NFS Hospitality technology solutions

Global and multi-location organisations have traditionally had to fly their senior staff around the world simply to attend a meeting. However this practice is becoming increasingly outmoded, not to mention unreliable and costly if we consider, for example, the ongoing ash cloud saga.

Companies are seeing the benefits of investing in video conference and telepresence technology as a response to external factors such as climate change and the economic downturn. By enabling video conference meetings businesses can not only offset their carbon emissions, they can also save tremendously on the travel, accommodation and expenses costs that their senior executives incur whilst on the road.

Despite its relative infancy, video conferencing is already being taken up with gusto and companies such as Polycom report that over 90% of attendees are satisfied with meetings conducted in this manner.

Whilst video conferencing and telepresence providers offer all the tools required for the actual meeting, it is still necessary for companies to have a robust scheduling software package able to handle multiple time zones, multiple rooms and resources and the scheduling of the video conference equipment.

Rendezvous Workspace has been designed expressly for this type of scenario and offers unique functionality such as agenda management, meaning that whether attendees are in New York, Washington, Beijing or London, they are able to keep abreast of all aspects of the meeting due to the solution’s seamless integration with MS Outlook.

Given recent developments such as the acquisition of Skype by Microsoft, it is becoming apparent that video conferencing is set to grow even more in the near future. NFS are already at the forefront of this trend with clients ranging from Legal and Financial to Advertising and Entertainment.

If you wish to find out more about Rendezvous Workspace scheduling software, please contact us on info@myrendezvous.net today.

Video conferencing and telepresence continue to be a hot topic across the globe right now.  With Organizations trying to cut reimbursable fuel costs, save money on airline travel, and foster collaboration between remote employees – not to mention ramping up on that “face-time” with clients in other cities, Companies not already on the bandwagon are scrambling to find and implement the right solutions.

Finding the right video conferencing and telepresence technology (VCTP) is a good start, but it’s only part of the equation.  Companies will also need a simple, efficient way to schedule and manage their VCTP facilities. Meeting hosts need an easy way to invite participants to meetings, keep track of changes, and update attendees as needed. Hosts may also need to communicate with VCTP technicians.  Some Companies will require a fully web-based solution that’s quick and easy to roll out, with others requiring this service to be hosted and supported.

Points to Consider When Implementing VCTP Technology

Once the decision has been made to implement VCTP technology in the Organization, there are certain questions to pose, such as, how do you manage the process of finding and scheduling available VCTP space? What if your Organization has a request/approve process with gatekeepers, or more of a self-service process, or even a combination thereof?

MS Outlook doesn’t have the flexibility or robustness to deal with variations and complexities such as these, but as many Companies know, employees rely heavily on this email application.

What if you could allow your staff to continue using the familiar MS Outlook, powered by a seamlessly integrated VCTP scheduling system that allowed them to book all meetings simply and efficiently from their desktop?

Knowledge is Key

Management and utilization reports are critical so that you know exactly how your VCTP space is being used.  Keeping track of trends will determine if VCTP space is being over or under-utilized.  Do under-utilized spaces need attention to make them more usable?  Do you need to scale up the amount of VCTP space on offer?  Knowledge is key. Informed and educated answers to these, and many other questions, can be easily obtained.

NFS Has The Solution

What if you could have all of this in one flexible, scalable, comprehensive scheduling solution?  NFS provides the capability to manage and schedule all your VCTP meetings directly from MS Outlook, with powerful software that is available on a hosted basis or as an easily implemented web-based system.

Experience the benefits of growing your video conferencing and telepresence capabilities, and let NFS show you how to manage and schedule these critical corporate assets with simplicity and ease.

For more information, please call NFS on 01992 514 598, email info@nfs-hospitality.com or visit our website at www.nfs-hospitality.com

With ever-escalating operational costs, organisations need to have the correct scheduling software in place to ensure that their space is being correctly utilised and that labour costs are kept to a minimum.

There are a number of points to consider when selecting workspace management scheduling software:

1. Define your Objectives

It is often said that failure to plan is planning to fail, therefore it’s imperative to have a set of objectives defined before beginning the process of approaching suppliers.

There can be a myriad variables to consider – such as the need for self-service booking, multi-location booking, hot desk booking, catering and AV management and video-conference management.

Management reporting should also be high up on the shopping list of requirements as this is a key benefit of a dedicated scheduling software solution over more informal methods for scheduling, such as Microsoft Outlook or Excel.

