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What is a Smart Office & How to Make Your Own
Most traditional offices feature rows of desks, generic outdated decor, and workers monotonously typing away waiting for the clock to strike 5pm. That’s not a smart office at all, and might even seem a bit bleak, but it’s the reality for most office workers!
What if you could make your office a more exciting, enjoyable and use tech to make your working day simpler?
Smart technology and smart locker software can transform your office into a creative space that will inspire and motivate, improve productivity, and boost employee morale. Here are tips to turn your boring office into a smart office.
What is a Smart Office?
Smart offices use IoT (Internet of Things) technology to improve worker productivity and streamline operations and administration. Smart lockers connect to data management systems, providing access logs and alerts regarding attempted breaches or hardware issues. Instead of allocating equipment by spreadsheet, you can rely on smart technology to track your laptops, packages, or ensure your staff easily have a place to store their belongings.
The global smart office market size was valued at £24.82 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach £70.9 billion by 2030. Let’s look a little closer at what a smart office is and how it can help you run a more efficient office.
Benefits of Smart Offices
Because you can track locker usage via eLocker’s online platform, you can get a better idea of your usage and reduce the amount of lockers you need. Smart offices help you use valuable commercial space more efficiently.
Increased Security
Smart workplace technology such as device management lockers, and data management systems can increase the security of your entire workplace. Smart technology controls access to the locker and keeps a record of locker access and identification used. It’s easy to determine who’s using each device, when they took it out, and when they returned it. This creates a culture of accountability in the workplace and you will see device loss reduce by as much as 99%.
Improves Hybrid Workspaces
Managing resources and determining a colleague’s current location can be very challenging in a hybrid workplace. Smart office technology makes locker space simple. Employees can check in on an app and store their belongings, and also use smart lockers to pick up peripherals for the day.
Enhances Employee Experience
If you’ve been having difficulties getting your employees back into the office, smart technology can help. Smart offices make booking resources, managing visitors, controlling access, and finding colleagues easy. The easier it is to work at the office, the happier your employees will be about showing up. Smart offices also provide user data that can help your facility manager create an environment best suited to the needs and work habits of your employees.
Employee Retention
A smart style corporate office impresses employees and clients alike, making even smaller businesses look like modern professional enterprises. The convenience of an intelligent office makes your employees happier about showing up. One-click bookings and automated smart locker assignments save time and frustration, which always makes for happier and more invested employees.
Increased Productivity
Smart offices help employees book conference rooms, find colleagues, and plan collaboration on-site quickly and easily. There’s no more need to consult an admin who must consult a spreadsheet to book your space. Simply use your app to find and book available spaces. Time not spent finding resources is time your employees can spend on more productive matters.
Smart Office Ideas You Should Consider
If you would like to create your own smart workplace, here are some ways you can use smart office technology to help you optimise your office:
Upgrade to Smart Lockers
Employee lockers are a must in agile work environments as employees have less personal space and privacy when compared to traditional static workspace solutions.
Smart lockers are the perfect smart office gadgets and an excellent addition to flexible workplaces. They will support hot-desking and give your employees a dedicated and secure space to keep their personal belongings while working in the office. Staff can store their belongings quickly and then get on with their work activities without distraction.
Upgrading to smart lockers is easy with eLocker’s retrofitting service and locker lock replacement. We can transform your old lockers into smart lockers in minutes, meaning you can upgrade your existing locker system without replacing your entire locker fleet – something that is expensive and unnecessary.
Read our recent blog for more information on our retrofitting service and get office smart!
Invest in Exciting Smart Office Gadgets
There is a huge selection of innovative smart products that can make your office more exciting, improving employee productivity and engagement.
For instance, TRIO is a revolutionary product that can be attached to a laptop to create a triple monitoring system. This device allows efficient multitasking and will improve productivity in the workplace or on the go.
Here are more of our favourite smart office gadgets:
WorkFit-TL Sit-Stand Desk
Sit/stand desks reduce mental fatigue and make users more focused and productive overall.
Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700
Noise cancellation filters out ambient background noise, which allows your employees better productivity and focus when speaking with customers and clients.
Cubii JR2+ Under Desk Elliptical
An under-desk elliptical lets employees burn calories and stress while they work, and is a refreshing alternative to sitting around all day.
ECOFLOW RIver 2 Portable Power Station
Portable power stations let your employees move to smart workspaces outdoors seamlessly. This flexibility increases company culture and employee positivity
ErgoChair Pro
Comfortable ergonomic office chairs are great for employee satisfaction and we all know satisfaction equals better productivity
Snacknation
Snack services are smart office solutions that provide healthy food options and improve morale with minimal work to office managers.
