Ricoh Meeting Room Services help organisations get more value from their workspace
Developed with global partner Condeco, new offering
optimises meeting room use and reduces associated costs
Ricoh Europe, London, 19 November 2014 – Ricoh Europe has launched Meeting Room Services, an integrated package of consultancy, delivery and support to help customers increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their meeting room facilities. Meeting Room Services forms part of Ricoh’s global Workplace Services offering to help organisations make better, more efficient use of their office space.
Based on a global partnership with Condeco, the provider of market-leading technology for meeting facilities, Ricoh’s Meeting Room Services use real-time data on the utilisation of the meeting space within a customer’s operations to pinpoint opportunities for improvement. Using the insights gained, Ricoh consultants then develop a targeted plan to enhance the layout of meeting facilities, and the systems that support the scheduling of meetings. With Ricoh’s support, customers can increase the utilisation of meeting space, raise productivity and potentially reduce workspace leasing costs.
Using Condeco technology, Ricoh enables customers to track when meeting rooms are being used and how long for, and make this information available to employees. With a clearer idea of when rooms are available, meetings can be scheduled more promptly, helping to increase productivity.
To improve the efficiency of meeting booking processes, Ricoh provides an integrated, end-to-end meeting booking solution that combines room scheduling and sending invites with other tasks such as reserving car parking spaces and lunch for visitors. Meeting hosts can also ensure that remote collaboration resources, such as video conferencing services, are activated for a meeting, helping to reduce costs and boost sustainability efforts by encouraging less business travel.
While managers oversee room usage, individual employees can book a room on the fly, manage no-shows, begin a meeting and release the room when finished by swiping their ID card or entering a PIN code via a Condeco touch screen attached to each room. For further precision, wireless sensors can be added to remotely track actual room utilisation.
Meeting Room Services also enable customers to provide dynamic digital signage in reception areas to make it easier for visitors to determine where meetings are being held. Updated through a simple web-based system, this provides a more effective and efficient alternative to traditional office signage.
Carsten Bruhn, Executive Vice President, Ricoh Europe says, “The rising cost of commercial real estate is increasing operating costs for organisations across a range of industries. In key markets, the cost of a meeting room can now exceed €15,000 annually. Despite this, we know that in a typical organisation, this space will lie unused nearly half the time.
“Our Meeting Room Services help customers to tackle these issues by increasing the utilisation of their facilities and boosting the efficiency of admin processes for scheduling meetings. With our targeted support, organisations can provide their workforce with more useful and accessible meeting facilities. As well as supporting the bottom line, this raises productivity by making it quicker and easier for employees to schedule important meetings.”
“Optimising meeting room space is about gaining insight into how the current space is being used. Not just a gut feeling, but real time data and facts on utilisation and occupancy” said Paul Statham, CEO of Condeco. “Combining the real-time insights Condeco’s technology provides with Ricoh’s expertise helping customers optimise their workflows ensures that organisations benefit from a complete solution that helps them get the most out of their meeting space.”
About Ricoh
Ricoh is a global technology company specializing in office imaging equipment, production print solutions, document management systems and IT services. Headquartered in Tokyo, Ricoh Group operates in about 200 countries and regions. In the financial year ending March 2014, Ricoh Group had worldwide sales of 2,195 billion yen based on the IFRS accounting standard (approx. 21.3 billion USD).
The majority of the company’s revenue comes from products, solutions and services that improve the interaction between people and information. Ricoh also produces award-winning digital cameras and specialized industrial products. It is known for the quality of its technology, the exceptional standard of its customer service and sustainability initiatives.
Under its corporate tagline, imagine. change. Ricoh helps companies transform the way they work and harness the collective imagination of their employees.
For further information, please visit www.ricoh.com/about/
About Condeco
Powering Change. Condeco is the leading provider of integrated meeting room, desk booking and space utilisation technologies. Our robust software and exceptionally designed digital signage is the most feature-rich and versatile on the market. Condeco powers your business to change the way you work and manage your real estate more effectively.
For further information, please visit www.condecosoftware.com
