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SpaceIQ: Powerhouse, Industry-Leading Workplace Solutions

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 21, 2020 — When Archibus + Serraview acquired SpaceIQ in May 2020, leadership realized the combined brands needed a new name to accurately reflect the true power of the global workplace management technology business. They chose SpaceIQ. 

“The goals in selecting a new company name were to choose a name that clearly states what we offer and represents all three product lines. SpaceIQ met all of the criteria,” said Wain Kellum, SpaceIQ CEO. “We now have a business identity that describes the category we compete in (Space) and shows we will continue to build intelligent, category-leading products (IQ).” 

The new SpaceIQ is unlike any other workplace management company in that it provides products and services for small business to enterprise organizations on a worldwide scale, Kellum said. Archibus is known globally as the premier integrated workplace management software platform while Serraview is the go-to solution throughout much of Asia Pacific. SiQ, though a younger product, is considered one of the most innovative SaaS products in the industry. 

To avoid confusion with existing customers, the SpaceIQ product has been renamed SiQ. The other product lines will be known by their legacy names: Archibus and Serraview. The company created a new brand look and feel, including revised product logos. A new website is slated to launch in 2021. 

“We do understand that this change may cause some confusion in the market, which is why we have kept each of the product line names,” Kellum said. “Everything we offer, no matter the product line, always comes back to space. Archibus and Serraview are cornerstone products and will continue to be so—now under the SpaceIQ company name.” 

SpaceIQ helps our customers with: 

  • Real Property — Manage owned and leased space locally and across the globe 
  • Capital Projects — Manage projects and budgets related to space 
  • Maintenance — Keep up with space needs and prevent workplace downtime 
  • Assets — Manage and track assets within space and the workplace 
  • Sustainability & Risk — Ensure workplace compliance with safety in mind 
  • Workplace Optimization — Optimize your space use and occupancy 
  • Space Planning & Management —Explore, analyze at department and team-levels 
  • Reservations — Find and reserve space 
  • Employee Experience — Meet the digital needs of your most important asset: people 
  • Forecasting – Use future growth models to determine space and workplace demands 
  • Agile Seating – Flex your space to meet the needs of your evolving workplace 
     

To learn more about each of the product brands, visit spaceiq.com, archibus.com, or serraview.com

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How Smart Buildings and IoT Are Impacting CRE

Nearly everywhere we go—every conference, every client meeting, every networking event—people are talking about smart buildings and the Internet of Things (IoT). But for all the buzz, many CRE leaders still have a lot of questions about IoT technology: Is it really worth it? How can it help with space planning and optimization? What data will be useful, and what is just noise? What are the implications for privacy and security?

At Serraview, we talk a lot about IoT, and we’re excited about the possibilities it offers—after all, a huge strength of our platform is its ability to incorporate utilization data from a variety of IoT technologies so CRE leaders have accurate, real-time data about how space is used in their buildings. Read on to learn about the opportunities smart buildings and IoT provide and what to consider when bringing IoT technology into your workplace.

What Can Smart Buildings and IoT Do?

Improve Employee Experience

Smart buildings use technology to collect data and automate processes so they can better adapt to occupants’ needs. By providing data on how your employees use the workspace, smart buildings and IoT can make it possible for CRE teams to remove the roadblocks to productivity.

For example, a common issue for employees in any large office building or corporate campus is finding a suitable conference room when they need one. Companies are starting to solve this with sensors and beacons that detect room occupancy and activity. The next step is to make this data available to employees in a way that makes it easier to find conference rooms—for example, wayfinding apps or software can show, in real time, which rooms are free.

Serraview’s platform pulls in data from sensors or other IoT technologies, along with data from Microsoft Exchange or Google Calendar. This way, you can see rooms that are booked (someone reserved a room under their name for a certain time) as well as occupancy, which might show that booked rooms are actually not in use (or rooms that are in use without being reserved).

Armed with this data, you can implement new booking policies and systems to make it easier for employees to find a room, saving heaps of frustration and time wasted wandering hallways or rescheduling meetings. You can also use this data to better manage company resources—for example, if a large, in-demand room is typically only used by two or three people, it could be converted into two smaller rooms.

IoT technologies in the workplace also provide the data that help you make other decisions about your space and building amenities: get accurate data about fitness center usage, add or move soft seating according to employee preferences, or co-locate groups differently based on work patterns.

Discover other ways smart buildings and IoT can enhance your employees’ experience.

Energy and Operational Savings

IoT technologies integrate with building systems, like lighting and HVAC, to help both CRE teams and facilities managers run buildings more efficiently.

In particular, sensors that integrate with your lighting system can track room occupancy and activity. Based on the occupancy data, the sensors can automatically turn lights on and off. Having lights automatically turn on only when rooms or spaces are in use can translate to significant energy savings.

Sensors can also work with the building’s HVAC system to adjust the heating or cooling based on real-time occupancy data—another factor in the employee experience.

Factors to Consider

Cost

Of course, cost can be the biggest barrier to entry for many companies, especially those with large portfolios. Depending on the device or technology, there may be an initial purchase price, the installation cost, and a recurring fee to access the data.

However, depending on the technology, cost doesn’t have to be a huge factor. For example, if you’re already planning to replace your lighting system, installing lighting sensors is often a relatively small additional cost. Choosing technologies that integrate with systems you already have in place can also be more cost-effective.

