Rethinking Room Booking and Workspace Analytics – Cisco Webex Rooms is Changing the Game Again

The Safe at the Office, Productive Anywhere series highlights new AI-driven experiences that enhance the remote experience & provide a safe return to the office

New Innovations with Cisco Webex Rooms

As most of the world has delayed a return to the office, Norway has been one of the first to begin phasing people back. It can be a little unnerving given the amount of uncertainty in the world, but fortunately for me and my team, we’ve been hard at work for quite some time building devices and software that just makes life easier at the office. And it couldn’t come at a better time. I mean, who wants to spend those precious few minutes between meetings scrambling to find an available room or go through a tedious process when booking it? I sure don’t. And other people seem to agree.

According to a new global workforce survey, 57% of employees at large organizations are frustrated by booked but unused meeting rooms. It’s obvious there is a need to remove the friction and frustrating tasks around room booking so that people can focus on what really matters – getting stuff done. And, I’ve spoken to so many CIOs who have expressed the additional need for transparency in how spaces are being used. Webex continues leading the way with AI innovations that extend to the meeting room and beyond delivering the tools to streamline this.

Activity Sensors and Analytics

In order to optimize meeting space usage, you need sensors – sensors that understand human presence, that can count people, measure different environmental factors, and see whether people are in a call or presenting. Whilst the value of sensors is undeniable, they traditionally have come with a set of challenges. They are hard to manage and maintain, they’re not upgradable and require frequent replacements. Cisco Webex Rooms devices solve this with sensors that are already built-in, secure, and upgradable – and best of all, at no additional cost.

Further, IT administrators need visibility into every device on the network regardless if it is being used at home, remotely, or in the office. We are now releasing more advanced analytics than ever before, bringing you historical data that you can slice and dice, all available through Cisco Webex Control Hub. In addition to historical data, you will also have the ability to go deeper into each workspace to find out what is happening in real-time, including the ability to set capacity limits to provide alerts when the maximum number of people in the room is exceeded.

You can find information on scheduled meetings, including who has booked which meeting room, and for how long. These actionable insights provide IT admins and facility managers with critical information right at their fingertips. Need to optimize your real estate? No problem. These new features give you an intuitive way to navigate the new normal and having insight into the interactions between devices on-site and remotely will surely contribute to making better ROI decisions by providing insights to key stakeholders within the organization such as HR, Workplace Experience, and Real Estate.

AI Room Booking and Webex Navigator

Sensors make room booking solutions intelligent. And when combined with the AI processing power of Webex Room devices and the Webex Hybrid Calendar, rooms can start being autonomous. For example, the intelligence built into our devices can recognize whether the room is in use or not and release it, providing a simple and intelligent way of making sure that booked meeting rooms are optimally utilized – saving employees time and headaches.

What’s more, people feel safer when they don’t have to scramble to find a room, not in use! We also announced the Cisco Webex Room Navigator, our own touch-panel solution for room booking. It is like an upgraded Touch 10, but where the Touch 10 is an amazing accessory to our Webex Rooms Devices, the Webex Room Navigator is a life of its own!  The Cisco Webex Room Navigator is an intuitive, 10-inch control unit designed to aid collaboration by providing instant access to meetings, contacts, directories, content, and more. The new Webex Room Navigator and our Room Booking solution is truly a game-changer – accessible, cost-efficient, and versatile. Plus, the Room Navigator sure looks very sleek mounted to the wall outside your meeting room.

In addition to the intelligent room booking solution, you can also use the Webex Assistant to interact with the room. Simply voice a command to book, extend, or start a meeting without ever having to touch the device! A touch-less, consumer-grade experience for your meetings? Yes, please.

I am beyond excited for you to experience all of these innovations for yourself, and I am sure they will amplify collaboration experiences and optimize space usage. Do you want to learn more about how to implement this in your company? Check out the IT Admin guide.

Learn more about the Cisco Webex Room Nagivator, offering intuitive, instant connections to video conferences, room controls, content sharing and room booking 

Learn More

Safe at the Office, Productive Anywhere with Webex 10X Better Experiences

Link to all Sandeep’s monthly update blogs

Intelligent, Insightful, and Inclusive: Welcome to the Office of The Future

New Cisco AI Innovations Help Companies Plan for a Safe Return to the Office and Help Employees Be More Productive from Anywhere [blog series]