Dive Brief:
- Logitech has released a suite of smart office tools to help improve workplace experience for employees and strengthen analytics for business IT teams, the company announced Tuesday.
- The Auto Book and Auto Release features can automatically reserve and cancel room bookings based on workplace behaviors, with status updates reflected in Logitech View, an interactive tool that provides a digital office map that aims to make navigation easier in large office complexes, the company said in a Nov. 12 news release.
- These tools attempt to provide operators with more accurate data on which rooms are used, helping to streamline workplace room bookings, as employees report problems with finding and reserving meeting spaces, Logitech said. The software will also help to ensure that conference rooms are equipped with technology at the right time and that facilities teams have the information needed to optimize office real estate, according to the release.
Dive Insight:
Nearly 90% of workers surveyed by Robin reported that their companies use meeting room booking software, according to a 2024 return-to-office report by the workspace platform provider, which polled nearly 600 full-time hybrid employees at companies “that are embracing flexible work.” Among survey participants whose companies do not use meeting room booking software, 74% said it can take up to 10 minutes to find a free meeting room.
More than half of the nearly 5,000 employees surveyed across 11 countries by Steelcase in 2022, including a majority of U.S. respondents, expressed a desire for hybrid collaboration spaces, single-person enclaves for hybrid meetings and workspaces with full or partial enclosures. Fifty-seven percent cited the desire for reservable workspaces.
Further, one in four employees feel their technology does not effectively support hybrid collaboration meetings, according to the findings of another survey of 10,700 participants reported by Unispace in October. As employees seek flexibility, businesses must tailor their workplace designs and strategies to accommodate flexible scheduling and invest in workplace technology and customization options that can meet the needs of different workstyles, enabling workers to customize their day-to-day experience, according to the Unispace report.
“With hybrid work so pervasive, the office can feel like the Wild West,” Henry Levak, vice president of product at Logitech for Business, said in a statement, noting that the smart office tools bring predictability and insights into these dynamic work environments.
The Auto Book and Auto Release tools can help with common problems that cost employees time during the day – reserving rooms when employees start using them, releasing space when nobody shows up to use it, and automatically canceling meeting series after multiple no-shows, with changes reflected in organizations’ calendars, Logitech said.
By leveraging AI-powered, in-camera sensors within Logitech’s Rally Bar, workplaces can “automatically detect and respond to natural workplace behaviors with no human intervention needed,” Levak said. “Employees can focus less on manual actions and more on collaboration, and IT admins get a realistic picture of which rooms are actually used, not just which rooms are booked.”
The availability status of rooms is also reflected in near-real time in Logitech View, which aims to help hybrid workers and visitors with easier wayfinding through color-coded visibility of meeting rooms, workstations, amenities and exits, per the release. These maps can be displayed on large monitors or TV screens. These interactive maps allow users to book rooms directly or search for colleagues desks, Logitech said.
These features can be used with Appspace, Envoy, Microsoft, RICOH Spaces, Robin, Zoom, and other booking platforms, Logitech said. The View, Auto Book and Auto Release tools are available as part of the Logitech Essential or Select service plans, priced at $199 and $399 per room annually, respectively, according to the release.
In August, Logitech announced an integration of its meeting room scheduling panel, Logitech Tap Schedule, with Envoy’s conference room scheduling software, Envoy Rooms, with an aim of helping employees automatically reallocate rooms, streamlining meeting room management and reducing the administrative burden of managing meeting spaces.
