8 Meeting Room Booking System Software

If you’ve ever watched “The Office,” you’ve likely chuckled at the chaos that often accompanies work meetings. From booking conflicts to missing supplies, the humor is all too relatable. According to the Future of Meetings Report 2021, employees spend an average of 21.5 hours per week in meetings. This statistic underscores the need for effective meeting management, especially in our current hybrid work environments. The meeting room booking system—a crucial tool for ensuring meetings run smoothly and efficiently.

What are Meeting Room Booking Systems?

Meeting room booking systems are software solutions designed to help organizations manage their conference rooms and shared spaces effectively. These systems streamline the process of reserving rooms, ensuring that all employees can find and book meeting spaces with ease.

These systems function by providing a centralized platform where users can see real-time availability of meeting rooms, make reservations, and manage bookings. They eliminate the chaos of manual booking and ensure that meeting spaces are utilized efficiently.

Common uses of meeting room booking systems include scheduling one-on-one meetings, brainstorming sessions, confidential discussions, and team meetings. These systems often integrate seamlessly with calendar and email software, making it easy to schedule and manage meetings directly from tools like Outlook or Google Calendar.

5 Benefits of Meeting Room Booking Systems

Eliminate Double-Booking Frustrations: Double-booking is a common frustration in many offices. Meeting room booking systems provide real-time room availability, automatically resolving conflicts and preventing double-bookings. This ensures that all bookings are honored and no one is left scrambling for space.
Ease of Booking: These systems simplify the booking process. Administrators can set up detailed room profiles that include room size, capacity, and available equipment. This helps employees book the right room for their needs without unnecessary back-and-forth.
Distributed Booking Responsibilities: By providing self-service booking tools, meeting room booking systems reduce the burden on administrative staff. Employees can book rooms themselves, which empowers them and ensures that booking responsibilities are distributed evenly.
Planning for Additional Items: Meeting room booking systems allow users to request additional items like screens, video conferencing tools, and other supplies during the booking process. This ensures that all necessary equipment is available and set up before the meeting starts.
Insight into Space Utilization: These systems provide valuable data on room usage, helping organizations optimize their real estate investments. Insights into which rooms are most frequently used and which are underutilized can guide decisions on space allocation and office layout.

Why Your Business Needs a Meeting Room Booking System

Increased Efficiency and Productivity

Automating the booking process significantly saves time and reduces administrative overhead. Traditionally, booking a meeting room involved checking availability manually, coordinating with multiple stakeholders, and updating everyone involved. This manual process is time-consuming and prone to errors.

Time Savings: With an automated booking system, employees can quickly view available rooms and make reservations with just a few clicks. This efficiency frees up time for more productive tasks.
Reduced Administrative Overhead: Administrative staff no longer need to manage room bookings manually. The system handles bookings, cancellations, and rescheduling, reducing their workload.
Focus on Core Tasks: By streamlining the booking process, employees can focus on their core responsibilities rather than dealing with logistical issues.

Enhanced Collaboration

Easy access to meeting rooms fosters better teamwork and collaboration among employees. A well-functioning booking system ensures that teams can quickly find and reserve meeting spaces without the hassle of booking conflicts.

Seamless Scheduling: Employees can easily find and book rooms that fit their needs, facilitating impromptu meetings and brainstorming sessions.
Promoting Teamwork: Access to appropriate meeting spaces encourages regular team interactions, enhancing collaboration and innovation.
Flexible Meeting Options: With features like hot-desking and hoteling, employees can choose the type of space that best suits their collaborative needs, whether it’s a small huddle room or a large conference room.

Improved Space Management

Meeting room booking systems provide valuable insights into how office space is utilized, helping organizations optimize their real estate investments.

Utilization Data: These systems generate reports on room usage, showing which rooms are most frequently booked and which are underutilized.
Space Optimization: Armed with this data, organizations can make informed decisions about space allocation, potentially reducing real estate costs by repurposing underused areas.
Cost Savings: Optimized space management can lead to significant cost savings by reducing the need for additional office space and improving the efficiency of existing facilities.

Key Features to Look for in a Meeting Room Booking System

Real-Time Availability and Booking

The importance of real-time updates and instant booking capabilities cannot be overstated. These features ensure that employees can always access the most current information, avoiding conflicts and ensuring smooth scheduling.