2. Investigate Suppliers’ Track Record

A number of key questions need to be asked:

• How long has the company been in business?
• How many customers use their product?
• Do they have many customers of a similar profile to you?
• How many references are available to speak to?

If a supplier is reluctant to give references then this should be a warning sign!

3. Assess Software Licensing Models

Increasingly, there is a move towards cloud computing. This has a key benefit for scheduling software as it enables an increasingly mobile workforce to have control of their schedules wherever they may find themselves, with web-based software that they can access on a number of different platforms, including the iPad.

It is cheaper to deploy the solution on a rental basis where the provider is responsible for all infrastructure costs. All the customer requires is a terminal and an internet connection. Deployment is instantaneous and with active directory integration increasingly prevalent, it is non-disruptive to the client’s workflow.

4. Is the Software Flexible Enough?

No two organisations are going to be the same in terms of their business requirements or processes as they relate to scheduling. Therefore a solution needs to be adaptable and also able meet clients’ future needs. Increasingly, organisations are looking for solutions which can manage hot desks and video conferences as well as the standard meeting-room booking scenario. Often, meetings are held across many time zones, so this added complexity needs to be factored in.

5. Seamless Integration is Key

Although scheduling software offers a number of great benefits, it cannot be considered in isolation to other solutions in the enterprise. As a minimum, a good scheduling solution should seamlessly integrate with:

• Email systems
• Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS)
• Digital signage
• Self-service kiosks
• HVAC systems

6. What Are the Cost Reduction Benefits?

Scheduling software can not only deliver tremendous operational benefits, it can provide a number of cost benefits too. Comprehensive reporting enables organisations to easily pinpoint where rooms are being under- and over-utilised so that managers can make informed decisions about getting the best value out of their rooms.

An often neglected area of management is resource utilisation. By having effective reporting in place, managers can zoom in on the true requirements for items such as AV – thus reducing over-spending.

7. Can the System Streamline Manual Processes and Save Employee Time?

The fundamental benefit of a good scheduling software solution is the amount of employee time that can be saved; this due to the streamlining of manual processes that need to be introduced with informal systems.

Employees can now see room availability at a glance, select an appropriate room and communicate the booking to attendees – in a few simple keystrokes.

*

If you are currently struggling to get to grips with the various important aspects surrounding scheduling software, you might like to download our new eBook. This is packed with tips about what to look for and what to expect in an advanced and integrated scheduling system. Please download a copy today!

When the iPad was launched at the beginning of 2010 it was hailed as the future ‘must have’ gadget for the consumer market. Whilst it has enjoyed unprecedented and unexpected success in this sector, for today’s modern executive the iPad is increasingly becoming the de facto mobile device, whether for note taking, delivering presentations, managing email, engaging in social media or just keeping on top of schedules and to-do lists.

Forrester analyst and commentator, Boris Evelson, notes in Mobile Tablet PCs, Not Phones, Will Create Critical Mass For Enterprise BI Adoption that tablet devices are driving enterprise Mobile BI adoption by addressing the inadequacies of smartphone form features – primarily the screen and keyboard.

According to Apple, more than 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies are currently deploying/integrating iPads in their enterprise communications programs.

The iTunes Apps Store contains many apps that duplicate the functionality of traditional desktop applications. For example, the PC Mag Editors’ Choice award-winning iWork for iPad (a mobile version of Apple’s office suite), Citrix GoToMyPC for iPad (a mobile version of the popular remote access software), Filemaker to Go for iPad (database software), and Power.ME (which excels at task and workflow management) give business users the ability to edit documents, access a Mac or PC remotely, keep inventory and track important data. This handful of apps alone makes the iPad a much more useful business tool than was initially envisaged.

A recent addition to the enterprise is Workspace Mobile – the iPad interface for NFS’ Rendezvous Workspace scheduling software. Workspace Mobile works just like any other business app on the iPad. Once a meeting is scheduled on the device it is seamlessly updated across the enterprise using built-in Exchange integration. But Workspace Mobile is more than just a calendar; it is also empowers the user to manage the event in much the same way as if they were sitting at their desktop PC. Unlike using a traditional PC, it is now possible to schedule and confirm meetings when sitting face-to-face with clients. This enables much faster decision-making and saves significantly on administration time.

With this exciting new interface you can now book meetings, view upcoming meetings, order refreshments, make amendments to AV requirements and send out agendas and meeting requests anywhere in the world, with just a few touches of the screen.

If Workspace Mobile sounds like the tool you need to empower your executives, please contact us for a demonstration.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines collaboration as “work(ing) jointly on an activity or project.” Collaborative working is, therefore, the act of people working together toward common goals.

