Selling Empty Office Space Quickly – RJmetis Has the Answer

Business centre and flexible workspace providers were treated to an advance preview of Spacedadi, a new online booking system for workspace and meeting rooms, at London’s London Campus.

On Thursday 7th February, RJmetis – the leading supplier of management systems to the flexible office space industry – announced the launch of its new booking system Spacedadi.

Spacedadi is a groundbreaking new software tool that enables workspace operators to sell their available space online. In the wake of the mobile revolution, we are experiencing an explosion in entrepreneurs and corporate teams seeking a faster and more flexible way to book short-term workspace. These workers are tech-savvy and constantly on the move – they work from mobile devices and expect to be able to book and pay for their space online.

But this is a technical factor that the business centre industry is missing out on.

Most business centres deal with clients seeking mid-term office space, anything from one month to two or three years. Some provide hot-desks as a cheaper alternative for freelancers and start-ups, while others are dabbling in coworking. The key restriction is that most short-term workspace such as meeting rooms and hot desks cannot be booked via business centres’ websites. Clients must either book via third-party channels such as DeskWanted, call the centre direct, or go elsewhere. And unfortunately, many potential clients choose the latter.

On Thursday, RJmetis’ Managing Director and ‘Chief Spaceman’, Justin Harley, emphasised the fact that the mobile working trend and the number of corporates turning to short-term space will only continue to grow. He pushed business centre and workspace operators to get online in 2013 – urging them not just to advertise online, but to enable web-based bookings too. And with the launch of Spacedadi, workspace operators can do just that.

Spacedadi is an online room booking system that enables clients to book meeting rooms, desks or any other free space via the centre’s own website. It’s a back-office management system that works with CentreCharge and can carry out multiple tasks such as content management, billing and invoicing.

The visual end of Spacedadi can be realised in numerous ways:

• BookWorkplaces.com – A new website under development by RJmetis that focuses on short-term workspace, enabling clients to browse, book and pay for meeting or short-term workspace online. Content is populated by Spacedadi.
• White label site – A branded version of BookWorkplaces.com, allowing centre operators to integrate it with their own website branding and sell meeting rooms and workspace online.
• Mobile app – A BookWorkplaces.com app, provided by RJmetis, which allows clients to book and pay for workspace via their mobile. Again this can be visually integrated with the business centre’s branding.

Another version of the app is available which allows business centres to market their own space, and also that of their competitors. Business centres can take booking commissions on any of their competitors’ space sold through their own app. This is an interesting move as it actually brings the business centre industry together – part of the concept of sharing and collaboration that is fuelling the Gen Y revolution.

The ethos of Spacedadi is to share empty space, get connected and boost revenues. It will also help to raise the profile of the business centre and flexible workspace industry. If CentreCharge is anything to go by – which grew by 40% in 2012 and is now used in 25 countries – RJmetis’ latest development will become a big hit. And if it can do that, it means the industry will be taking giant leaps forwards – meeting the demands of today’s mobile workforce and Gen Y-ers head on, and bringing the business centre community closer together in the process.

How’s that for a positive start to 2013?