Be sure to look at the lifetime cost of the device—not just the initial purchase and installation, but maintenance and ongoing costs like subscriptions to access the data. Consider the value of the data you’ll receive from the device. Will it be useful and make an impact when you’re making decisions about future leases and other initiatives?

What other decisions can be made with good sensor data?

Installation and Implementation

IoT technologies can be deployed in many different ways. Consider how much control you have over the nuts and bolts of your building when evaluating devices. Here are some questions to ask when evaluating your installation options:

  • Are you using a network already in place?
  • Do they need to be hardwired and installed?
  • Can you place them on a desk?
  • How are they powered: batteries, solar, Ethernet cables, etc.?
  • If they use batteries, how often do they need to be replaced?
  • If they are sensors or beacons, how many do you need to deliver the data?
  • How precise do you want your data to be—do you need visibility for each individual desk or just each floor?
  • How frequently does the software need to be updated?

If you’re planning a retrofit or new build, you may have a lot more options. But even if you don’t have that freedom, there are still plenty of IoT technologies that can be deployed without complicated installations.

Also, there’s little point in installing a utilization sensor or beacon if you don’t also have a platform or system, like Serraview, to collect, integrate, and analyze the data.

The business applications for smart buildings and IoT in the workplace are only going to grow. It may seem overwhelming, but now is the time to start looking at how IoT technology can provide greater efficiencies and experiences at your company. We predict that IoT will be an integral part of corporate real estate in the future.

Learn how Serraview integrates with IoT devices and other systems to help you make evidence-based decisions about your space—request a demo today.

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IoT and Space Planning: Which Integrations Provide the Most Value?

Make no mistake—the Internet of Things (IoT) is here to stay. In 2013, The McKinsey Global Institute listed IoT as one of 12 disruptive technologies that have the potential to transform life and business. Whether you’re just beginning to explore the options available to your office or you’re well on your way to a fully-integrated, smart workplace, it can be overwhelming to figure out where to put your attention and money. Do you need smart light bulbs or air quality sensors? Should you tag all your devices and equipment with QR codes to make it easier to file service requests?

For businesses, the Internet of Things makes a lot of promises: more efficient workspaces, better connection and collaboration, more data for companies to examine and use. We find that the real value comes when the data collected by IoT devices is integrated into a single software, creating high-level visibility of how your workplace functions. Let’s take a look at some of the Internet of Things business applications and devices that go above and beyond in the office:

Beacons and Sensors

Benefit: Accurate, real-time data about building usage and activity

These are the simplest and maybe the most ubiquitous Internet of Things technologies for businesses. Different companies use different names, but in most cases, they are small sensors that monitor foot traffic and activity in different rooms or at various workstations. Using these technologies, you’ll be able to learn which desks are used most often or if a conference room meant for 12 people never hosts more than six.

How to use it

The data gathered from beacons and motion sensors can help you make decisions about desk assignments (moving a team to a different floor for better collaboration, or removing assigned workstations completely). You probably already have an idea that certain workstations go unused or a certain room might be better suited as a collaboration space. If the beacon data backs up your assumptions, you can make a stronger case when proposing reassignments or other changes.

Beacons are also used in wayfinding tools and apps to help workers, locate a workstation, or choose a meeting room or collaboration space. According to Newmark Knight Frank, an average employee spends approximately 30 minutes a week trying to locate available meeting rooms. Depending on the size of your company, reducing this time can result in significant cost savings and boosts in productivity.

Find out other ways sensors can be used in an office to optimize space.

Sensors, similar to beacons, can track data like temperature and air quality (humidity, carbon dioxide levels, etc.), ambient light, ambient noise, and other factors. Over time, by combining the data you receive from your sensors or beacons, you can build a profile of the “ideal working environment” where your employees will be happy, comfortable, and productive.

Tracking activity and usage can also help you make decisions about your building systems, which brings us to…

Utilities

Benefit: Efficient energy usage and a lower carbon footprint

A smart thermostat that automatically adjusts the schedule of your HVAC system will likely start saving you money in utility costs almost immediately. It’s surprising how many HVAC systems are set to turn on hours before anyone shows up to work—smart thermostats make ongoing adjustments to the time and temperature for these systems to ensure they’re being used efficiently.

In the long-term, you’ll also save on maintenance and replacement costs. Since you’ll likely be using your HVAC system less, the equipment will last longer.

The same can be said for lighting. Smart bulbs can automatically adjust brightness and intensity to create a more comfortable work environment.

How to use it

Proactive maintenance reduces downtime: whether it’s a power outage or a malfunctioning heater that makes an office unbearable to work in, if you’re always reacting to maintenance issues, you’re losing money. Beyond using beacons or sensors and smart thermostats with your building systems, you can also track and monitor scheduled maintenance, inspections, and repairs to avoid glitches and outages.

Asset Management

Benefit: Faster turnaround on service requests

All your employees, along with your IT and janitorial staff, can use a single app to report everything from a damaged tablet to a leaky sink in the bathroom. Service requests can be filed and assessed quickly, and updates and progress reports communicated seamlessly. The collected data can help you make purchasing decisions.

How to use it

Start tagging every device, asset, and piece of equipment with a serial number or QR code. This makes reporting issues easy. It is also helpful when a manufacturer issues a safety recall for a certain chair model—you can quickly locate those chairs throughout your workspaces.

