Your general 9-5 no longer looks like it did three years ago, especially with platforms like Zoom. While we used to spend all day in an office amongst other people, the Covid-19 pandemic saw most of us moving into isolation at home where some of us still find ourselves working. Now, however, the world is adjusting to a new normal, and with that adjustment has come the rise in hybrid workers.
As hybrid workers spend increasingly more time at work, companies like Zoom have put in an effort to ‘close the distance between the office and the remote workspace.’ Zoom’s latest innovation, Workspace Reservation, hopes to take the working world by storm.
The dreams for this innovation are best described by Zoom’s Head of Zoom Rooms and Whiteboard, Jeff Smith:
‘Employers continue to prioritize hybrid office management as they seek a secure, easy-to-use, and comprehensive solution to help connect in-office and remote workers. Workspace Reservation expands on Zoom’s already robust hybrid work offerings and helps employees have access to the tools they need to do their best work on a given day.’
Essentially, Workspace Reservation will let workers pre-book workspaces, let them know who else is booked for those spaces, and furnish them with optimal seating recommendations. Through this new resource, workers will be able to book Zoom Rooms, Work desks, Zoom Phone Appliances, screening rooms, meeting rooms, and all sorts of other spaces and integrated solutions.
Users of the beta version of the service can even book parking spaces prior to their arrival at a specific work location to save time and skip out on the search for an available parking space on the day.
According to Zoom, the new service offers hybrid teams and system admins separate features and space management solutions:
Hybrid teams
- Flexible hotdesking options: Choose your space reservation time and duration – only a few short hours or a full day.
- On-demand booking: Reserve spaces upon your arrival by using a kiosk at the front desk, the scheduling panel outside of a Zoom Room, or directly at a workspace.
- Intuitive user experience: Teams can use a familiar interface and platform they know and love to book in-office workspaces.
System admins
- A streamlined process: Easily upload custom office maps and seating locations directly from the admin portal to create a seamless booking process.
- Simplified space management: Add printable QR codes to workspaces and reserve a space on the fly.
- Workspace optimization with analytics: Use data collected by Workspace Reservation to learn more about how your teams are using their workspace and assist you in planning and building a more efficient and effective workspace.
In other Zoom news, apparently the company wants to scan your emotions with AI during video calls.