Real-Time Updates: Users can see up-to-date availability of meeting rooms, ensuring they book spaces that are actually free.
Instant Booking: The ability to book rooms instantly reduces the time spent coordinating and waiting for confirmations, streamlining the entire process.
Conflict Prevention: Automatic conflict resolution prevents double bookings and ensures that all reservations are honored.

Integration with Existing Tools

Seamless integration with calendar applications, email systems, and other workplace tools is crucial for a meeting room booking system.

Calendar Integration: Syncing with tools like Outlook or Google Calendar allows employees to manage all their bookings from a single platform.
Email Notifications: Automated email notifications keep users informed about their bookings, cancellations, and any changes, ensuring everyone stays on the same page.
Workflow Efficiency: Integration with existing tools enhances workflow efficiency, reducing the need to switch between different applications.

User-Friendly Interface

A user-friendly interface is essential for ensuring that all employees can easily navigate and use the meeting room booking system.

Intuitive Design: The system should be easy to use, with a clear and intuitive design that allows users to find and book rooms quickly.
Accessibility: Features like mobile apps and web-based access ensure that employees can manage their bookings from anywhere.
Minimal Training Required: A simple, straightforward interface reduces the need for extensive training, allowing employees to start using the system immediately.

Customization and Scalability

Customizable features and scalability are important to meet specific business needs and accommodate growth.

Customizable Options: The ability to customize room profiles, booking rules, and user permissions ensures that the system can be tailored to the organization’s specific requirements.
Scalability: As the organization grows, the system should be able to scale accordingly, supporting an increasing number of users and meeting spaces.
Adaptability: Customizable features allow the system to adapt to changing business needs and evolving work environments.

8 Meeting Room Booking Software Solutions

Meeting room booking software solutions come with various features to meet different organizational needs. Terms like hot-desking and hoteling are common in these systems, referring to flexible seating arrangements and temporary workspace reservations, respectively.

AskCody

AskCody is a comprehensive meeting room booking solution that integrates natively with Outlook. It offers mobile apps and provides valuable workplace insights, making it a robust choice for organizations looking for seamless integration and detailed analytics.

Native Outlook Integration: AskCody’s integration with Outlook makes it easy for users to book rooms directly from their calendar, reducing the need for switching between different applications.
Mobile Apps: The mobile apps ensure that users can book rooms on the go, check availability, and manage reservations from their smartphones.
Workplace Insights: AskCody provides detailed analytics on room usage, helping organizations optimize their meeting spaces and make informed decisions about space management.
Room Search by Various Parameters: The standout feature of AskCody is its ability to search for rooms based on various parameters such as capacity, location, and available equipment, making it easy to find the right room for any meeting.

Cons: Despite its robust features, AskCody has limited customization options, which might be a drawback for organizations with specific needs.

Pricing: AskCody offers tiered pricing plans, catering to different levels of requirements and organizational sizes. Detailed plans are available on their website.

Condeco

Condeco is a versatile meeting room booking system that integrates with Microsoft 365, offering enhanced team visibility and mobile app support. It is designed to facilitate better coordination and space management in dynamic work environments.

Microsoft 365 Integration: Condeco’s seamless integration with Microsoft 365 allows users to schedule and manage bookings directly from their existing calendar system, improving efficiency.
Team Visibility: The platform provides comprehensive visibility into team schedules, helping to avoid conflicts and ensuring that everyone is on the same page.
Mobile Apps: Condeco’s mobile apps enable users to manage bookings, check room availability, and even find colleagues within the office space on the go.
Scheduling Space Near Colleagues: A unique feature of Condeco is its ability to help users schedule meeting spaces near their colleagues, enhancing collaboration and convenience.

Cons: The mobile app can be buggy at times, and the interface is noted to be somewhat complex, which may require a learning curve for new users.

Pricing: Condeco offers user-based plans with optional add-ons, providing flexibility to scale according to organizational needs.

Kadence

Kadence is known for its support for multiple integrations and team coordination features. Its simple and intuitive interface makes it a popular choice for businesses looking for straightforward meeting room management.