Well-Being

Benefit: Healthier, happier employees who are engaged and productive

Many offices face pushback from employees when trying to implement IoT technology because it feels like an invasion of privacy. One way to respond to that is to show how these devices and apps provide a direct benefit to the employee.

How to use it

Allow your employees to opt into an app that lets them set and track progress towards activity goals. Start a competition—which team can reach their goals first? Who can log the most steps each week or attend the most “walking meetings”?

Learn more about overcoming employee objections: Passing the What’s-in-it-for-Me Test

There are sit/stand desks that connect to an app where each employee sets her preferences for the desk height. The app makes it easy for her to move to different workstations each day and have them automatically adjust to her preferences. In the meantime, you’re able to gather more data to make further improvements to her work environment.

The Internet of Things for Business Will Only Grow from Here

One of the Internet of Things’ great business benefits is its flexibility. There’s not one particular device or technology that defines IoT, so you can choose the technology that makes the most sense for your business and add to your system or adapt it over time. You can also run pilot tests with certain devices in small areas before implementing them throughout your entire portfolio.

One thing is sure, though: the data to be gained from the Internet of Things for business will become more and more invaluable and far reaching. With software that integrates with this technology, you’ll be able to make better, data-driven business decisions about everything from facilities management to allocations.

Learn more about how Serraview’s space planning platform integrates with IoT technology. Request a demo today.

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Why Employees Shouldn’t Be Worried About Location Aware Apps

There is a great scene in Season 4 of Parks and Recreation when Ron Swanson learns about “cookies” and Aubrey Plaza’s character winds up showing him Google Earth (spoiler alert: he throws his computer in the trash).

Most of us are more tech-savvy than Ron Swanson. We know that a lot of our personal data exists on the internet. We accept that fact because we get huge value from online services and communities. We actively allow mobile apps access to our location for a huge range of services:

  • Navigation (Google Maps, iMaps, Uber)
  • Social Connections (Find My Friends, Tinder)
  • Finding Services (Yelp, OpenTable)
  • Accessing Promotions (FourSquare, Facebook)

But when it comes to our work lives, should employees be worried about location-aware apps?

The key to location awareness is this: improve experience by reducing effort. In all of the above cases, location is providing real value to the consumer: improving safety, saving time, providing choices or saving money. Google Maps was so enormously successful because it made printing and studying physical maps obsolete. Uber took the guesswork out of finding an available taxi and removed all effort from payments.

So when employers are considering implementing location-aware apps, they need to ask: does it pass the What’s-in-it-for-Me (WIIFM) test?

Overcome objections by focusing on WIIFM

In the workplace, the most common objections to location awareness stem from a fear of micromanagement. If my employer knows my location, does that mean they are tracking my every movement? Will I get in trouble for a long lunch break? How exactly are they using this data?

While these are genuine concerns, workplaces are increasingly recognizing the important of outcome based measurement. The trend in workplaces is towards recognition of the importance of workplace engagement to building and retaining happy, effective employees. The emphasis is shifting from metrics like minutes spent on deliverables (legal & accounting) and calls answered (contact centers) to outcomes like customer and employee satisfaction, loyalty and retention.

In consequence, the rise of location-aware workplace apps more commonly supports the employee value proposition: providing tools to protect and empower workers. At Lighthouse.io we see 3 key value propositions for location-awareness in workforce apps:

1. Safety and/or Security: workforces have long deployed solutions to protect worker safety or security – security guards posted at entrances, access cards restricting entrance to a building, face recognition cameras, etc. So, tracking for safety and security purposes is a value that is well-understood by workers in many industries. Location-aware apps are an extension of existing solutions using newer, potentially more effective technologies.

2. Convenience: we love things that make our lives easier and, in today’s on-demand society, the definition of “hard” can simply come down to too much time spent searching or too many clicks. Location-aware apps make workers lives easier by presenting information at the right time and place.

Take for example office hoteling apps. Just 5 years ago, hoteling involved booking a desk or office in advance, checking-in on a computer terminal and searching for your assigned desk. With location-awareness, hoteling now involves simply walking in, seeing an open space and sitting down. Check-in and phone routing can happen without the employee ever needing to do a thing.

3. Experience/ Engagement: according to a recent Gallup poll, 70% of workers say that they are not engaged at work. But when they are, they are 87% more likely to stay with the company. Common drives for engagement include flexibility, training, collaboration and strong community. And, with workforces that are increasingly distributed, mobile apps provide a huge opportunity to promote flexibility and collaboration while maintaining a sense of community.

Location-aware apps extend the mobile proposition to employees by reducing the effort to collaborate and access company services from their mobile. Location-based messaging to connect with nearby colleagues, employee feedback surveys and at-your-desk services are just some of the ways innovative companies are using location-aware apps to attract and retain talent.

Avoid miscommunication when making the change

Best intentions aside, companies can often fall down in implementation through miscommunication and misunderstanding. The quickest way to incite a backlash among employees, is to make a change without telling them. The Daily Telegraph discovered this when they installed sensors to detect space utilization in their offices. While the expressed purpose of the sensors may have been to create a better work environment (and the value to executives was well understood), the fact that employees were not notified in advance created the sense of something more sinister.

It is easy for a board member to understand the value of knowing employees location, but communicating value to the employee requires bridging the context gap between executives and the front line. For example, an executive at a facilities management company may understand the value of tracking janitorial workers for protection against slip and fall. But how well is that same risk understood by the janitor who is using the app?

