Until the end of 2017, in Warsaw alone, over 800 thousand square meters of office space will be created. This is an equivalent of approximately 1100 apartments. And this is only Warsaw. Over the last 27 years, in all major cities, office centers, like the London City were created. It is there where most of Poles spend a lion’s share of their time. And they want to utilize this time efficiently. Therefore every company faces a challenge, how to optimize their office space, in order to provide the optimal working conditions. Zonifero – an app for office – an innovative application, may turn out to be the solution. The system was created in order to improve the management process in the subsidiary companies of TenderHut – the capital group from Bialystok.
Office buildings like mazes
Popular office centers, like Oliwa Biznes Center in Gdansk, or the ones located on Domaniewska Street in Warsaw, commonly known as Mordor, contain a high density of large companies, which sometimes occupy several buildings. This situation is a major organizational challenge. If an employee, within his professional duties, needs to move to the other company building, in order to perform his work, he wastes time in order to get to the right person or office room. Large office buildings in this sense are really starting to resemble mazes. Without the appropriate tool, it is easy to get lost there – says Robert Strzelecki, Vice-president of the TenderHut, the parent company of SoftwareHut – the 3rd top developing IT company in Poland and the creator of Zonifero – an application which supports employees in getting around the office and improves the company’s organizational culture.
Remote work is not the answer
Only a few years back, remote work seemed to be the cure for the organizational chaos associated with having a large number of employees in one place. However as it turns out, despite the generally accepted opinion, solutions like home office decrease work efficiency. Direct contact and communication within the office space are very important. According to a survey performed by a research company called Sociometric Solutions, engineers, who performed work in a common work space, exchanged emails 20% more often, than their colleagues, who did their work remotely. As a result, thy finished their projects faster by 32% than workers who did not share the same office space.
This research only proves, what we encountered during business contacts with our clients, who implemented Zonifero. During pre-implementation discussions, it was our clients who stressed, that working together within a common office space is very important and beneficial for them. All they needed was a tool, which would enhance the processes related with proxemics in their surroundings. And that is how the idea of an ,,office GPS’’ came up, which later became a major feature of our application. With the use of beacons (Bluetooth signal transmitters), we created a system of landmarks, which can be compared to navigation. The main difference is that Zonifero navigates the user throughout the office, and not the roads – says Robert Strzelecki.
Office performance within a mobile app
Just as private life gradually moves to facebook and other social network media, professional activities also transfer to applications, which support office communication and space management. – With the use of Zonifero, the user has insight on where his colleagues are located. The employee can take a glance at the office map, book a conference room, find contact information about his co-workers, view their status (working/home office/business trip/sick). The user may also send notifications to other workers, that he needs to urgently contact them, as well as check for office room availability. All these possibilities greatly improve performance of an office – says Robert Strzelecki.The system was implemented for a department of an American supplier of laboratory equipment and software in Paris and is used to support sale procedures. Potential buyers of laboratory equipment receive access to Zonifero. After that they can, with the use of the app, by themselves move within the building to the desired rooms, for presentations of particular laboratory devices. Thanks to the interactive map within the cell phone, they find particular laboratories easier. The users also sign in to presentations and seminars. The visitors also can quickly find restrooms and kitchens.
Intelligent office – intelligent office illumination
Nowadays LED illumination is installed in modern office buildings. This solution opens new possibilities in the field of illumination management within the office. All it takes is to equip the luminaire with appropriate sensors, which will be integrated with the system responsible for managing the illumination of the office space. Illumination management isn’t just about reducing electricity costs, but also adapting the light intensity and its color to the currently performed work, so it would be as effective as possible. Zonifero, besides providing enhanced communication, supports also the office illumination. Distributing light to vacant office rooms is inefficient, when we can manage the process, so that the illumination will follow the employee of shut down, when he leaves the office – explains Robert Strzelecki, Vice-president of TenderHut.
The thread of Ariadne
The unique atmosphere of modern offices is created by people, not glass and steal spaces. Therefore it is the human factor which determines, whether the company will operate properly in a certain location. Zonifero is a tool, which enhances the flow of information within the organization and allows to optimize office space in everyday activities to the highest possible extent. The app is a modern thread of Ariadne in the office maze. The approach towards resolving problems is what indicates, if a company is innovative, not a modern building. Therefore, instead of moving to a newer office, due to communication problems, we can install innovative technologies, implement a system and get a new insight on our old office space. We should remember, that moving to a new place also means taking our old problems with us. Therefore it is best to solve them, where they are encountered. It will be also cheaper, which is a good argument for the Chief Financial Officer– says with humor Robert Strzelecki, Vice-president of TenderHut.
