weaknesses, describe how CAFM systems can turn these into strengths. There is an element of research required here, of which many CAFM providers will be happy to support. This is the preliminary investigation stage, where the aim to review the services provided by a CAFM system and how they can have a direct impact improving weaknesses. You may also find from the research that some of the strengths identified can also be further improved through CAFM. If you already have experience in CAFM, you may already know the technicalities and workflows CAFM systems can provide.
After performing the research, you should have a good understanding of the approach of CAFM Systems and how they can deliver to your requirements. Referring to the weakness documented above, describe how these be resolved through CAFM? There are three key areas to include when describing how CAFM can help.

• Cost – As you would expect, cost is critical for Financial Directors. CAFM systems provide a great way to save and manage costs, whether it's by creating a PPM's for asset to optimise life expectancy, using technology to reduce Facilities Department resources or perhaps even automatically confirming catering bookings to reduce wastage. Describe the cost saving benefits CAFM can offer
• Efficiency – CAFM Systems are all about efficiency. Whether it's to streamline communication, improve responses times or control processes, CAFM systems can help. Considering your weaknesses, can the various technology and workflows provided by CAFM systems make the department run more efficiently? Perhaps include workflow diagrams and process efficiency savings in your response.
• Visibility and Reporting – Visibility and reporting play a key role in early and future improvements to a department. CAFM systems provide the tools to analysis data collected from across the system. Such information as contractor SLA performance, asset depreciation/replacement forecast or room utilisation can all be derived from the system. The result being that further areas of weakness can be identified and rectified, to achieve the core business objectives.

Implementation

CAFM systems come in all sizes and are configurable to many operations. The scale and size of the deployment will have a direct effect on various resources throughout the life of the project. Following talks with the CAFM providers, you may have a good understanding of the timeframe of the project and resources required. The implementation strategy can form part of your business case, identifying key milestones and resources from project initiation to 'go-live'.
CAFM systems will inevitably force a change in processes and procedures for various departments, end-users and clients. With change often comes resistance. It is important to forecast any potential resistance and plan to prevent it. Securing "buy-in" from departments and end users will help to kick start the project in a positive light and is a great stride towards system success. There are three core roles/users to secure buy-in, including:

• IT Departments – Getting IT on board helps pave the way for a good relationship and communication between IT, Facilities Department and CAFM Provider. IT resources for the initial stages of the implementation are essential, so it's imperative that they are aware of and behind the project. Collaboration with IT from the outset contributes heavily towards successful system deployment, thus ensuring they prepared to deliver to the project timeframe.
• Colleagues – Pre and post implementation the system will require a level of participation from colleagues, whether it is to collate data, liaise with other users or embark on system training. With already busy schedules, it is likely that their time will be limited to take on additional duties in the short term. In addition to this, the automation capabilities through CAFM systems could potentially replace current manual processes, which in turn could cause concerns over job security. It is important that colleagues see the benefit of the system and feel part of the movement. Introduce predicted resistance in your business case and ways to avoid them.
• Client Usage – Securing buy-in from smaller groups (IT/Colleagues) is fairly easy as this can generally be achieved on an individual level. To secure buy-in from 'clients'/'customers' maybe a little trickier. It's not possible or feasible to discuss CAFM solutions with every individual within the building. Maybe introducing CAFM to a select focus groups or securing department heads could form part of the implementation strategy?

Cost

With the benefits sold, the question on any Financial Directors lips is "how much?" Now you have a clear understanding of the process you want to achieve, obtain some ballpark costs from CAFM vendors. CAFM systems come in various modes including hosted, modular, mobile, web etc. Put together a few estimated price proposals for various solutions, including the pro's and con's of each approach.
Also consider the cost of involvement from other department resources (i.e. IT) and any associated hardware, licence costs. All these would typically fall into year one costs. For consecutive year use, there is normally a licence fee for product use, maintenance/upgrade and support. Clarify costs for consecutive years and include in the proposal.
'Return on Investment' will attract the attention of the Financial Director. Consider the cost of purchase and deployment against the potential cost savings to calculate the return on investment of procuring a CAFM system.

Executive Summary

And finally, include an executive summary concluding your findings into the procurement of a CAFM system. This should summarise the project objectives, benefits and associated cost.
Pre-empting project approval, the summary should also include the next steps.

How to Monitor and Improve Performance

One of the many benefits in the employment of a CAFM system is its ability to provide complete control over an entire Facilities or Service operation. With control comes complete visibility. Through the various methods provided by a CAFM system, data collected can be viewed with ease, empowering any Facilities or Operations Manager with statistical information to help improve performance, efficiency and customer service offering.

Collection

Central to retrieving valuable information is the accurate and consistent input of data. Typically, there are several data collection methods employed by CAFM systems to support accurate reporting and process management. You may decide to use some or all of them to collect data. As with any CAFM system, the better the quality of data going in, the better the quality of reporting coming out.

Typical data collection methods include:

Service Level Agreement/Key Performance Indicators – SLA/KPI information collected and delivered by CAFM systems offer a method to overview Worker or Contractor performance typically for Planned or Reactive Maintenance duties. Within TABS Systems, priority levels with pre-defined service agreements (Response/Completion Times) are associated to each Job Description. A combination of job start date, priority weighting and completion date, provides the data set required to highlight service level performance relating to agreed SLA's.