When communicating value to the janitor, the company must not only make sure that the magnitude of the slip and fall risk is understood, but also, focus on features that make the janitor’s job easier – like the removal of cumbersome forms and check-in procedures.

Ask for permission

The best thing about mobile apps is, installation can be a form of requesting permission. Good location-aware apps communicate the value proposition to the employee during the install process and get express permission from users to know their location.

If the app is not optional, make sure you have a good process for communicating what it does, what are the benefits and why it is needed. Address concerns about privacy outright and have an open discussion about program goals and what tracking really means.

Engage employees in the process

Acceptance comes from participation. And like any change initiative, the person who best understands the value (and potential objections), is the one you’re asking to use it. Involve employees in the design process and incorporate their feedback. Better, now that you’re using a mobile app, deploy it as a means of gathering feedback from your employees.

Final Thoughts

Employees shouldn’t be worried about location-aware apps, because the apps themselves should be explicitly tailored to their needs, helping them do their jobs more easily, safely and efficiently. And if employers can effectively deliver on those goals, they need not worry about adoption.

Speak with a solutions advisor today.

This post was originally published by Lighthouse.io. Lighthouse.io is a provider of IoT powered mobile workforce management software.

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Wayfinding: An essential step for increasing productivity and engagement

In what’s being called “the modern workplace”, productivity and engagement drive everything. From large corporations down to rising startups, companies are exploring new workplace offerings to improve employee experiences. While some businesses experiment with 6 hour work weeks, others are testing out health and wellness programs. Both are often well received and even boasted about, but implementing and supporting these programs long term can be cumbersome and may not be the best fit for every company culture.

Instead of trying to increase productivity and engagement with supplemental tactics, progressive corporations are introducing wayfinding solutions to alleviate daily headaches for employees. Wayfinding is the leveraging of integrated building technologies to deliver employees real-time visibility into the availability of high demand resources; such as conference rooms, desks, and even fellow colleagues.

According to Steelcase Inc., 40% of employees waste up to 30 minutes a day looking for meeting space. And with most employees attending 62 meetings per month, that’s a lot of valuable time lost! Wayfinding tools show employees what rooms are available now, when the room is booked, and what amenities and technologies are available per room. When employers make it simple for employees to find the type of space they need, it not only improves the employee’s overall experience in the workplace but allows them to be more productive with their time.

In fact, according to CBRE’s 2017 Americas Occupier Survey, 53% of organizations name promoting collaboration as the main driver for their workplace strategy. To collaborate effectively, employees not only need the right resources but also must be able to find their fellow co-workers quickly and easily. Wayfinding tools simplify locating a colleague, and contacting them, by pulling in the employee directory. It’s as simple as searching for the person you need and clicking “call” or “email” to be instantly connected, making each collaborative session more efficient and effective.

To learn more about how wayfinding addresses these issues, watch our video blog.

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High-Tech Commercial Occupancy Sensors for Agile Space Planning

The following is a guest blog written by Itamar Roth, Chief Business Officer at PointGrab.

Agile workplaces are a smart strategy for solving a number of pressing corporate problems: reining in mounting property costs by optimizing space, supporting workforce mobility, and attracting and retaining talent.

However, planning and managing these flexible environments is challenging because of the nature of agile spaces: people are constantly moving around and occupancy shifts from day to day, even hour to hour. Agile space planning requires a real-time in-depth understanding of how your workforce uses space, including the floor, room and desk level. If you attempt to implement agile workplaces without reliable business intelligence about space utilization, chances are you’ll fail to gain the benefits you’re looking to achieve.

Innovative occupants’ activity sensors can provide up-to-the-minute intelligence about space utilization that’s needed to plan and manage modern workplaces. In the past, commercial occupancy sensors most commonly were used for automating lighting or HVAC control. Today, intelligent Internet of Things (IoT) sensor technology can be used to help lower expenses and design workplaces that provide the optimal employee experience.

Here are some of the latest advancements in commercial occupancy sensors and how they overcome some of these challenges.

Horizontal sensing vs. traditional commercial occupancy sensors

Counting the number of people occupying a space is useful for a number of facilities operations, including managing lighting, controlling HVAC, managing meeting space usage and room booking systems, and even for building security. However, in the past, separate sensors managed each of these functions without crossover. Today, with the IoT transformation, computer vision and AI advancements, “horizontal” sensing devices can share data across many building systems, meaning facility managers can implement one sensor platform to communicate with and manage various building automation requirements.

TIP: Deploying a unified sensing platform also makes it easier to monitor and analyze data using Serraview’s space analytics tools and heat-maps.

Image sensing and AI improves ability to count people for space management

Many traditional commercial occupancy sensors use motion-detection to infer the presence or absence of people within a defined space. Therefore, such sensors cannot determine the number of occupants in the given space.

Other people-counting technologies, such as beacons, can provide location details, but they require employees to install a smartphone app, keep it switched on and carry the device wherever they go inside the building. Without participation, the accuracy of these systems is questionable. In addition, they might “count” nearby employees who are just outside the designated count area (e.g. a meeting room).

