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Meeting management
for corporate and
public offices

We help large corporate offices, enterprises, and public offices easily operate meetings and workplaces, improving efficiency, collaboration, and employee satisfaction.
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The AskCody advantage

Revolutionizing meeting room management in corporate and public offices

Meetings are an integral and necessary part of every business, corporate or public office. What isn't necessary is the time spent planning and managing these meetings, the associated meting services, managing the guests, and taking care of all the meeting logistics.
 
Meetings are necessary to drive innovation and creativity in corporate offices. Meetings are where you collaborate. innovate. Where you drive revenue or create better supplier relationships. Meet new prospects. Meetings foster co-creation and transformation. It's where the business moves forward. Where you change. Where you reach new goals and milestones. Celebrate successes. Where you set the direction and move forward.
There is a but: The time spent on these tedious tasks to organize these meetings shouldn't be part of business or running a seamless, modern workplace. With office workers spending close to five hours per week on meeting management, meeting scheduling is often reported as one of the most time-consuming non-essential tasks during the average workday.
 
Efficient meeting room management is a cornerstone of productivity in large corporate offices, yet it remains one of the most cumbersome challenges for many organizations. From double bookings to mismatched resources, the traditional approaches to scheduling and managing meeting spaces often lead to operational inefficiencies and employee frustration.
 
AskCody offers a sophisticated solution, transforming how companies handle these essential tasks by integrating advanced technology with user-friendly interfaces.
The main challenges in managing meetings

Meetings are a team sport. AskCody makes your team, the winning team.

Meetings are an area where different organizational units must collaborate. Where it requires a team effort to create successful meetings. Facilities Management ensures the appropriate conference room design. The corporate kitchen prepares the food and beverages. Reception engages in visitor management. Finance settles costs and manages tax and cost centers. With a fair amount of complexity and collaboration, the right strategic meeting management tool can save your team time and boost your bottom line.
 
At corporate headquarters, meeting management can be time-consuming and costly. Cumbersome processes often exist for meeting managers to stay up to date on impending needs and ensure that everything is delivered to the right place at the right time to support the core of the business.
 
It goes on, and on, and on, and on... (But don't stop believing!)
 
 
Meeting room booking and management in large corporate offices often involve significant challenges and pain points that create friction and inefficiency. Here's a detailed look at these issues. The list could go on, and on, and on....

  • Complex Scheduling Tools: Many corporate offices use scheduling tools that are not user-friendly or intuitive, making it difficult for employees to quickly book rooms.

  • Lack of Real-Time Availability Data: Without real-time updates, employees might book a room thinking it’s free, only to find out it has already been taken. This leads to frustration and wasted time.

  • Limited Visibility and Access: In some systems, not all employees have visibility into all available spaces due to restricted permissions or segmented booking systems. This can prevent optimal use of meeting spaces.

  • Double Bookings: Without a robust system, rooms can be booked by multiple teams simultaneously, leading to conflicts and the need for last-minute adjustments.

  • Mismatch Between Needs and Resources: Finding a room with the specific equipment (projectors, video conferencing tools, etc.) and capacity needed can be tedious if such features are not well cataloged and searchable in the booking system.

  • Time Consumed in Booking: Employees spend a significant amount of time searching for available rooms, booking them, and sometimes re-booking due to conflicts or changes in meeting requirements.

  • Underutilization of Space: Some rooms may consistently be in high demand while others are rarely used, leading to an inefficient allocation of space.

  • Technical Difficulties: Issues with integrating room booking systems with other corporate tools like email clients and calendars can disrupt the booking process.

 

Without real-time updates, employees might book a room thinking it's free, only to find out it has already been taken. This leads to frustration and wasted time.

The downside and negative impact

The cost of poor meeting management

Studies and anecdotal evidence suggest that employees might spend 10-20 minutes booking a meeting room. For frequent meetings, this time can add up to several hours per month purely on administrative tasks related to meeting management.
 
