NFS Hospitality technology solutions

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?

We are delighted to announce the latest in our series of informative webinars; the next discussion being: Rendezvous Workspace vs. Outlook – Why Outlook Isn’t That Great a Scheduling Tool.

This webinar will highlight how Rendezvous Workspace significantly extends and enhances what is already being done in Outlook in terms of room and resource scheduling. Focusing on our latest offering, it will include a live demonstration of this flexible and powerful scheduling solution as well as its benefits over using Outlook alone for scheduling.

Rendezvous Workspace works with Outlook in various ways, including:

• Full integration with Outlook – no need to disrupt your email session or open multiple applications; simply launch Rendezvous Workspace directly from Outlook.
• Ease of use – The user interface is uncluttered, user-friendly and efficient. With “drag and drop” functionality, schedules can be changed quickly on the fly and without the need to rekey data.
• Highly configurable – Rendezvous Workspace is customized to your exact needs and business processes, and it integrates fully with several database platforms.
• Portability – Simply use your laptop, smartphone, Blackberry or iPhone to do everything you can do in the office – book meeting rooms, hot-desks, catering and resources.
• Seamless automation – Save time by automating meeting reminders, change notifications, cancellation and service alerts.
• Video-conference scheduling – Schedule multi-timezone and multi-location video-conferences, and notifications will be sent automatically.
• Smooth Integration – Rendezvous Workspace is flexible; whatever your choice of email platform, it delivers. It integrates as seamlessly with Lotus Notes as it does with Exchange server technologies.
• Interoperability – With Rendezvous Workspace you are not tied to one browser. The system is interoperable and works perfectly with Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari and Opera.

To find out more about Rendezvous Workspace and to register to attend the free NFS webinar, visit www.myrendezvous.net/webinar.html today.