IT Update - Smart thinking could provide cash boost
Business Network Magazine, October 2009
An efficient conferencing system could save your firm a considerable amount of money writes Paul Statham, managing director of RNM Systems
The landscape of the business world is changing. Companies have cut their corporate travel budgets and are now investing in video and WebEx conferencing systems, bringing meetings in-house to cut costs.
However, meeting room culture across most UK organisations is generally wasteful and poorly managed.
Whilst there is a common perception that meeting rooms are always occupied, in reality usage levels are traditionally at around 60 per cent.
Meeting room no shows are the most common and frustrating problem, especially amongst large organisations with a considerable number of meeting rooms.
In some cases, up to 40 per cent of booked rooms can be affected by no shows. This means that rooms will remain empty when they appear to be booked and that audiovisual equipment and catering is often ordered and not used – a huge drain on company budgets and resources.
Based on the number of no shows and the catering costs for large organisations, it is estimated that around £50K can be lost per year.
If companies are going to increase their use of meeting rooms these issues need to be addressed. The first step should be to implement a real time booking tool that enables employees to cross reference, book, cancel or postpone meeting rooms, as well as order necessary audiovisual equipment and catering facilities, from an easy-touse platform.
Touch-screen technology installed outside meeting rooms (above) can also prove beneficial. Employees can check-in and out of the meeting room before and after a meeting. If nobody attends the meeting, the room will be released and considered empty, allowing others to take full advantage.
Organisations need to understand that whilst adorning conference rooms with innovative video conferencing technology can save them substantial amounts of money, there is no point in doing so unless there are systems in place that helps employees to better manage this space and get the most out of their conference room facilities.