The inefficiencies in meeting room booking can have several negative impacts on corporate offices. A suboptimal meeting room booking system can lead to several risks:
 
  • Reduced Productivity: Employees waste valuable time managing logistics instead of focusing on core activities.
  • Increased Frustration: Challenges in booking rooms can lead to frustration among employees, affecting morale and overall job satisfaction.
  • Ineffective Meetings: Meetings may start late or be rushed due to previous bookings overrunning, impacting the effectiveness of the meeting itself.
  • Operational Inefficiency: Poor use of resources can lead to higher costs and less effective use of office space.
  • Loss of Business Opportunities: Inefficiencies and delays can affect decision-making processes and client interactions, potentially leading to missed business opportunities.
  • Employee Turnover: Continued frustration with administrative processes can contribute to higher employee turnover.
 
These factors underline the need for an efficient, user-friendly meeting room booking system in large corporate offices. By addressing these issues, companies can improve operational efficiency, enhance employee satisfaction, and optimize the use of their office spaces.
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Not just a productivity killer

It impacts both employee and visitor experience, too

The impact of efficient or inefficient meeting room booking systems extends deeply into the workplace experience, affecting both employees and visitors in several ways. Disjoint or generic meeting management systems can impact employee experience on:
 
  • Productivity: An efficient booking system directly enhances productivity by reducing the time employees spend on administrative tasks such as finding and reserving meeting spaces. This allows employees to focus more on their core responsibilities and contributes to overall job satisfaction.
  • Morale and Satisfaction: Easy and reliable access to meeting spaces can significantly boost employee morale. Conversely, a cumbersome booking process can be a source of ongoing frustration, potentially leading to dissatisfaction and even affecting retention rates.
  • Collaboration: Effective meeting management encourages collaboration. When employees can easily find and book appropriate spaces, it facilitates smoother, more timely, and more productive meetings. This is especially important in environments that thrive on teamwork and creative collaboration.
  • Flexibility: In today’s dynamic work environments, the need for flexibility is paramount. A good system supports this by allowing employees to easily modify or cancel bookings, adapt to changes, and thus maintain agility in their work processes.
 
On the Visitor Experience, the potential negative impact must not be overrated:
 
  • Professionalism: The ease with which meetings are scheduled and managed often reflects on the company’s overall professionalism. Visitors and clients can perceive a company more positively when meetings start on time and are well-coordinated.
  • Efficiency: Visitors' experience of being quickly and efficiently directed to the right meeting location without unnecessary waiting or confusion significantly enhances their experience. This is particularly crucial for first impressions.
  • Comfort and Convenience: An efficient system ensures that meeting spaces are well-suited to the purpose of the visit, equipped with necessary technology and amenities, which makes the meeting more comfortable and productive for visitors.
  • Visitor Management: Integrated visitor management systems that accompany some room booking solutions can further streamline the experience by handling visitor check-ins, badges, and directions within the building, making visits smoother and more enjoyable.
The overall impact to any organization

Poor meeting management impacts daily operations

On the broader organizational perspective, poor meeting management has a impact, too.
 
The efficiency of meeting room management systems not only impacts daily operations but also contributes to broader organizational goals:
 
  • Brand Image: How meetings are managed can affect a company's brand image. Seamless integration of technology and efficient use of space can project an image of innovation and competence.
  • Resource Optimization: Effective use of meeting spaces can lead to significant cost savings and more rational use of office resources, aligning with sustainability goals by reducing the need for excess real estate.
  • Scalability: As companies grow, the demand for meeting spaces increases. A scalable meeting management system can accommodate growth without proportionate increases in administrative burdens or costs.
 
In conclusion, the way in which meeting rooms are booked and managed is pivotal in shaping the workplace experience, impacting everything from daily employee engagement to broader visitor impressions and organizational efficiency.

Thanks for trusting us with your meetings

Workplace Central header image

We give office admins the workplace overview to improve staff collaboration

Central makes it easy to manage room bookings, resource allocation, and service requests, all from one centralized platform.

Central is your calendar overview, which handles all workspace requests, ensuring smooth collaboration among your service staff.

This helps you effectively manage room setup, AV equipment, catering, and visitors.

Learn more about Central.

Track service requests back to client matter number with automated catering cost

With AskCody, you can seamlessly track costs back to a client/matter or general ledger number.

