We live in an era of gadgets. All of the electronics that surround us are being replaced by “smart” successors, meaning we have smartwatches, smart fridges, smart homes, smart cars, and so on. Through the Bookado application, a device-less workspace booking system, we want to provide businesses and their employees with a smart office, getting rid of the soon-to-be-obsolete tablets, touchscreens, and other devices come at a cost to both the business and the environment.
Why did we bet on a device-less workspace booking system?
Did you know that The amount of worldwide e-waste generated is expected to exceed 50 million tons in 2020?! And this alarming trend is set to continue with the annual growth of e-waste estimated at between 4% and 5%.
We didn’t want to be part of the problem. That is why we based Bookado on mobile technology so that the user only needs the smartphone that is already in his or her pocket.
In Bookado, we used AR technology to create a device-less workspace booking system. Each employee can check the availability of a given room in real-time as they move through the office. It is enough to scan the Bookado AR marker on the door of a conference room, in order to see its availability and that of other locations in the building. What’s more, thanks to the mobile application, we can make reservations using the list of rooms and book a meeting in advance, e.g. on the way to the office.
Device-less costs less
Equipment means expenditure. This much is clear. However, when you decide to use a reservation system with tablets, you are also forced to immediately declare the necessary amount of equipment and additionally sign a subscription, without which the tablets are useless.
Before you decide on a workspace booking system using displays, check what the users of such equipment most often complain about. Common complaints on the G2 website, apart from the aforementioned high costs, are most often about the fact that the equipment can be easily broken, the need to recharge the batteries, and additional costs such as special stands, and magnetic or fixed wall mounts.
Most SaaS solutions offer the option of a trial period but this does not cover the monitors. So, before you decide on a tablet-based workspace booking system, check if you can try it out beforehand without the investment in infrastructure cost. And even if the company will send you several sample devices, think how long it will take to ship, assemble, and integrate them with your system. Then, if the system is not working as you want, you will have to dismantle everything and send it back.
When you buy equipment dedicated to workspace reservations, it is worth checking immediately whether you can return it. In today’s situation, when it is less certain that companies will return to the office as before, you may also find that you need much less office space than prior to the pandemic. If the company you chose for your booking system does not have a return policy, you will be left with tablets that are gathering dust and have eaten a hole in your already stretched budget.
More devices = less flexibility
In our opinion, “smart” technology is that which can adapt to the situation. The world and business are unpredictable. In the current COVID-19 crisis, an adaptive flexible booking system is one that can change as your needs change. What if you want to relocate your office, reorganize or reduce office space in favor of a home office? If you need even a single meeting to think about how your system can adapt, then it is not truly “smart”.
In Bookado, you only pay for the resources you use and replace expensive tablets with stickers that contain an AR marker. Thanks to this, you do not incur any additional costs when changing your office space! You simply remove stickers from their current location and put them somewhere else. It takes seconds and costs nothing to the business. There are no power tools or cables involved and you don’t need to call in the maintenance team. Likewise, you can subtract or add rooms covered by the system at no extra cost.
The only constant is change
It is a difficult time for many companies – the pandemic shows that you never know what will happen, therefore solutions should be developed towards adaptation to change. They should also not lock a business into long-term contracts when nobody knows what tomorrow will bring, which is why Bookado works on a rolling pay-for-what-you-use model and you can walk away at any time. Not that you would want to, of course!
The hardware that currently works with in-office booking systems is quickly moving towards obsolescence. The device-less workspace booking system is what comes next. It helps companies to reduce their carbon footprint, significantly reduces office management costs, and allows for greater flexibility.
