8 Reasons Your Company Needs Room Scheduling Software
Meeting rooms are a valuable, and in some cases, vital, resource for many businesses. A gathering point or essential workspace for internal meetings, presentations and collaborations, or an asset that offers additional revenue opportunities. In this article, we’ll be examining the reasons why online meeting room scheduling software can offer commercial and operational benefits to your business.
Cutting Admin and Paperwork
A meeting room booking system removes the excess of manual admin that can weigh down on those responsible for managing the bookings and timetable of meeting rooms and facilities.
Allowing people to use online conference scheduling software takes away long-winded booking forms and the manual management of room diaries, with sophisticated systems capturing all essential info from room layout to delegate numbers and even catering and equipment requirements.
Add in automated emails and reporting and your room booking process can become a key means of improving efficiency and productivity within the workplace.
Data Security
In a world where GDPR needs to be considered, ensuring that data is both stored and transferred securely should be an essential factor in whatever conference room scheduling system you use.
With a robust room booking system, the data captured should be held digitally, securely encrypted and offering customers the chance to view, access and erase as appropriate.
Organisational Improvements
Your meeting room scheduling software can help with organisational effectiveness in the business as all new and confirmed bookings are held in one place, and visible to all who need to see it.
Whether booked via web application, phone or in person, the information is inputted into the central system, and captured in real-time. This removes the risk of double-booking and means that you are always able to have an exact understanding of availability of every room.
Upselling
If you are hiring out a meeting room (or a facility such as a 3G pitch, perhaps) for revenue generation, then your conference room scheduling software offers you the perfect platform to maximise earning potential through offering upsell opportunities in the booking journey. This might be hiring audio/visual equipment, booking food and beverage options, or even presenting a chance to book another room or additional dates.
Resource Management
Similarly, if you are managing internal (non-revenue) bookings, then your online scheduling system becomes an effective tool for managing the resources you have. This might be allocating equipment to a booking, so that you now have full visibility of what is available at any time. Alternately this might be how you communicate with 3rd party suppliers such as caterers, from automated confirmation of orders to the reports on what has been ordered, when and how much.
Room Booking Management
Of course, there are times when a room or facility might be unavailable due to issues such as maintenance, the closure of the building temporarily or an internal event (a school gym becoming unavailable during exam times, for example).
The best room booking systems enable you to take the room offline for those dates, ensuing they are not accidentally booked.
Anytime Access
A meeting room scheduling system can be accessed 24/7, 365 days per year. From an internal point of view, and particularly in an environment based upon flexible hours and remote work, this can make the booking process that much easier, without having to rely on booking within ‘normal’ hours.
From a commercial point of view, your available facilities are always accessible to book; increasing the chances of a sale as customers don’t need to wait or call back.
Commercial Opportunities
Which leads neatly to the final point.
Your rooms and facilities can offer genuine revenue generating opportunities for the business. Online meeting room scheduling software makes it easier for customers to find what they want, when they want, and proceed to the booking check-out as swiftly as possible. No waiting for an enquiry to be answered, less chance of them changing their mind.
And if the process is easy, then chances are they will be minded to return and book with you again.
At thinkBooker, we specialise in online booking systems for training courses, classes, activities and events – optimised for efficiency, growth and ongoing client satisfaction.
Browse the site to learn more about course booking systems, sports booking systems, event booking systems and more, or get in touch directly to find out how we can help you.
