We’ve been in this business for a while to know why people choose us over other systems they’ve used in the past. Or why they left us for others. Sure, we don’t hold all the answers and we might be mistaken on some points, but all in all, the insights are solid.

There are 4 things people look for when choosing their meeting room booking system (and one they appreciate):

1. Ease Of Use

Nobody wants to learn how to use a new tool. Gamers are a good example for this - they’re eager to get their hands on the newest of playthings, but will shudder at the very idea of tutorials. Why? Because they bring them no value and enrich their experience in no significant way. From AAA titles to the likes of CandyCrush, good games make learning fun and rewarding. Then, the games themselves provide enough entertainment value to make them worthwhile.

What does all of this have to do with meeting room managers? Everything. Our clients’ time is a valuable and non-renewable resource. It’s our duty to make their stay in our apps as smooth and convenient as possible. There’s always a trade-off between power and ease of use. Here at YAROOMS, we’ve tackled this problem by making daily tasks easy to perform (booking and managing meeting rooms and resources, viewing schedules and exporting reports, all done through a user friendly interface) and offering help with more complex setup scenarios. Out of the box.

If we’re talking about the booking process, whether it’s opening a browser to book a meeting in a conference room and adding video conferencing equipment, or quickly tapping on the room display touch screen to enter the room in real time, the experience should be the same. Making use of the available office space should be a breeze.

2. Scalability

At the end of the day, we’re producing virtual goods. It’s in their nature to be easily scaled and adapted to a growing number of users (unlike a car, which comes with 5 seats and cannot be modified). But there’s more to scalability than just handling lots of server requests. Think about onboarding new staff. If a company acquires a competitor and needs to introduce a large no. of people to a new tool, some managers will have their hands full. Scalability depends largely on ease of use, in this case.

3. An Ultra-Specific Feature

No two meeting room management systems are alike. Some have been designed with huge companies in mind and are a better fit for those. Others evolved from scheduling software solutions developed for serviced offices, so they handle those tasks brilliantly, but don’t really cut it for a law firm with over 1000 employees. And then there are the Jacks-of-all-Trades which can serve a broader array of organisations, but lack extremely specific features (like 3rd party invoicing).

4. Good Support

However, with some tinkering and forethought, all of the above can be dealt with before committing to anything. What makes or breaks such a system is the support its producers offer. Our philosophy is simple - always be helpful. If you’ve ever tried to solve an issue with your ISP, only to give up in sheer frustration because you never got to speak to a human being, you know what we stand against.

Selling isn’t our number 1 priority when someone signs up. Helping them solve their problems is. If that means walking them through what YAROOMS can and can’t do and speeding up their decision (regardless of it being in our favour or not), then so be it. And from what we’re told, there are some other brands that feel the same way. That’s a professional world we’re proud to exist in.