8 meeting room booking systems for your office

When I think about work meetings, I think about “The Office.” The Dunder Mifflin Scranton team spent a lot of time in the conference room in meetings. 

In the Future of Meetings Report 2021, Fellow reported that people attend an average of 11-15 weekly meetings, with director-level team members having the highest number of weekly meetings. So, maybe you aren’t sitting in a conference room singing an alternate version of “Seasons of Love” to Michael Scott, but you might be spending a significant amount of time scheduling meetings in a conference room.

Planning and organizing meetings is a lot of work. And as the workforce continues to embrace hybrid work, one thing is for sure — it’s more complicated than it was before to book meeting rooms. The good news is that there’s a quick fix to make it easier. Meeting room booking systems take the hassle out of scheduling meetings (including individual desk reservations, a parking space reservation system, and virtual front desk assistants to greet visitors). 

Read on to learn more about meeting room booking systems, their five benefits, and eight software solutions out in the market to explore. 

What are meeting room booking systems?

Meeting room booking systems are what they sound like — tools for reserving conference rooms and other shared spaces within an office or coworking space. These systems help ensure that meeting organizers and attendees can secure meeting space and the accessories or accommodations they need for their meetings. Many users use meeting room booking systems to plan and schedule one-on-ones, collaborative brainstorms, confidential meetings, and other important announcements. Some booking systems provide digital signage features to display outside of conference rooms. System administrators, such as office managers or administrative professionals, can modify permissions and meeting details.

Many meeting room booking systems integrate with calendar and email software to simplify things. These integrations allow team members to glance at the time and location of their meetings in one place and send electronic invites via email. 

5 benefits of meeting room booking systems

Not sure if you’ll benefit from another software system? There are several benefits of leveraging meeting room software. Below are five benefits worth noting:

1. They eliminate double-booking frustrations.

One of the major perks of using meeting room booking software is eliminating double bookings and conflicts. Meeting room booking solutions eliminate conflicts automatically because these tools show real-time room availability and don’t offer the option to book an unavailable room (unless you are a system administrator). 

2. Team members can easily book rooms to fit their needs.

With meeting room booking systems, administrators can provide room size details. Users can find a room appropriate for their group size when booking meetings. No more two-person meetings in large conference rooms (unless that’s the only meeting room left!)

3. These systems help distribute booking responsibilities.

Managing all scheduling duties can be a lot of work for one person. Self-service meeting room tools reduce the burden of one person doing it all. It also gives employees more control and easy access to update their meetings without depending on someone else. 

4. They make it easy to plan for additional items.

It’s common to need screens, video conferencing tools, and other meeting supplies, particularly for larger team meetings or collaborative brainstorms. A nice thing about meeting room booking software is that the meeting organizer can request meeting accessories and accommodations when reserving a room. 

5. You’ll have better insight into how people utilize spaces.

Using a meeting room booking tool, you can gather insights and data about which spaces individuals utilize and how often. Understanding how team members utilize spaces to ensure you’re making the most of the real estate you’re paying for is beneficial. 

8 meeting room booking software solutions

If you’re ready to explore meeting room booking solutions, look no further! There are many options available in the market. We’ve rounded up eight solutions alphabetically to help you start your search. You won’t find pricing information below since most of these solutions require contacting the sales team for more details and custom pricing options. Explore the tools by scheduling a demo or signing up for a free trial.

But first, let’s cover a couple of terms that might pop under the features of these platforms. The first is hot-desking, or first-come, first-serve use of desk seating. The second is hoteling which refers to reserving unassigned seats in advance, similar to booking a hotel room for a trip. Now, let’s dig in!

1. AskCody

Calling all Microsoft Outlook users, this one is for you! AskCody is a meeting management platform built specifically for Microsoft.

