Misys pioneers modern workspace technology
Facilities Management Online 11/05/2009
Misys is a global software and services provider that serves financial and healthcare customers in over 120 countries.
Founded in 1979 and listed on the London Stock Exchange, the company recently moved its headquarters to a new build in Paddington, London that now caters for its 620 UK employees.
The Misys office move was scheduled for June 2008 and the company planned to migrate from a traditional cubicle-based office environment to a more modern open floor plan, which would see even the higher-level executives and directors integrated amongst the rest of the staff.
To coincide with the office move, the Misys IT department was tasked with looking for cost-effective solutions that would help with the day-to-day running of the business and enable smarter working amongst its employees. In keeping with Misys new working culture and building and facilities, the technology would have to be avant-garde and visually appealing to blend in with the modern surroundings.
One of the main requirements was that the technology implemented should raise the utilisation of the company’s office space, especially with regards to meeting rooms. With 26 internal meeting rooms and seven client facing briefing rooms in the new building, the challenge was to ensure that all Misys staff had better access to these facilities that no shows were managed more effectively and that meeting room occupancy was boosted significantly.
Prior to the office relocation, Misys approached workplace management specialist
RNM Systems and following several meetings decided to implement the company’s out-of-the-box workplace management software suite, Condeco.
Phil Davies, Head of I.S Central Services at Misys, said: We found Condeco instantly appealing as it would integrate with our Intranet and allow every member of staff to book meeting rooms in real-time in advance of a meeting, as opposed to booking through a centralised system, operated by a receptionist. The integration of Condeco was pain-free and smooth it was up and running in time for the office move and our staff could access the system and book meeting rooms online from the very first day.
He continued: Our priority from the offset was to raise the utilisation of the meeting rooms and to guarantee that staff could take full advantage of these facilities without the usual problems of double-bookings and no shows. Condeco would not only help us to convert room booking into a self service task, but it would also allow us to factor in a variety of different resources, like audiovisual and video conferencing equipment and catering, which can also be ordered through the system.
In addition to Condeco’s room booking module, RNM Systems also installed Condeco Room Sign, digital signage with touch screen capability, in front of every meeting room. Displaying real-time information on meetings taking place, the screens would enable staff to check in and out of the rooms before and after a meeting. If nobody attends the meeting, the room is released and considered empty, allowing others to take full advantage. Room Sign would also enable Misys to identify areas of mismanagement and educate staff accordingly.
Nine months since the office move, the installation of Condeco at Misys has significantly transformed the way the company manages meeting spaces. The system has dramatically improved the company’s meeting room active occupancy rate, which has increased from 70% to over 85%. The user-friendly interface bolted onto the company’s Intranet has given all Misys staff the luxury of having fair access to the company’s meeting room facilities and resources.
Now that we have an efficient room booking system in place, our staff have moved away from defensively block booking rooms for weekly meetings, that sometimes never happen, to being more realistic about their meeting room requirements. With video conferencing on the rise, we are finding that both Condeco Room Booking and Condeco Room Sign are becoming vital components in the way we work and both have benefited the company substantially, commented Phil.
Our relationship with RNM Systems has prospered throughout the year and the company has been impressively quick at resolving any teething problems we had with the software. The room booking module has been so effective that we are considering rolling it out to additional Misys sites. We have also installed Condeco Visitor Management at the Paddington site and are currently looking into implementing RNMs desk booking solution too, he concluded.