More advanced occupants’ activity sensors use imaging technology to “see” people (as opposed to objects) within a defined space to provide an accurate headcount and occupants’ tracking information. These sensors are surprisingly smart, as they not only “see” but also analyze the scenery. Using deep-learning neural network technology, such sensor devices can accurately detect the presence, location, count and movement of occupants across countless scenarios and environments. As a result, these devices can provide more detailed and accurate information about occupants, well beyond merely reporting the absence or presence of people within a space.

Edge analytics technology protects occupants’ privacy

Corporate space planners need accurate space utilization data to provide better work spaces that support mobility and collaboration. However, they must collect that intelligence without compromising the privacy of employees. Occupants’ activity sensors that employ edge analytics provide intelligence and the required level of privacy, since all the data processing happens within the sensor itself. That means no sensitive or identifiable information (such as occupant’s image) is stored or transmitted, therefore there is no privacy compromise.

Extending range and reducing maintenance

In a flexible office environment, it’s essential to track seat availability in real time to power wayfinding and desk booking systems that help employees find spaces to work. Even in traditional spaces, meeting room seating must be monitored for availability and occupancy tracked to better optimize meeting space. However, putting traditional and single-purpose desk sensors under every seat can become expensive. Even beyond the cost of the sensors, there is the cost of installation and the cost of replacing batteries regularly.

Occupants’ activity sensor technology is hard-wired to eliminate battery changes. And, instead of being installed under every seat, ceiling installations increase the range, allowing a single sensor to track up to 15 seats simultaneously.

Demand-controlled ventilation reduces energy use

Intelligent sensor technology is becoming useful for increased control of building systems like HVAC, which not only reduces costs but provides a more comfortable environment for the workforce. Demand-controlled ventilation is a great example. Ventilation brings air into the space from the outside, which must be heated or cooled to a set temperature. Traditional ventilation is designed to vent space according to its maximum capacity, which today is rarely 100%. Venting at 100% capacity wastes a great deal of energy, especially in very hot or cold climates.

Demand-controlled ventilation reduces HVAC energy consumption by 20% by using actual space utilization data from sensors to adjust ventilation according to real-time demand. Monitoring CO2 levels is one way to measure the need for ventilation within a space. However, occupants’ activity sensors can respond faster to changing numbers of people without waiting for CO2 levels to rise and fall, and reports these numbers to the HVAC system. The result is better indoor air quality, which can impact both workforce wellness and productivity.

Daylight harvesting provides smarter lighting control

The same occupants’ activity sensors that count people in a space can also be used to provide the optimal lighting conditions and further reduce energy consumption. In modern workplaces with lots of windows and natural light, photo cells are used to precisely monitor the lighting conditions within a space. The sensors take advantage of natural light, when and where it’s available, and reduce your building’s lighting accordingly. This process is called “daylight harvesting.”

While using a few photo cells for daylight harvesting has been shown effective, it is still limited in analyzing the complete light distribution in a defined space. By contrast, the same image sensor that is used for occupants’ detection applications contains thousands of photo cells, allowing it to “see” the varying lighting conditions within a region of interest. That data can be used to understand which lights can be dimmed and which powered up within a given area. The result is optimized lighting distribution, reduced energy consumption, and a better workplace experience for employees.

The workplace tools used by facilities and corporate real estate teams need to keep up with the smart technology the workforce is implementing. Smart building technology, especially intelligent sensor technology, has advanced rapidly in recent years, contributing to significant cost reductions and a more productive environment that supports the modern workforce.

Download Best Practices for the Modern Workplace today.

*PointGrab is a computer vision company that provides an innovative sensing platform to the smart building industry. The company applies its superior deep-learning technology to accurately track and understand human activity and space utilization. This enables building operation efficiency optimization, higher real-estate and space utilization, and energy savings.

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Smart Building Solutions for Corporate Safety & Employee Experience

IWMS 2.0 – Driving lower costs and speed through integrated best in breed systems

According to Gartner, the “traditional, siloed management of the facilities life cycle is being challenged by bimodal business, the digital workplace, a mobile workforce and the Internet of Things (IoT).”

With the emergence of new workplace models and technologies, we are starting to see a shift away from traditional Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS) to stand-alone software systems integrated through common APIs in order to achieve true best of breed capabilities across multiple service needs. In fact, one of the original founders of the IWMS concept, Michael Bell, has defined this shift as IWMS 2.0. According to Mr. Bell, IWMS 2.0 has the potential to achieve lower costs, faster implementation and valuable data-driven insights.

At Lighthouse.io we are strongly aligned with Michael Bell’s IWMS 2.0 vision. We are focused on solving very specific challenges for facilities managers such as;

  • How to improve the visibility of facilities services delivered?
  • How to improve efficiency and quality of services delivered?
  • How to use data to optimize delivery of facilities services?

Watch Lighthouse.io in action:

For a facility manager, these challenges form only one part of their overall remit. Whilst it’s tempting to build out a system that covers the entire facilities management function, we realize that by doing so we would be sacrificing the quality of our core product. Therefore, our preference is to integrate with complimentary products that are best of breed and solve a different set of challenges for facilities managers.

To illustrate the IWMS 2.0 model in practice, let’s explore how Lighthouse.io could integrate with another best in breed software product – Serraview. Serraview is a leader in space planning and management. Lighthouse.io is a leader in commercial cleaning software and optimizing delivery of facilities services. Combined, these two products can provide facility managers with an end-to-end solution for managing employees, assets, and delivery of facilities services.

