How to win a Cisco Smart Spaces Hackathon?
Create a solution that helps people to save time.
Time is Limited (Time is Ltd.) is a software company building a platform focusing on modern productivity. Our platform analyzes interaction frequency to understand company communication flow in a big picture. We help companies to understand how to make tools like MS Teams, Slack, Webex, Zoom, or Salesforce positively impact workplace culture. That is why we were invited to the Cisco Smart Spaces Cognitive Summit 2019 in Dallas, Texas.
Workspace has two aspects; physical workspaces (smart offices) and the digital workspace (collaboration tools). The line between those workspaces is becoming blurry with VR and other technology. So far, with Time is Limited, we were focusing on the digital part of the workspace. However, two weeks ago, we proved at Cisco Hackathon that we can expand further into the physical space of the office hardware. We won a global Cisco Summit Spaces hackathon. Time is Limited was the first time and got voted Best overall. We were even presenting in front of Amy Chang, who led the expansion of Google Analytics
Meeting automation is the hack.
Meeting scheduling takes time, setting up the videoconference or projecting on the screen can take even 10 minutes. How is that even possible in the 21st century? (If five people are in the meeting x 10 minutes, that is almost an hour wasted in a setup.) We created a bot and Cisco Webex integration that helps with the setup of a meeting and automates the big part of the meeting organization.
Here is the hack.
Take Nelson, for example. Nelson is a decision-maker who is trying to arrange a meeting. A bot on a Cisco Touch Data Sheet 10 provides additional help: scheduling the meeting, selecting the right people and the right space, and that the people in the conference have the best experience. Scheduling meetings beforehand is bot-driven by our network analysis. Nelson can take a look at his private Sociomap to figure out who has he been talking to and suggest who are the relevant meeting attendees and indicating the location. Also, in a meeting, our team uses the Meraki camera to provide feedback.
The first sample situation — scheduling meetings beforehand:
Interaction with the scheduling bot. I look for Nelson, for example. Nelson wants to schedule a meeting regarding project A. So he looks at his own private Time is Limited Sociomap and invites relevant attendees to which has Nelson been talking to on different projects. On particular project A, the bot suggests people (he can select or deselect). Bot suggests the best time for everybody and the meeting room. Bot invites the colleagues and books the meeting room. Nelson gets the confirmation.
The second situation — meeting without a videoconference link:
Somebody walks into the conference room. The Meraki camera recognizes a person (Nelson) entered a meeting room. The bot suggests that there is no Webex meeting, but that it can organize one. Nelson forgot to include a video conference Webex meeting into the invite, but the bot will do that in a second and send the invite to the attendees. If one of the attendees is not able to attend. The bot will announce that to the organizer in the room. If it is a video conference meeting, Meraki camera has a face recognition feature and can encourage Nelson or his colleagues to sit closer to the microphone.
How to win? Create meaningful innovation
Create innovation that will truly help people to save time. What will they do with this extra amount of time? We do not know. That’s not our job. Our job is to free people’s time. Time is limited.
The official demo video by Cisco. Don’t miss any updates and follow Time is Ltd. on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