This makes it easy for firms to include catering in their meetings because all costs are automatically added to the correct account. 

In general, the Meeting Services portion makes AskCody a great fit for law firms, because we make it easy to book, edit, and keep track of service requests. 

Learn more about the Meeting Services.

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Visitor Management

We offer out-of-the-box visitor management

Visitor Management gives incoming guests a professional, white-glove experience when visiting your location. 

Having a tool to welcome guests helps the reception be prepared for arriving and departing visitors, print badges, sign NDA's and sent notifications to meeting hosts.

For law firm Eversheds Sutherland the AskCody Visitor Management solution has helped them get ISO certified because they can ensure guests' data is documented and tracked in accordance with the ISO standards. 

Learn more about Visitor Management.

See real-time meeting room and workspace availability

Showing real-time free/busy status on workspaces and meeting rooms in your office maps enhances your employee's workplace experience. Access to real-time information about the current and upcoming availability of desks and meeting rooms allows them to make informed decisions about where to work or hold meetings without manual checks or inquiries.

Providing efficient navigation and real-time availability of information contributes to a positive sense of empowerment and control over the workspace environment.

Learn more about Maps

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“A Wonderful Upgrade to our Room Reservation System!"

I LOVE that AskCody is integrated with Outlook. It makes reserving, editing, and canceling reservations so quick and easy. The interface is very easy to use and is so customizable to our needs. I love that we can make it our own and customize our rooms, vendors, and services from the Admin side"

Shayla Moore
Shaley MTraining Coordinator at Shook, Hardy, and Bacon

"Quality room management system with quality people supporting it"

I give AskCody 10/10. It is a phenomenal solution. Easy to implement. It's easy to train on, and it is easy to use. We use AskCody to allow our population to easily and confidently book rooms across all our offices, giving them the ability to do it themselves. Kind of removing the middle person"

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Luke SDir. Professional Development at Shook, Hardy, and Bacon

“It gives our clients coming in this concierge, white-glove experience"

“Having the responsibility back in the hands of the assistants allows reception to provide more of a concierge, white-glove experience for clients coming in.

Henry Chace
Henry ChaseCIO at Burns & Levinson

“An Outlook-based system makes training painless"

“With AskCody we have a system based on Outlook which everyone is already familiar with, so training of the end user is painless. The system can be explained in a clear, logical, and relevant way".

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Jennie DePhillipsTraining Manager at Burns & Levinson

“A massive productivity boost for our secretaries!"

"Our secretaries managed two or three attorneys and partners before. Now they're managing maybe five or six. It's only possible to manage that increased workload, because they can handle everything in one spot with AskCody. "

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Susann HollowayConference Services Manager at Eversheds Sutherland

“We handle all reservations and requests for a room under one roof"

"Admins can manage each reservation for a room and each request that is needed for that event or meeting all under one roof, really helped a lot with organizing and it's much better for our attorneys as well. Everyone gets it"

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Dale PollockConference Services Manager at Eversheds Sutherland
Simplified, integrated, and efficient

The AskCody solution for corporate and public offices

AskCody can significantly improve the meeting room booking and management process in large corporate offices by addressing the identified pain points and enhancing both the employee and visitor experience. AskCody is tailor-made for the corporate world, addressing these challenges with powerful and intelligently designed solutions.

  • Simplified booking process: AskCody integrates directly with the most used calendar systems, Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft 365, allowing employees to book meeting rooms seamlessly using the tools they already use daily. This integration helps eliminate the need to switch between different applications, thus reducing time spent on booking and minimizing errors or double bookings.

  • Real-time availability and advanced search features: AskCody provides real-time updates on room availability, preventing scheduling conflicts and frustration among staff. The system's advanced search features enable employees to filter rooms based on specific requirements such as capacity, location, and available equipment (like video conferencing tools or whiteboards), ensuring that each meeting's needs are met efficiently.

  • Mobile functionality: With mobile access to the booking system, employees can book rooms, check availability, or alter reservations on the go. This feature is particularly useful for dynamic work environments where decisions and changes happen quickly, enhancing flexibility and responsiveness.

