Many organizations allow their meeting rooms to be used for external meetings. Visitors and guests are allowed to use the meeting rooms for their purposes. This is done in various institutions such as:
- Corporate offices that want to capture value from unused space by opening them up to visitors and monetizing them.
- Training centers that engage external trainers, the meeting rooms can be used to conduct their training.
- Co-working spaces that allow membership access to common shared meeting rooms that need to be carefully managed.
- Community centers and churches that allow members to access facilities to have community activities.
- Schools and Libraries which allow patrons to use the meeting rooms for discussion and group project works.
Smart Locks have sprouted tremendously in residential markets primarily due to companies such as AirBnB which allows guests to use houses. Hosts need not be physically present when the guests arrive. A smart lock solves this problem by securing access to the house.
This same technology can be used now for corporate meeting rooms. Below are the 5 simple steps that allow smart access to the meeting room using a smart lock and ecobook.
Usage Scenarios
In a typical scenario, meeting rooms usually do not have any access control restrictions, thereby allowing visitors to easily use them. However, there are problems when it comes to open access. Firstly, they cannot be tracked and therefore there is no visibility into their usage. This can pose a problem especially when the spaces are being monetized.
Secondly, it poses a security threat that can result in a threat to the occupants or its facilities.
If the meeting rooms are gated, they are usually done with physical keys or card access. While providing security and access control, there is a need for someone to be present during the handover of the keys and cards and stay till the end of the meeting when they are returned. Since events can happen at anytime of the day, they can be quite disruptive to the operations staff who need to stay back beyond office hours to lock up after the event is over.
One of the ways in which a smart lock can help is to provide the same level of security and control while also allowing remote management of the facilities. Here we explain how ecobook can use smart locks to access meeting rooms for visitors.
Ecobook & Smart Lock In 5 Steps
Step 1: Book A Meeting Room
Once you are registered in the ecobook, log in and book the meeting room for the duration of your meeting.
Step 2: Get Confirmation Email
You will get a confirmation email stating that the booking has been confirmed. This email will not contain the PIN. The PIN will be sent to you closer to the meeting start time on the day of the booking. This is scheduled in ecobook by the administrator.
Step 3: Receive one-time PIN
Closer to the start of the meeting, typically between 30 minutes to 1 hour as scheduled by the administrator, ecobook will send you an email with a one-time PIN. The PIN will be valid for the duration of the meeting.
Step 4: Use PIN To Enter Room
Use the PIN in the email to unlock the door. If the PIN is entered before the meeting, it will not unlock the door.
During the course of the booking, you can continue to use the PIN to unlock the door if you step out.
Step 5: PIN Expires After Meeting
Once the meeting ends, the PIN will become invalid. The PIN cannot be re-used again.
Administrative Functions
As an administrator of ecobook, you can control when the PIN will be sent out. The closer to the start time of the meeting, the better.
A Real World Example
Let’s say John is part of a Bridge group who wants to use the community center meeting room to play with his friends. He logs onto ecobook and schedules the meeting room on Saturday from 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm.
Once he books, he receives a confirmation email.
On Saturday, he arrives at the community center at 2.00 pm. At 2.30 pm, he receives an email from ecobook with a one-time PIN.
He attempts to enter the room at 2.50 pm but the lock prevents him from entering.
At 3.00 pm, he tries the PIN again and the lock unlocks to grant him access to the meeting room.
At 5.00 pm he leaves with his friends and the PIN becomes inactive.
If he had tried to use the PIN past 5.00 pm, the lock would not unlock the door.
Here is a quick overview of how smart locks work in ecobook.
Conclusion
With ecobook, you can automate your meeting room usage securely and seamlessly by linking it up with a smart lock.
Get in touch with us to know more about how you can make your workplace smarter.
