From Workspace Reservation to Visitor Management: How today’s hybrid employees work with Zoom

If you’re one of the 52% of U.S. knowledge workers who work in a hybrid environment, you know that going into the office isn’t the same old routine it used to be. With the flexibility to work remotely part of the time, many hybrid employees are being more intentional about how they spend their days in the office, scheduling in-person meetings with direct reports or strategy sessions with cross-functional teams, as well as hosting clients, partners, and vendors on site.

Workplace leaders facing this transition need to be intentional, too — particularly when it comes to optimizing both their office space and the employee experience. Organizations are leaning into modern designs that have the comfortable feel of a home with the more sophisticated technology of an office. And with employees not being in the office every day, facilities teams need to be smarter about optimizing office resources like desks and conference rooms.

Our hybrid workspace solutions help you meet the diverse needs of employees, as well as visitors to your office. Zoom Workspace Reservation and Zoom Visitor Management are designed to provide maximum flexibility, allowing employees to book desks, conference rooms, and even parking spaces for themselves, as well as for customers or partners they may be hosting. Have a look at how today’s hybrid employees are using these solutions.

Hot desking and hoteling have become commonplace in hybrid offices where employees no longer have assigned desks. Zoom Workspace Reservation helps employees find and book an open desk, whether they’re going to be in the office just one day or all week.

Here are a few ways Workspace Reservation helps make hybrid work easier for employees:

• AI-powered suggestions: Employees can ask for a suggested date and desk location to get a recommendation based on their preferences or a date when more of their closest collaborators will be in the office.
• Flexible shared workspace options: Choose a space, reservation time, and duration — whether it’s only a few short hours or a full day. Employees can even book a recurring reservation, for example, if they plan to go in at the same time and on the same day of the week.
• On-demand booking: Employees can reserve spaces upon arrival by using a kiosk at the front desk, the scheduling panel outside of a Zoom Room, or directly at a workspace.
• Intuitive user experience: Teams can use a familiar interface on the Zoom platform they know and love to book in-office workspaces. They can even use the Zoom mobile app to reserve their space on the go!

One of the advantages of going into the office is having a dedicated place to meet with clients, demo products with prospects, or host partners. But this can be stressful. Employees need to make sure a conference room is free and set up for their meeting. When the visitor comes, they need to check in and get a badge. There’s a lot to think about.

Our Zoom Visitor Management system supplements Workspace Reservation to provide a comprehensive solution that allows employees to plan their office visits without leaving the Zoom platform. 

Not only can employees book their own desk, but they can also register a guest and reserve a space for them:

• Send an invitation: Guests will receive an email invite from the employee host with the time and address of their appointment.
• Streamline the guest experience: Guests can complete any registration paperwork and even upload their photos ahead of time. On the day of their visit, they can simply check in at a kiosk.
• Make preparation easy: Pre-registering visitors helps office managers prepare for the expanded headcount or make sure employees have the resources they need for a successful meeting.

In this new era of hybrid work, employees want flexibility and convenience, and workplace teams need efficiency and optimization. That’s exactly what they get with Zoom. 

With Workspace Reservation and Visitor Management, employees get the ease of use that comes with booking their workspaces on the same Zoom platform where their communication and collaboration happen. For admins, the experience is equally as intuitive, and the benefits are clear:

• Simplified space management: Easily upload custom office maps and seating locations directly from the admin portal to create a seamless booking process. Add printable QR codes to workspaces to allow employees to reserve a space on the fly.
• Better resource allocation and scheduling: When you have a better idea of how many employees and visitors will be in the office, you can get a more accurate headcount for lunch, provide certain services like IT office hours when more people will be in, and schedule maintenance on less busy days.
• Workspace optimization with analytics: Use data collected by Workspace Reservation to learn more about how your teams are using their workspace. This information can help you plan and build a more efficient and effective workspace.

Visit our Zoom Spaces page to learn more about our workspace solutions and talk to a Zoom expert.

Editor’s note: This blog was originally published July 13, 2022 and has been updated most recently in January 2024 to reflect the current availability of Workspace Reservation and Visitor Management.