Fidget Cube from Antsy Labs
Fidget toys are popular for good reason. Many employees find that fidget cubes help them to keep focus, which increases their efficiency levels/
Google or Alexa Assistant
Smart assistants can automate lighting, play office music, or offer helpful and quick answers around the office. They can be loud in large settings, so keep these in private offices.
Embrace Flexible Working
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced businesses to rethink their operations and flexible working has become the new normal. Flexible or agile working allows employees to work in a way that suits their needs, for example having flexible start and finish times, or working from home.
A flexible work environment offers many benefits to both businesses and employees. For employers, flexible working can reduce overhead costs and increase productivity. Employees also prefer flexible work environments.
In a recent survey, 59% of employees said “flexibility” is more important to them than salary or other benefits, and 77% said they would prefer to work at an intelligent office that gives them the flexibility to work from anywhere.
Interactive Floor Plans
Smart office technology can provide your office with interactive floor plans that show all office resources and the office layout. Finding meeting rooms and workspace in large office spaces can be difficult. Interactive floor plans, which can be displayed via an app or a kiosk screen, can greatly reduce time spent looking for resources and increase employee efficiency. There are a number of interactive map technologies that you can integrate with your smart office automation.
Skedda provides interactive maps that let you book appointments on the touchscreen, as well as a scroll that lets you see room availability at different time periods. Skedda also provides analytics for user and site traffic.
MapsPeople is a dynamic mapping platform that can be integrated with booking systems, occupancy sensors, and parking availability. Many larger enterprises use MapsPeople to provide live data and help customers find amenities.
Smart Security & Touchless Entry
Smart office technology can be implemented in your office. Today, most smart offices use smart access control devices so employees can enter and leave with ease. They can use their smartphones as hands free digital keycards. It’s convenient for them and time-saving for admins tasked with replacing lost cards and activating new ones.
Smart systems provide analytics for security. They provide a record of attendance and hours worked for each employee, and time stamps on visitors at any given time. It’s also possible to interface smart access control doors with the security management system for full protection.
Verkada is a cloud-based security management system that lets you manage data from your video security cameras, door-based access control, video intercom, air quality sensors, and alarms from an easy to use app on your phone, tablet, or laptop.
Fault Reporting Systems
Equipment failure can ruin a meeting in minutes. Smart office solutions let employees create support requests quickly and easily by using smart workspaces technology. Employees using an app on their phone can file fault reports and provide a picture and a description of the problem. Fault reports are directly linked to resources, so they are easy to locate. To keep track of alerts and resolutions, admins generally integrate the data with an alerts management system. Some examples include:
Slack is a popular business messaging app with easy file sharing, public and private channels, and integrations with many other software packages .
Front serves as an automated help desk that centralises messages across channels and routes them to the appropriate party or team.
Monday.com is an intuitive and user-friendly project management platform that makes it easy to track issues from first report to resolution.
Desk Booking Software
In a hybrid work environment, fixed seating arrangements are not feasible. Smart office automation can give you desk booking solutions that guarantee employees’ seats. Booking workspaces ahead of time and upon arrival can create a sense of security and recognition. A colleague’s attendance calendar can also be viewed by employees, so they can book workspaces close to them.
Robin helps schedule meeting rooms, change desks, and find teammates in thousands of offices worldwide. Robin’s easy interface makes it a popular choice for businesses of all sizes who need to manage hybrid work.
The Role of IoT in Smart Offices
The Internet of Things (“IoT”) provides the protocols and infrastructure for intelligent home devices and business-specific IoT devices ranging from smart access doors to desk and room booking and more.
Smart office solutions can use IoT technology and sensors to exchange data with connected devices or with the cloud. You can use this data in many different ways. Smart doors can provide a list of every entry and exit. Smart device management office lockers can keep track of items placed in a team locker and release them only to authorised personnel.
Smarter workspaces save time and let you automate many administrative tasks like booking and entry. You get clear records you can use to verify employee and visitor attendance and to prove that your data retention and privacy policies are in compliance with all laws and standards
Summary
Technology has advanced over the years, and ‘going smart’ is no longer just for large organisations and well-established businesses. Companies of all sizes can take advantage of new technology and transform their out-of-date office spaces into smart offices.
Get in touch with our team if you would like to discuss how smart lockers could revolutionise your workspace in terms of operations, employee experience and easily create a new and exciting intelligent office.