Faster work order resolution through crowdsourcing issues

Serraview empowers employees with a wayfinding mobile app that allows them to find co-workers, locate open conference rooms, find meeting rooms, and navigate buildings. With a small amount of effort, this app could be extended to allow office employees to report maintenance, safety and cleaning issues. The issue would be sent to Lighthouse.io, via an API, and the appropriate responder would be notified via the Lighthouse.io mobile app. The issue would be managed via Lighthouse.io automated workflows until resolved, at which time the original employee who reported the issue would be notified via the Serraview mobile app.

Benefits:

  • Faster identification of building issues through crowd-sourcing
  • Faster resolution of issue through API driven cross-platform workflows
  • More satisfied employees through faster issue resolution and cleaner and safer work spaces

Employee feedback on standard of facilities

The traditional model for assessing the quality of facility services, such as cleaning, is via manual auditing. In simple terms, walking around a facility and scoring cleanliness for different areas of the facility. However, when you think about it, the facility services are provided to satisfy the needs of the end users, being the employees. Therefore it makes sense to let employees rate the quality of service delivered, and for facilities managers to use this data to assess the performance of service providers.

Employees could use the Serraview mobile app to rate the standard of facilities. This data could be sent to Lighthouse.io, providing facilities managers and service providers with a real-time quality score of facility services and employee satisfaction. Scores could be bench-marked across different facilities and low scores could trigger intervention by the service provider.

Benefits:

  • More reliable measurements for state of facilities and service provider performance
  • Ability to respond quicker to quality issues through real-time data and alerts
  • Ability to benchmark employee satisfaction with service across multiple sites

Improved employee satisfaction through demand-based cleaning

Serraview uses IoT sensors to understand how space is being utilized. This real-time utilization data could facilitate new service models such as demand based-cleaning. For example, Serraview could detect increased levels of activity in shared spaces such as meeting rooms, bathrooms, kitchenettes and send this data to Lighthouse.io via an API. If the activity levels exceed a defined threshold, Lighthouse.io would automatically create a non-scheduled task for a nearby cleaner.

Benefits:

  • More efficient use of resources, only cleaning areas that need attention

We hope that the examples provided demonstrate some of the benefits of an IWMS 2.0 approach to facilities management using two best in breed software systems. Even without tight integration, at Lighthouse.io we are firm believers that choosing a set of best in breeds systems has the power to reduce costs and increase speed and quality of services provided.

Download a guide to managing workplace utilization today.

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Making the Case for Workplace Management Software at Your Company

The following is a guest blog written by Alison Dahlman of Condeco Software, leading providers of occupancy sensing and digital signage technology, as well as room and desk booking tools. Condeco works with the world’s most progressive brands to reconfigure and maximize their dynamic workplaces.

When you consider the expense of having a private workspace, you begin to realize where you can improve efficiencies and cut costs – and what company isn’t looking for simple, effective ways to do this throughout their enterprise?

To start, evaluate your workspace usage. As you can see from the diagram below, most businesses assume they have 60-70% workspace utilization, when it is significantly lower.

Take into account that real estate is among the highest expense for a business, the financial implications for more efficient workspace usage are huge.

Here’s why you should make the case for workplace management software:

4 Major Factors that Affect Workspace Needs

1. The Rising Cost of Corporate Real Estate

Globally, real estate costs are at an all-time high. As your operating costs rise, it is imperative your company maximizes real estate and monitors usage to avoid wasted space.

2. An Increase in Flexible & Remote Job Opportunities

As companies offer greater work flexibility, the number of flexible or remote employees has increased. By 2020, researchers predict that flexible working will be the main mode of working for 70% of organizations.

Related article: How the Gig Economy Is Impacting the Corporate Workplace

3. Productivity is Key

Rather than measure how long someone spends at a desk, productivity needs to be monitored in terms of goals and deliverables. If you adapt to the physical and virtual world of work, you can foster greater productivity.

Related article: How Do You Measure Knowledge Worker Productivity

4. Attract & Retain the Best Talent

The average cost to replace a team member is $40,000, so keeping your top talent is a worthwhile investment. Additionally, when seeking prospective employees from younger generations, think about building a corporate culture that’s more in-tune with today’s work and lifestyles.

Related article: 3 Workplace Strategies for Attracting Top Talent

Solutions that Save Time and Space

Modern workplace technology, including room booking and desk booking software, digital signage for meeting rooms and workspace occupancy sensors, help businesses address these four workplace challenges. Innovative workplace management software enables companies to simplify their space management, maximize workspace usage and minimize overall space needs, ultimately cutting costs. Smart companies today want workplace management software that comes with benefits such as:

  • Improving employee performance – your workforce will enjoy the accuracy, convenience and flexibility of the workspace. Whether it’s having meeting rooms available for collaboration or an open desk for individual work, employees will be able to use these resources when and where they need it – decreasing downtime, increasing productivity.
  • Driving better decisions – by knowing how workspaces are used on an hourly, daily, weekly and monthly basis, companies can analyze this data to develop their workplace allocation strategies and future real estate plans.
  • Improving the bottom line – with fewer wasted resources. Do-it-yourself workspace bookings, as well as better use of existing real estate and future real estate ventures, result in reduced costs.