In a recent survey by the Economic Intelligence Unit, of 1,656 executives from 100 countries, the majority said that collaborative working is vital to the future of their organisations.

The survey also reported that “increased collaboration will be a defining feature of the company of 2020. Executives expect to see a lot more collaborative problem-solving inside and outside their firms, and clear majorities intend to create employee incentives to encourage collaboration across functions (79%) and with external stakeholders (68%).”

With Rendezvous Workspace it is now possible to bring together all the pieces of the collaborative jigsaw. Whether it is booking a video conference to facilitate collaboration across continents, to booking hot desks for an impromptu half-hour meeting, to booking a boardroom for a formal AGM, Rendezvous Workspace can handle all these differing scenarios with consummate ease.

Given the importance of face-to-face interaction in collaborative working, many organisations are designing workspaces with collaboration in mind. Research by Judith Heerwagen in her article, Collaborative Knowledge Work Environments, has shown that office layouts with the greatest number of connections to other spaces had more interaction with other workers.

Due to the disparate nature of today’s modern workforce, it is imperative that the tools are in place to enable collaboration. NFS’ Rendezvous Workspace scheduling software has been specifically designed to schedule all workspace within the modern office environment. It offers a flexibility previously not achieved by scheduling software tools designed purely for diarising meeting rooms.

There are a number of benefits to be gained from collaborative working as it helps people work together to achieve results, including:

• Lowering the costs of communication, through affordable or free tools
• Eliminating the need to travel to external meetings
• More co-ordinated and knowledgeable teams, armed with updated documents at any location, at any time
• More efficient and effective working methods due to advanced online tools

Organisations using Rendezvous Workspace have found a tremendous increase in collaborative working, which in turn has led to greater knowledge sharing and, in turn, faster decision-making.

If collaborative working is here to stay – what tools do you have in place to make the most of this opportunity?

Last week some of our US team attended the IFMA Facility Fusion Show, held at The Westin – Boston Waterfront, in Boston, Massachusetts.  This very popular event brings together industry experts, educators and exhibitors whose aim is to provide attendees with proven strategies, solutions and action plans that can be implemented immediately.  Indeed, on their website – www.ifmafacilityfusion.org – the Organisers state: IFMA Facility Fusion addresses the facility issues that keep you up at night.

Natalie Appleton, US Head of Operations for NFS, says that exhibiting at the show, which focuses exclusively on the needs of Facility Managers, was both successful and exciting.  This will be another annual IFMA event in which NFS and the Rendezvous suite of scheduling software solutions will continue to participate.

Natalie reports that the wide-ranging exhibition was sold out.  It seems the Rendezvous Workspace room, resource and workspace scheduling software solutions showcased on the NFS stand attracted great interest, and many attendees – from diverse markets including Corporate, Educational, Healthcare and others – considered them a potentially a good fit for their Organisations.

“Some of the most positive feedback was the flexibility of Rendezvous, as well as the ability to specifically configure the software to support exact needs,” Natalie comments.  “Another solution to which people reacted positively was our newly released Rendezvous Workspace Mobile, with its iPad interface.  This was the solution’s first airing in the US, and it certainly raised a few eyebrows.”

NFS will be back at IFMA Facility Fusion in 2012, and looks forward to this year’s upcoming IFMA World Workplace Conference & Expo, in Phoenix, AZ.  This is the biggest and oldest show for facility management and related professions, and the much respected event addresses current and future issues and challenges that impact Facility Management.

We hope to see you there!

NFS recently sponsored the Tech and Trends 2011 executive briefing at the stunning Herman Miller National Design Centre in London. This was a sold-out event which attracted some of the major decision makers in the workplace management world.

As part of an interesting discussion programme centred around the latest trends in technology and workplace management, David Mapps, Sales Manager for NFS, delivered a stimulating and powerful presentation focusing on how vitally important it is for Companies to manage their space both in terms of maximising the return on their real-estate investment and reducing carbon emissions. One startling fact that David left the audience with is that, in some cases, over 50% of office space is under-utilised.

During the course of the presentation, David also touched on how our scheduling software has been designed to manage what is becoming an increasingly disparate and fragmented working environment. Workers now require a solution to their scheduling needs, encompassing the need to book hot desks and video-conferencing sessions as well the more traditional meeting rooms. Increasingly workers also want to integrate their bookings with their MS Outlook calendars and across several hardware platforms, such as iPads.