Satisfaction Questionnaires – Questionnaires offer a view to capture service level feedback direct from clients/customers for the completed tasks. Upon completion of a service, a series of questions can be distributed to individuals to collate feedback on the level of service received. This is an excellent method used to provide data based upon recipient feedback.

Surveys/Inspections – Offering an ad-hoc approach to feedback data collection, surveys or inspections can provide an invaluable tool to collect real-time data using a series of pre-defined questions and anticipated answers. Inspections are often used internally to collect data on the 'quality of service' being delivered by an FM department or Service Provider. Inspections focus on the standard of work performed by an internal workforce or contactor. Surveys offer a more generic approach to capture feedback from randomly selected clients or customers. Again the focus will be around the standard of service being received. TABS Systems offer the tools to create surveys/inspections of any type, with any pre-defined answers. Such surveys can be presented on hardcopy (paper) or via a designated mobile device; The latter minimising paper usage while providing a consistent, professional interface.

Review

The methods set out above focus on collecting data for two key areas of service; Job Performance and Customer Satisfaction. Armed with this vital data, CAFM systems provide access to numerous reports or dashboard views to analyse the information. Standard reports provided by CAFM systems are ideal for presentation/discussion at managerial or client meetings. Should actions be required to improve service offering, you would expect to see a growing trend over time on the level of service provided. Hopefully, in the right direction!



Digital Dashboard Reporting is a relatively new term to the Facilities Management and Service Provider industry. Often sitting outside the core CAFM application, Digital Dashboards provide a detailed analysis tool to drill-through information. Digital Dashboards provide a real-time view of data and is an ideal window in to operations for senior management and/or clients. Presenting data in a logical, easy-to-use and configurable display means users can analyse, extract and address areas of specific interest with ease.



Action

So, given the tools for valid data collection and a variety of reporting tools, we are in a good position to add further quality to our service and enhance performance levels. This critical information will provide an invaluable fact-based resource to help improve performance. The data and reports enable Facilities and Operation Managers to analyse the service and take action. For example:

Are certain tasks regularly falling outside SLA?
Time allocation or resource restrictions may play a part.

Are certain contractors underperforming?
Address concerns with contractor for review and rectification.

Feedback indicates poor Customer Service?
Review of personnel, process or training issues in order to manage client expectation.

Clients not updated on progress?
Status update emails or self-service web portals can help.

Resources over stretched?
Consider mobilising workforce and workforce scheduling.

Personality clashes?
Staff issues can be highlighted, requiring management coaching/intervention.

There are numerous initiatives that can derive from quality data collected. 'Analysis' and 'Action' are the steps required by Facilities or Operation Managers to 'Improve Performance'. TABS systems will provide you with the tools to be pro-active and adjust processes/procedures to continually improve service levels.

How does Tabs meet end-user needs?

TABS system is constantly in development, from advances in new technology or bespoke client functionality. All new development is placed into a centralised system to the benefit of all clients through future upgrades.

Tabs FM was a pioneer of mobile technology, providing advanced in-house development of mobile applications for rugged devices. Today, following a shift in the industry from rugged to commercial hardware, our mobile interface is in the final stages of development, offering compatibility on iPad, iPhone, Android and Windows Phone 8.

The evolution of technology also means that developers can never stand still. Over the past 4 years, we’ve been redeveloping our product using cutting edge technology that will allow us to deploy our administration console as a fully webbased application or as a local installation. This ensures that we satisfy the technical requirements of each client.

Our product is particularly popular in halls of learning both in the State and Private Sectors. This popularity is borne of recommendation rather than target marketing.

To a great extent, the usage in a college or school reflects that in a hospital or sports arena. We have flexibility to change nomenclature within the system and a routine Planned Maintenance task on the 1st 11 Football pitch is managed in much the same way as a lift maintenance task at Mercedes Benz Head Office.

We have provided development in recent times around the commercial use of school/college facilities out of school hours and have developed a Client Relationship Management suite to address Client Management.

A detailed example of our recent achievements may be a recent specification for a London School involving their Room/Space Booking.

The requirement was to change the system to enable a senior member of staff to manually authorise every room booking without having access to the administration application. Typically, room authorisation would be performed by Estates/Facilities staff following a level of training. However, is this particular scenario the Deputy Head wanted complete authorisation control over room bookings and associated expenditure. We collaborated with the school on the process required and produce a development specification to suit. The proposed development was to introduce a ‘Pre-authorisation process’, which would email a hyperlink to the booking request to a dedicated staff member. The booked could then be viewed directly via a web browser and authorised accordingly. Reject/clarification notes could be returned to the requestor, with accepted request progressing into the system for Estates/Facilities teams to process as normal

Features which set us apart

Modular System: Allows for a phased approach to implementation.

Comprehensive System Scope: All aspects of Maintenance and Asset Management to address end to end (including financials) processes. Statutory and Health and Safety requirements are integral to our product. This provides a single solution rather than employing disparate systems.

Diverse Delivery Platforms: Management Information System (MIS), Web/Intranet, Mobile Devices (PDA, Tablets). Using latest technology to simplify and streamline process.

Data Import Utility: Comprehensive tool for data management, greatly reducing consultancy and Management time involvement.

Team Mobility: As an SME with a robust team, we are able to respond swiftly and effectively to client requirements, particularly when faced with urgent local challenges.

Website Adjustments

We've made some minor adjustments to our website www.tabsfm.com to make space for the new product updates we hope to release very soon. More information will follow in future newsletters, but it may be worth visiting our website to see some new features and screen shots of the .Net platform.