To help bring the benefits of these valuable innovations to your company, take a closer look at how they can aid key individuals and support groups by downloading our Making the Case for Workplace Software guide. It details frequently encountered workplace challenges and the advantages of workplace management software for nine roles (or operational groups) found in most companies.

Transforming your business with these new technologies can be easy with the right workplace management software and technology partner. Many major corporations are already realizing significant savings on real estate and resource requirements, resulting in better performance on the bottom line. Be sure that your company joins that list.

Does traditional IWMS meet the needs of the modern workplace? Learn more.

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Serraview & Accruent Integrate Workplace Management Solutions

The recent announcement of Serraview’s partnership with Accruent has generated quite a buzz in the corporate real estate arena.

In case you missed it: Accruent Announces Strategic Partnership With Serraview

We’ve been getting a lot of questions, so today we’re letting you in on some of our plans and the unique opportunities our combined workplace management solutions will bring to companies transitioning to the modern corporate office.

Why have Serraview and Accruent teamed up?

Serraview and Accruent are both leading providers of workplace management solutions for companies looking to shape, drive, manage and control their real estate portfolio. Our goals are perfectly aligned: to enable corporations to make the best use of physical spaces and transform them into strategic assets.

Accruent’s workplace management solutions are at work in more than 5,800 leading organizations worldwide, including 40 of the top 100 retailers, 25 percent of the Fortune 500, 40 percent of leading universities, all 4 of the top U.S. wireless carriers, 55 percent of U.S. hospitals as well as leading service providers managing more than 15 billion square feet of property. Moving to the modern workplace is one of the primary concerns of these companies and institutions. The integration with Serraview ramps up support for organizations to realize the massive benefits of transforming and optimizing their work space, including:

  • Delivering destination workplaces that attract and retain talent
  • Supporting an increasingly diverse and mobile workforce
  • Enabling a corporate culture that fosters innovation
  • Savings tens of millions or more by eliminating wasted space and maximizing utilization

Find out more about the impact of workplace management solutions on workplace transformation from this white paper: Best Practices for the Modern Workplace.

How does the partnership better support the modern corporate office?

Today’s workplaces need to provide additional value for organizations that was never anticipated in years past. Pressure to reduce property costs remains high, but at the same time CRE organizations must optimize workplaces to enable innovation, attract talent, boost productivity and improve employee experience in the workplace.

Many progressive companies are accomplishing these goals by moving away from traditional allocated seating and transitioning to flexible shared spaces that workers can use as needed. Doing so allows organizations to reduce property costs by optimizing use of space, as well as provide workplaces designed to support mobility and enable each team to work the way they work best.

Learn more: Emerging CRE Tech for Workplace Space Optimization

The partnership between the Serraview and Accruent provides companies with workplace management solutions designed specifically for agile environments built around shared neighborhoods rather than assigned desks. Serraview’s space planning technology manages modern office space based on real-time utilization: visualizing space, creating what-if scenarios, right-sizing neighborhood allocations based on occupancy levels, and pinpointing opportunities for savings. Serraview also provides wayfinding technology that improves the employee experience in the workplace by helping employees find people, find colleagues and find meeting spaces in a large facility.

 

What are some of the new capabilities planned for the integration?

Here are just a few examples of how we’re planning to integrate Serraview’s and Accruent’s workplace management solutions:

Improve scenario planning with strategic data access. Serraview’s stacking and what-if scenario planning tools make it easy to combine pockets of vacancy into a contiguous space that can be freed up for other uses. You might be able to sublet the extra space, or even exit the space altogether. By adding easy access to Accruent’s leasing products, space planners can check lease expiration dates and sublet options when making space optimization decisions.

Enhance employee experience with integrated fault reporting. In many organizations, it’s cumbersome for employees to report on facility issues (such as malfunctioning equipment, broken furniture or HVAC problems). As a result, these problems often go unresolved for extended periods of time. Which leads to workplace faults that impact employee experience as well as productivity. Integrating Serraview’s wayfinding tools with Accruent’s facilities management tools can solve these issues by providing employees with an easy way to report repair issues. The wayfinding tool pops up a quick form for reporting, while communicating the user’s exact location to facilities staff, who gain a line of sight to where problems are so they can be taken care of on a timely basis.

Streamline the Move-Add-Change process. Managing moves within an organization is typically a time-consuming process involving several groups. Within Serraview, space managers receive space requests, find vacancies and make assignments, and schedule the move process. Accruent’s work order tools tee up the facilities staff to move boxes and furniture. And the IT staff that handles the technology changes required for the move. Integrating the two workplace management solutions will connect those two parts of the move process, allowing work orders required for the move to be created from within Serraview.

Our respective product and business development teams are excited by the potential of this new partnership, and we’re just beginning to scratch the surface of the functional enhancements we can provide for our clients in our combined workplace management solutions. Feel free to reach out to us with your questions!

Can traditional IWMS meet your evolving needs? Learn more.

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Digital Wayfinding: Employee Experience Tools for Hybrid Workspace

As large organizations shift to modern, agile workplaces featuring non-assigned seating, there are many changes for employees. One of the biggest changes is giving up their desks and figuring out where they will work each day. With improving employee experience being one of the goals of the workplace transformation, the last thing you want is people having to walk the halls to find a desk every day. That’s the obvious reason why companies implementing agile working need a digital wayfinding system.

However, today’s digital wayfinding tools can do much more than help mobile workers find a seat. They can help to enable collaboration, boost productivity, optimize workspace, and serve as a secret weapon for the CRE team to monitor and improve employee experience.