  • Visitor management integration: AskCody’s visitor management features streamline the process of managing guests and visitors to your corporate office. This includes visitor pre-registration, automated notifications, and smooth check-ins at reception. It improves the visitor experience by reducing wait times and confusion, by making the reception area less congested and more organized, and overall improves first impression.

  • Office floorplans and room displays: For any office, AskCody offers interactive floorplans that help employees find their meeting locations efficiently, easily see room and workspace availability, or see where coworkers are located for the day. This reduces late starts and interruptions, enhancing productivity and improving overall meeting effectiveness.

  • Analytics and insights: AskCody provides valuable analytics that help facilities managers understand how meeting spaces are utilized. This data can inform decisions on space reallocation, adjustments in booking rules, and investments in additional resources or technology, ensuring that the office space is optimized for current and future needs.

  • Enhanced collaboration: AskCody enables better collaboration among teams by reducing the friction associated with booking and managing meeting spaces. Meetings can begin on time with the appropriate resources, supporting effective communication and teamwork, which are crucial for project success and innovation.

  • Integrated meeting service management and advanced service cataloging: AskCody is enhancing the conference service and catering experience in corporate offices by leveraging integrated technology solutions designed to simplify and streamline the management of conference services, service requests, and resources.
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For the modern workplace and enterprise

Spend your time on what matters to the business, not scheduling meetings

Overall, AskCody addresses the fundamental challenges of meeting room management in large offices by making the process more intuitive, efficient, and aligned with the daily workflows and technology ecosystems of modern enterprises. This not only enhances productivity and workplace experience but also positions organizations to better meet their strategic and operational goals.
 
In today’s fast-paced corporate environment, the ability to manage meeting rooms efficiently can significantly impact overall productivity and employee satisfaction. AskCody addresses the full spectrum of common challenges with a robust, integrated solution that not only enhances the booking process but also improves the entire meeting management lifecycle. By adopting AskCody, organizations can ensure that their meeting spaces are utilized effectively, supporting a more productive and collaborative workplace culture.

Common questions from corporate and public offices?

Can you set up privacy and confidentiality settings for meetings and visitors?

Yes, you have multiple settings to ensure privacy and confidentiality. 

You can setup private meetings to ensure information is kept confidential. 

There are also many options in the Visitor Management solution to ensure privacy and confidentiality.
Can you have assistants or PA's book resources on behalf of someone else?

Yes, with delegated access or shared access to calendars as configured in Microsoft Outlook.

Delegated Access gives access to the entire account, including calendars and email.

Shared Access gives access to calendars (i.e. can't send emails on behalf of other people).
What happens to catering or services orders when meetings are cancelled or rescheduled? Catering, services and additional resources follow your meeting. That's one of the best parts. We call it follow the meeting intelligence.

Meetings are canceled, rescheduled, postponed, or relocated all the time. That’s why all the assigned resources such as catering, AV and telepresence, meeting room equipment, and table arrangements follow the meeting if it is rescheduled. If a meeting is canceled, the assigned resources will be released automatically. The kitchen or the AV provider will be notified immediately from the AskCody Management Portal.
How does vendors or service providers work with AskCody?

AskCody is not just Outlook add-ins or meeting room booking system features. It's a complete Platform with a backend designed to make the meeting experience more efficient and effective than ever for providers of meeting services, office managers, facilities managers and real estate owners.

Office Managers can use the AskCody room reservation system to manage additional resources, workflows, items, bookings of corporate kitchens and canteens, and accept or reject bookings. Kitchen and facility managers can view at a glance what they need and how many people need meeting services, as well as the location. Now they have an instant one-stop interface with an updated overview in real-time.
Can data be exported? And what about cost center management or tax management for external meetings? With AskCody you get the data you need when you need it.

Your IT or Finance department will love the ease-of-use associated with the data export in AskCody. Data is simply exported to incorporate with accounting, databases, and ERP through simple CSV exports or by leveraging the AskCody API. 
Can I control who is able to book specific rooms?

Yes, you can support a decentralized room booking process with AskCody. Some users can request rooms with others empowered to approve their requests.

Learn more in this support article, user roles and membership hierarchy.

Let's show you how it's done!

Achieve meeting excellence and improve operations with AskCody
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