Following the briefing sessions, David and the team met with several of the delegates and conducted a series of product presentations. There was a tremendous response from visitors with particular interest being expressed in our range of mobile scheduling software solutions. Its ease of use and full MS Outlook/Exchange integration proved particularly congruent to participants’ needs.

In summary, the event proved to be very fruitful for both sponsors and visitors, with many new and exciting relationships forged as a result.

However, if you missed the opportunity to attend and are interested in the new technology entering the market over the next few years, we have recently added David’s presentation to our You Tube channel for you to enjoy at your leisure.

Feel free to visit our website where you can download additional resources and gain a good overview of the event.

The next event we are attending is at the IFMA Facility Fusion Show in Boston, MA, the 23-25 March. Please visit Stand # 525 to meet our team and see our ground-breaking mobile version of the Rendezvous Workspace room and resource scheduling solution.

We now have a new White Paper available to download for free. The Modern Workplace is the Mobile Workplace zooms in on a new generation of mobile worker; one who can hold any job title and who expects to be able to work from anywhere, at any time.

Our White Paper examines how this new mobile worker needs to work in a mobile workplace, also referred to as flexible workspace, hoteling, hot-desking or alternative workspace. Whatever you call it, this new way of working is steadily taking hold.

In order to manage your mobile workforce effectively, you will need flexible workspace-scheduling technology that can not only manage your traditional spaces – such as walled offices, cubicles and meeting rooms – but also new types of spaces – such as touchdown desks, collaborative space and video-conferencing & telepresence space.

Our Study also highlights the opportunity for mobile employees to schedule any type of space on their mobile devices, especially smart phones and iPads. With the new Workspace Mobile interface for Rendezvous Workspace, workers can use their iPads to search for and reserve any type of space to which they have access, and make changes to existing reservations.

Are you uncertain about how best to manage your new mobile workforce?

Our Workspace Mobile and Rendezvous Workspace solutions can help by allowing you to provide employees with the right mobile technology and the right scheduling tools, to manage the right types of space.

Find out more by downloading The Modern Workplace is the Mobile Workplace, our free white paper.

NFS are attending the Technology & Trends 2011 Executive Briefings for the first time ever and invite you to come and join us at this London event, which takes place 8^th and 9^th of March.

The mini conference will offer a condensed review of the latest workplace technology and innovations from larger, international shows such as CES, ISE and CeBIT.  It will focus on what new technologies are emerging for the workplace in the next twelve months, and how these innovations could affect the business world.

The briefings are a fantastic opportunity for anyone involved to create effective working environments, and also learn about technology enablers and the drivers of change. What are the key technologies being adopted by organisations to enable workplace innovation? How can you future-proof your workplace strategies?

NFS will be giving a short presentation about the company’s innovations for 2011, including Workspace Mobile, our new iPad interface for the Rendezvous Workspace scheduling solution. We will also have a stand, which you are welcome to visit and see the technology in action.

To register, please click here, but be quick.  Places are limited and many delegates have already signed up.  These include a mix of Managing Directors / CEOs, Heads of IT, Group Directors, Global Head of Facilities, Sales & Marketing Managers and Heads of Strategy. Delegates represent some big-name organisations, including AXA Insurance, Barclays Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, GlaxoSmithKline, Nokia Siemens, The British Council and the University of Salford.

See you there!

With our new, six-part eBook, Scheduling Technology – The Benefits, we hope to offer a comprehensive look at why organisations should consider implementation of an integrated software solution for room and resource booking, and the many business advantages they stand to gain through use of this technology. We also offer a checklist of features to look for when choosing a scheduling solution – because, after all, every business is unique, with its own set of requirements.

The first series of our eBook, Why Space Management is Important to your Business, focuses on the many benefits that are available to organisations that deploy a powerful scheduling solution.

Did you know that workspace scheduling solutions can save time, streamline operations,  increase productivity, reduce overall costs and also increase employee satisfaction? These are what we believe are the core business benefits of scheduling technology, and in the first part of Series One we explain how each benefit can be seen across organisations that use an integrated scheduling solution.

There are also a range of transformational benefits to be gained, including reducing operational costs, increasing mobility, offering better access, improving work / life balance and also lessening your environmental impact. A more detailed look at these benefits forms the second part of Series One.

But it doesn’t stop there. Here are some of the topics we’ll be following in later series:

• Scheduling Technology for the Mobile Workforce
• Managing Space Using Outlook Calendaring
• The Benefits of Video Conference and Telepresence Technology

Series One: Why Space Management is Important to your Business is now available to download on our website.  Click here to enter a few basic details – and start reading!.