Employee experience is critical in the hybrid workplace

Implementing agile workplaces is on the radar for most large organizations, but a full transformation can take years to accomplish. Many companies are making the move in stages, with some areas of the business going agile while others stay in traditional spaces (sometimes even within the same building). These so-called “hybrid” workplaces serve to reduce property costs while allowing the organization make a gradual cultural shift to a more modern way of working.

However, hybrid workplaces do present unique challenges for the corporate real estate team and the employees alike. For one thing, the new space may be visible and accessible even to those who are still assigned to the traditional space. That’s an opportunity to showcase the benefits and smooth the way for future projects. It also means there’s a lot riding on the outcome.

Here’s a resource that’s packed with tips to guide CRE teams in implementing modern workspaces that produce results: Best Practices for the Modern Workplace

Read on to learn some surprising ways that a digital wayfinding tool improves outcomes both for workers and for the CRE team.

3 ways digital wayfinding tools improve employee experience in a hybrid space

Digital wayfinding saves time and frustration for workers, boosting their productivity and making it easier for them to collaborate.

1. Finding a spot to work

Moving to an agile workspace can be challenging for workers who are accustomed to having an assigned desk. Here’s a common scenario when people have to use typical desk booking system:

  • People have to take the time to book a desk every single day. Adding yet another task to already busy people will not help champion the cause of the flexible workspace.
  • People forget to book a desk, so they just wander around until they find a seat.
  • Typical desk booking systems become inaccurate. Spaces that appear to be reserved are empty, and those that appear free are taken. So people still have to resort to wandering around the building looking for a seat.

This is not the kind of employee experience you had in mind for your modern workplace, is it? Here’s how that experience works with a digital wayfinding tool powered by real-time utilization data:

  • When people arrive, they glance at the kiosk in the elevator lobby, which shows currently empty seats highlighted on a floor plan. (Employees can also see this information by opening the digital wayfinding app on their phones or tablets).
  • They walk over and sit down. The floor plan automatically updates to show this seat as occupied, so no one else will attempt to sit there.

What could be easier? Not only are employees happier, they’re also not wasting time every day trying to find a space to work.

 

2. Finding a meeting room

Locating the right meeting space can be frustrating for everyone, especially for a meeting not planned in advance. Just like the desk booking system, room reservation systems have annoying limitations:

  • People book rooms for recurring meetings that are discontinued, but they never cancel the reservation. The room shows as booked when no one is using it.
  • Large conference rooms are taken by small groups of people, leaving the large groups scrambling to find a space.
  • Reservation systems may not provide information about tech equipment available in the room.

As a result, it can be difficult for groups to find an available room. The problem is compounded when they need video conferencing or other tech equipment in the room. Again, they are forced to walk the floors looking for a space to meet.

How does the process work with a digital wayfinding system?

Using a mobile app, locate a room with the needed capacity, equipment and amenities. The heatmap confirms that the room is currently unoccupied. Head on over for an impromptu collaboration session, or reserve the room for later if needed.

3. Finding a person in an agile space

When people no longer have an assigned seat, employees can be challenged to find one another in an agile workspace. That situation can be an impediment to collaboration, the exact opposite of what you’re trying to achieve.

A digital wayfinding system powered by real-time network presence data helps everyone in the hybrid work space to locate one another. Here’s how it works:

  • Using the same kiosks or mobile app, search for a person.
  • See their current location, and walk over or locate an available desk nearby.

Even people working in the traditional space, or visitors who don’t know their way around the building, can use the digital wayfinding system to find their co-workers in the agile space.

Watch this video to see digital wayfinding in action: How Can Wayfinding Technology Shape Employee Experience?

Digital wayfinding: the benefits for CRE

Accommodating the needs of everyone in a hybrid workplace (with both traditional and agile spaces) can be tricky for CRE. Consider the following scenarios.

Optimizing meeting room space

In most traditional workplaces, conference room availability is not optimized for the needs of the teams using the space. You’ll typically find large rooms being booked for groups of 2 or 3 people, while other groups struggle to find space. In an agile space powered by utilization tracking and digital wayfinding, CRE has the data to optimize the space and improve employee experience at the same time.

For example, utilization data can reveal the optimal sizes for conference rooms, allowing CRE to reconfigure the space to provide more, smaller rooms to accommodate more meetings. That gives employees the freedom to have the impromptu collaborative work sessions that are proven to drive innovation.

Learn more: Workplace Transformation Strategy: Is Yours Based on Data or Perception?

When the agile workplace goes viral

When you unveil a new, modern workspace, the news travels fast. As agile workers discover all the benefits of the new space, they will be talking about it to all their co-workers. People still working in neighboring traditional spaces will visit out of curiosity. Some will even decide to use the meeting rooms and even begin working there regularly, even though they may not be assigned to the new area.

That can lead to overcrowding in the new space, and a potential problem for the CRE team. A digital wayfinding system that’s powered by network presence data can tell you how many unauthorized workers are using the agile space. That data can then provide the ammunition to gain approval for expanding the agile space to accommodate all the workers who want to use it, as well as expanding the company’s workplace transformation efforts overall.

Learn more: 9 Steps to Implementing Change in the Workplace: Agile Spaces

See how wayfinding can help you. Request a demo today.