Pros:

• Room booking capabilities in the native Outlook Addi-in 
• Mobile apps (available on iOS and Android) for room and desk bookings 
• Maximum allowed capacity configuration
• Workplace insights and advanced reporting 
• ISAE 3000 certified and GDPR compliant 

Cons:

• Some reviews on G2 indicate that AskCody has some limitations when it comes to customization 

Best feature: 

• Room search by name, location, room size, and/or availability 

Pricing: Different tiered pricing plans are available for AskCody, as well as a free trial. As of July 2023, the Essentials plan is $249 room/year, and the Advanced plan is $499 room/year. Some add-on options are available, including Displays for $249 room/year and Visitors for $2499 lobby/year. And finally, you can pay for Premium Service if you need additional support with onboarding, implementation, training, and data access. Explore the full range of pricing options here.

2. Condeco

Condeco offers digital scheduling tools that enable collaboration, optimize capacity, and create positive office experiences.

Pros: 

• Schedule in Teams and Outlook directly with the Microsoft 365 integration or use the web platform
• Integrations with Okta, Microsoft Outlook, Zoom, and Microsoft Power BI
• See a weekly overview of in-office schedules for visibility across the team
• Users can find where their team members are located and book space near them
• Easy to reschedule meetings and keep everyone in the loop about changes
• Mobile apps (available on iOS and Android) 
• Seamless management of employees, visitors, and contractors 
• Advanced reporting analytics and usage reports

Cons:

• This G2 reviewer reported that the mobile app is extremely buggy
• Multiple G2 reviews suggest that the user interface is not always easy to navigate 

Best feature: 

• Find colleagues easily and schedule space to sit near them

Pricing: Condeco offers user-based pricing plans based on business size. The three tiers include SMB for 250-999 employees, Mid-Market for 1000-4999 employees, and Enterprise for 500+ employees. Condeco offers optional add-ons for a holistic experience. Reach out to the team for a quote for more specifics. 

3. Kadence

With Kadence, teams can book desks and rooms, have insight into when others plan to be in the office, and manage visitors easily with simple visitor booking. 

Pros: 

• Integrations with Google, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Outlook, and more to make it easy to book from various apps 
• Star colleagues and receive notifications when they book 
• Managed visitor experiences with automated reminders and arrival notifications 
• Customizable email template
• Ability to coordinate team days using suggested in-office schedules 

Cons:

• Some G2 reviewers report browsing issues, meaning it’s tough to browse and find the rooms or booking information you’re looking for

Best feature: 

• The interface is simple, clean, and easy to use, and it makes it easy to onboard new users as they can quickly understand how to use the tool—platform users describe Kadence as “simple, intuitive, and valuable” and “productive, essential, easy.” 

Pricing: As of July 2023, Kadence offers a Pro plan for $4/active user/month, billed annually. An Enterprise option with custom pricing is also available. 

4. Meetio 

With Meetio, users can visualize and schedule meeting rooms, view an interactive room display of the office, access meeting rooms and resources on a mobile device, and it makes hot desking simple. 

Pros:

• Employee density and social distancing capabilities
• Books desks via the Meetio mobile app (iOS and Android) on your way into the office
• Intuitive floor plan maps for easy wayfinding
• Map view, grid view, and agenda view options to meet different preferences 
• Support team average rating of 4.9/5 stars 
• Use with Office 365, Microsoft Exchange, or G Suite

Cons:

• Need hardware (like tablets) to use Meetio outside of the mobile app

Best feature:

• Meetio View intuitive floor plans all on a single touchscreen using the universal traffic light system (green, yellow, red) to convey availability 

Pricing: Meetio charges for annual software licenses for Meetio Room, Meetio View, and Meetio Desk individually. As of July 2023, a 12-month license subscription for Meetio Room (meeting room management) is $189 per room/year. Meetio View (instant overview of the office) costs $449 per device/year for a 12-month license subscription, and the interactive floor plan maps are free. Finally, Meetio Desk (for desk booking) is $39 per desk for a 12-month license subscription. You can pair software licenses with Meetio’s certified hardware vendors for a complete bundle.

5. Robin

Businesses use Robin to manage hybrid work effectively with desk and room management, workplace safety and health, space management and mapping, and workspace data insights. 

