Table of Contents
To deliver on a seamless member experience, when it comes to meeting rooms, booking and access control systems can’t operate in silos. If your meeting rooms can’t be used the way your members actually use them, then that’s a problem. Really, that boils down to two things:
- Being able to reserve a specific room in-advance a and then access that room at the reservation time
- Being able to access an available room spontaneously a for those impromptu meetings or calls
Facilitating the first scenario is often achievable by integrating a booking system with access control. However, where it falls short is the on-demand access scenario, where an integration can’t make a booking and unlock the door in real-time.
You might be thinking, then why bother locking my meeting rooms? By leaving them unlocked, they’re left open to members using them without a reservation, users squatting in rooms, resulting in a poor experience for those that have made a booking and ultimately, lost revenue for you.
To make your meeting rooms really work, bookings and access must work together in real-time, ensuring that when a reservation is made, access is automatically enabled with no delays and no manual intervention. This is what transforms a basic booking into a smooth end-to-end journey, that provides a great member experience and ensures your meeting rooms drive real value.
In flex workspaces, meeting rooms are some of your most valuable spaces – to both your business and your members – so it’s important that they’re facilitated properly.
Operational Benefits
For operators the benefits go beyond member satisfaction. Integrated systems reduce admin overhead, automate routine processes, and unlock better ROI from your space. By removing friction, you can optimize utilization, streamline day-to-day operations, and free up teams to focus on higher-value work. No longer do your teams have to manage bookings manually, or patrol floors to make sure they’re not being used without a reservation.
Commercial Benefits
Bringing bookings and access together like this can drive real commercial value. Without access control on your meeting rooms, you’re leaving them open to squatters (members using the room without a booking). Whether you bill in cash or credits, this directly or indirectly impacts the commercial value that your meeting rooms provide, because you’re not capturing their true worth. Integrating bookings and access control on your meeting rooms drives value by capturing all meeting room usage, increasing bookings and, therefore, increasing billings.
Experience Benefits
The last thing you want when adding access control to your meeting rooms is to create friction. Going old school with traditional lock-and-key systems forces members to retrieve a key every time they need a room. Even integrating a standard booking system with conventional access control falls short as it doesn’t provide true on-demand access. But a solution that can bring the two together seamlessly, offering access via mobile wallet passes, can deliver a frictionless, digital-first experience for members.
Real-World Use Cases
Scenario 1: Pre-booked Meetings
Member A schedules a client meeting in advance through their mobile app. When the reservation is confirmed, the system automatically syncs with access control, updating credentials so the room can be unlocked by the meeting attendees at the scheduled time.
The result: a smooth, professional experience for both the member and guests, with no bottlenecks or delays. For operators, it’s a closed-loop system that reduces manual oversight, maximizes room utilization, and creates a premium, bookable experience that enhances the value of shared spaces while ensuring only authorized members use them.
Scenario 2: Ad-Hoc/Spontaneous Meetings
Member B needs a room for an impromptu meeting. They find an available meeting room, and simply “Tap to Book” by tapping their phone on the access control reader. This instantly creates a 15-minute booking, records the charge (if applicable) and unlocks the door. Member B can extend the booking in the app if they need more time.
The result: tenants enjoy spontaneous, hassle-free access to meeting spaces, while operators can track usage in real time and make smarter decisions about space management.
Bringing Bookings and Access Together
By connecting booking and access in one seamless flow, operators make life easier for tenants while removing unnecessary admin. The result is a smoother day-to-day experience for users and more efficient operations behind the scenes. It also provides greater visibility into how spaces are being used, enabling operators to optimize space allocation, drive higher utilization, plan strategically for future growth, and unlock additional revenue opportunities from underused or flexible spaces.
We’ve heard this from countless landlords and flex space operators – they know their meeting rooms are valuable, but how do they get the most from them? This is exactly why we built elumo – the Dynamic Bookings and Access solution for meeting rooms.
- Room bookings and access control in one solution
- Works with your existing bookings system and app – or without
- Tap to Book, Pay & Access functionality
- Caters for pre-booked meetings and on-demand access
Interested in learning more about bringing bookings and access together in one solution? Explore elumo here.