Affordable Room Booking Software: Simplify Scheduling with QR Codes

Managing meeting rooms and shared office spaces can be a real headache, especially when you have to deal with a tight budget or tricky installation restrictions. At Room Sign App, we understand these challenges all too well. That’s why we’re always looking for new ways to improve our room booking software to make scheduling easier, more flexible, and affordable for offices of all sizes.

We’re excited to introduce our latest feature: printable QR codes. This simple yet powerful tool allows you to organize your spaces and time without the need for expensive hardware or complicated installations. Whether you’re dealing with budget constraints or lease agreements that limit what you can install, our QR codes offer a practical and efficient solution.

Why Choose QR Codes Over Physical Devices with our Room Booking Software?

Every office, conference center, school, gym, and workplace has its own unique set of requirements for room and desk scheduling. In some places, installing a tablet (like an iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab) on a wall is only a matter of submitting a ticket to the facilities management team. In other offices, the historic nature of the buildings require careful planning and approval before any kind of permanent or semi-permanent installation can be considered. Some offices change their layout on a frequent or seasonal basis, and other workplaces are actively looking to save costs on their initial investment in a meeting room application.

Installation Challenges with Digital Conference Room Signs

We have worked in offices that have had amazing infrastructure and facilities teams that made installing digital signage a breeze. These offices had pre-set cable runs, accessible in a drop-ceiling, with easy access to the interiors of walls.

We have also worked in offices where, no matter how we looked at it, there was no way to create an aesthetically pleasing solution for mounting a tablet, due to intricate plaster work, concrete walls, and fine details in lease agreements.

Hardware Costs of Using a Room Booking App

On a new installation of any room booking software, there can be a sticker shock when looking at the price of the hardware required to get started. At the Room Sign App, we do our best to make our mobile applications compatible with a wide range of devices (including recycled phones and tablets), but even then, the purchase cost of the device, the mounting hardware, and the installation can easily exceed the equipment budget for smaller offices, especially when looking at creating a scheduling solution for dozens of desks along with the conference rooms.

Device Security Concerns with Conference Room Calendars

Some workplaces have shared or reservable spaces that are accessible or visible to the public. This can create a different kind of challenge for optimizing your room scheduling system. Sometimes, you don’t want to allow anyone to adjust the schedule, and other times you don’t show the schedule at all. The Room Sign App’s dashboard has a lot of settings to help you configure each device in your plan and restrict the ability to schedule events, but when it comes to device security and preventing costly device replacement (from accidents or abuse), QR codes can be an easy way to provide controlled scheduling without risking expensive hardware or exposing any details.

How can a QR Code Improve our Room Booking Software?

The Room Sign App’s printable QR codes can help you reduce your costs, be more flexible in your installations, and keep control over your conference room scheduling experience.

Configure – Print – Place: QR Codes can go Anywhere

The QR codes in the Room Sign App can be configured to show any number of calendars and provide different levels of access control. Once configured, you can use the handy PDF maker that we provide, or you can download the raw image to use in your own graphic design software. You can have fancy glass and vinyl signs made or you can print on stock paper, right in your office.

Our favorite applications have been:

• A QR code for all reservable desks/conference rooms, on a small sign at the building’s reception desk
• A QR code for all hot desks, in small slider stands at each desk or work-table
• QR codes attached to simple floor stands outside of conference rooms in a rented conference center
• QR codes as magnets or stickers on/near the doors of conference rooms

Tips and Tricks for Making QR Codes Work for your Room Booking System

Room Sign App is very flexible software, which means you have a lot of options when it comes to configuring your room booking experience. That being said, here are our tips for making room and desk booking a pleasant experience for you and your coworkers or guests.

• Don’t be afraid to have many calendars on a single QR code
  • You can add as many calendars to a single QR code as you would like
  • We love to see people creating QR codes for each floor or for all desks or all conference rooms
• Use the access control if you need it, leave it out if you don’t
  • For publicly accessible spaces, it makes sense to require approval before letting guests schedule your spaces
  • For private spaces, typically only accessible by your coworkers, we recommend letting them schedule without additional approval checks to keep the office running efficiently
• Place the QR codes in high-visibility places
  • QR codes are only useful if they can be seen and scanned
  • Print them at a large enough size that they can be scanned from several feet away
  • Include a brief description of what and who the QR code is for

Conclusion: QR Codes are an Easy Way to Get Started with Room Booking Software

The best part about QR codes is that you can create them and start scheduling right now. No need to wait for your equipment to arrive and be installed. No need to spend a lot of time figuring out the best placement for a permanent installation. You can print the signs and immediately experiment and get feedback from your coworkers and guests, all while saving a substantial amount of money. The wonderful part about our QR code system is that it works alongside our mobile apps. So if you decide that some of your spaces would be better served by a tablet or other mounted device, nothing is stopping you from upgrading at a later time.