Multiple Integrations: Kadence supports integrations with various tools, making it versatile and adaptable to different workflows.
Team Coordination: The platform excels in facilitating team coordination, ensuring that meeting rooms are used efficiently and that teams can collaborate effectively.
Simple and Intuitive Interface: Kadence’s user-friendly interface makes it easy for users to navigate and manage their bookings without extensive training.
Pro and Enterprise Plans: Kadence offers flexible pricing plans, including Pro and Enterprise options, catering to different organizational sizes and requirements.

Cons: Some users have reported browsing issues, which could affect the overall user experience.

Meetio

Meetio stands out with its features designed for modern workplaces, including social distancing measures, an intuitive mobile app, and clear floor plans.

Social Distancing Features: Meetio has incorporated features to support social distancing, ensuring safe and compliant use of meeting spaces.
Mobile App: The mobile app is user-friendly and allows for easy booking, management, and checking of room availability.
Intuitive Floor Plans: The platform provides clear and intuitive floor plans, making it easy for users to locate and book the right meeting room.
Traffic Light System for Availability: A notable feature is the traffic light system that indicates room availability at a glance, enhancing the booking experience.

Cons: Meetio requires hardware for some of its functionalities, which could be an additional cost for organizations.

Pricing: Meetio offers annual software licenses with optional hardware packages, providing flexibility based on organizational needs.

Robin

Robin is a feature-rich meeting room booking system that offers custom office maps, real-time availability, and visitor management. It is designed to enhance office space utilization and streamline booking processes.

Custom Office Maps: Robin allows for the creation of custom office maps, helping users navigate the office and find available meeting rooms easily.
Real-Time Availability: The platform provides real-time updates on room availability, ensuring that users can book rooms efficiently without any conflicts.
Visitor Management: Robin includes visitor management features, enhancing security and coordination for meetings involving external guests.
Community-Building Functionality: A unique feature is its community-building tools, which help foster a collaborative office environment.

Cons: Some users have reported bugs in the app, which can impact the user experience.

Pricing: Robin offers a range of plans, including Starter, Team, and Enterprise options, catering to different organizational sizes and needs.

Skedda

Skedda offers interactive floor maps, rich analytics, and custom automation, making it a comprehensive solution for meeting room booking and space management.

Interactive Floor Maps: Skedda’s interactive floor maps provide a visual representation of available meeting spaces, making it easy for users to book rooms.
Rich Analytics: The platform offers detailed analytics on room usage, helping organizations make data-driven decisions about space management.
Custom Automation: Skedda allows for custom automation of booking processes, reducing administrative burden and improving efficiency.
Car Park Management: A standout feature is its car park management capability, which integrates parking space bookings with meeting room reservations.

Cons: Skedda generally receives positive reviews with no major complaints noted.

Pricing: Skedda offers Core, Pro, and Premium plans, each with a range of features tailored to different organizational needs.

WorkInSync

WorkInSync supports modern workplace needs with features like hot-desking, auto-cancellation of ghost reservations, and enhanced digital wayfinding.

Hot-Desking: The platform supports flexible seating arrangements, allowing employees to book desks as needed.
Auto-Cancellation of Ghost Reservations: WorkInSync automatically cancels reservations that are not checked in, ensuring optimal use of resources.
Enhanced Digital Wayfinding: The system includes advanced wayfinding tools, helping users navigate the office and find meeting rooms easily.
Standard, Professional, and Enterprise Plans: WorkInSync offers a range of pricing plans to suit different organizational requirements.

Cons: Some users have expressed a desire for more advanced features.

YAROOMS

YAROOMS offers comprehensive features including visitor management, hybrid work planning, and a carbon dashboard for monitoring emissions.

Visitor Management: YAROOMS includes robust visitor management features, ensuring that meetings with external guests are well-coordinated.
Hybrid Work Planning: The platform supports hybrid work models, helping organizations manage both in-office and remote work arrangements.
Carbon Dashboard: A unique feature is the carbon dashboard, which helps organizations monitor and reduce their carbon footprint.
Business and Enterprise Plans: YAROOMS provides flexible pricing options, catering to different organizational sizes and needs.

Cons: The platform lacks Slack integration, which could be a limitation for some users.

Conclusion

Meeting room booking systems are essential for modern workplaces, helping to streamline the booking process and optimize space utilization. By adopting one of the mentioned solutions, organizations can improve their meeting management efficiency and ensure that all employees have access to the resources they need for successful meetings