Pros: 

• Custom office maps for easy navigation for users
• Real-time availability views on maps 
• Ability to share bookings with team members for coordination 
• Insights into conference room space utilization trends
• Integrations with Microsoft 365, Microsoft Outlook, Google Workspace, Slack, Logitech, and more
• Mobile apps (available on iOS and Android)
• Weekly digest views that include team visibility 
• Pre-registration, arrival notifications, and document prompts for visitors 

Cons:

• This G2 reviewer noted that some bugs make it difficult to use the app effectively 

Best feature: 

• Robin emphasizes community building through its functionality which includes a workweek view, bringing people with similar interests together, and delivering workplace announcements 

Pricing: Robin offers a Starter, Team, and Enterprise plan to meet organizational needs. Pricing specifics aren’t listed online, but you can reach out to learn more. 

6. Skedda

Skedda is a Capterra and G2 award winner that recently received seven G2 badges for spring 2022, including the Momentum Leader badge. Features include calendar booking, platform automation for time savings, insights and analytics for effective space management, interactive maps, user management customizations, and payment options.

Pros:

• Office neighborhoods with aerial views of interactive floor maps 
• Rich analytics for optimizing space utilization 
• Customizable automation rules, policies, and booking quotas 
• Integrations with Zapier, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and Microsoft Teams
• Single sign-on (SSO) through Google, Microsoft, and more 

Cons: 

• Overall, many reviewers say they have no complaints about Skedda

Best feature: 

• It offers car park management to self-service car parking at the office 

Pricing: Skedda offers a Core, Pro, and Premium plan with varying features to meet organizational needs. All accounts come with unlimited bookings, unlimited users, booking conditions, all calendar views, notifications, mobile apps, custom subdomains, security, website embedding, exporting, multiple login options, and more. You can get a feel for pricing by selecting the number of bookable spaces and your plan on this page. 

7. WorkInSync

WorkInSync is an all-in-one SaaS platform for managing hybrid workspaces and includes meeting room booking, desk booking, and parking management. 

Pros: 

• Hoteling and hot desk booking plus assigned amenities so team members can choose the best place to sit
• Auto-cancellation of ghost reservations (reserved desks that employees don’t check in to within a stipulated timeframe) 
• Meeting room booking capabilities with meeting kiosks outside every meeting room for use
• Parking and visitor management functionality 
• Digital wayfinding that includes optimized routes for easy navigation around the office 

Cons: 

• Users note wanting to see more advanced features 

Best feature: 

• Enhanced digital wayfinding to help employees navigate the office and find the best route

Pricing: As of July 2023, WorkInSync offers a Standard plan for $2.50/month, a Professional plan for $4/month, and an Enterprise plan for $6/month, all billed annually. Features included in the tiered plans are listed on the pricing page. 

8. YAROOMS

YAROOMS enables effective hybrid workplaces by centralizing the booking process, offering hot-desking, promoting a positive workplace experience through safety and wellness, and informing decision-making through workplace analytics. 

Pros:

• Visitor management with a digital reception assistant that allows you to manage visitors, enable compliance, and easily book spaces from the front desk 
• Hybrid work planning calendar for everyone in the organization to share and plan their work arrangement (even for those working at home) 
• Carbon dashboard that allows organizations to monitor their office resources and emissions 
• Mobile app (available on iOS and Android) 

Cons:

• It doesn’t integrate with Slack

Best feature:

• Carbon dashboard that allows organizations to report on Scope 2 & Scope 3 CO2 emissions to visualize carbon footprint 

Pricing: YAROOMS offers a Business and Enterprise plan. To obtain pricing information, reach out to schedule a demo. 

Go forth and book your meeting rooms

The future of work is sure to include in-person meetings. Make meeting room scheduling more effortless in the hybrid working world with meeting room booking software solutions. Meeting room booking tools provide a solution for booking meeting rooms and other shared spaces in offices and coworking spaces. They eliminate double booking, distribute coordination responsibility amongst the office, and offer insights to help drive future space decisions. Many platforms are available, so request demos or sign up for free trials to find the best one.

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