Joan, the simplest way of entering the new world of work. Just ask Microsoft.
With the changing world of work comes a changing office, one that fosters collaboration and agility. The new workplace mindset has been profoundly influenced by smart tech empowering employee interaction. It’s all about being dynamic and working together in new, innovative ways — as demonstrated by Microsoft’s showcase of Joan in their offices.
A shift in attitudes
There is no denying it: the work-life balance is changing. As we wrote before, the evolution of digital and mobile technologies has radically altered people’s expectations of the workplace and the way they collaborate within an office.
This is something that Microsoft knows very well: the changing world of work has long been the focus of their ‘New World of Work’ campaign, as is the importance of the responsive organization, one that provides a modern workplace designed to fuel collaboration.
In fact, this collaboration and the new shift in employee attitudes was the focus behind the development of Joan Meeting Room Assistant, the digital room scheduling solution developed from the ground up to be exactly tailored to users’ needs.
To demonstrate Joan’s resourcefulness in the workplace, we joined forces with Microsoft to display Joan’s easy integration with Office 365 and Microsoft Azure in a showcase in the tech giant’s offices.
The future of meetings
To quote Microsoft, companies which equip their employees with the right work environment and the right technology empower people to be more productive and efficient at work. And nothing beats simple and intuitive.
Companies which equip their employees with the right work technology empower people to be more productive at work. And nothing beats simple and intuitive.
This is why one of the most important features of Joan is its easy integration with meeting rooms and its seamless integration into existing work patterns, making it an ideal device to showcase what the future of work and meetings will look like.
Fully compatible with online calendars already in use, Joan creates a simple and transparent cross-device booking system that allows for room reservations via desktop or mobile, or at the conference room door. The result is an agile, productive and collaborative office, regardless of where you are.
“The whole setup only took a few minutes”
Connecting Joan to meeting rooms in the Office 365 calendar is a straightforward process, unencumbered by complex installations.
Tomaz Pusenjak, IT Support at Microsoft, connected Joan to the company’s Microsoft Office 365 calendar in just a few easy steps.
From activating a user account online in the Joan Dashboard, which keeps track of all aspects of the door label’s performance, to selecting the hosting preference (on-premises or in the cloud), granting Joan access rights to the calendar and connecting it to the Wi-Fi network; the complete onboarding process was over in mere moments.
“The whole setup only took a few minutes,” commented Tomaz Pusenjak, “All it took was a few clicks and we had a showcase device up and running, clearly displaying all that was happening in the room and offering a real-time, always accurate overview of our room resources.”
To ensure an even greater ease of use, Joan also enables outsourcing server infrastructure, bypassing the need for on-premises deployment. Supported by the extensive global reach and speed of Microsoft Azure, the digital door label can be deployed in the cloud, creating a cost-effective, manageable and well-supported ecosystem of a modern, connected office.
The whole setup only took a few minutes. All it took was a few clicks and we had a showcase device up and running, clearly displaying all that was happening in the room and offering a real-time, always accurate overview of our room resources.
Joan: Reinventing how you get things done
Joan’s office ecosystem is not to be taken for granted.
The BBC reports that, according to a survey of business leaders in 15 European countries, 82% of businesses allow their employees to work flexibly. Not all, however, are creating an environment in which flexible working can flourish. Of the people queried, only 64% reported that they were given an opportunity to work flexibly.
New capabilities are not just about working faster, explains Microsoft, but about reinventing how you get things done.
One message is clear: flexible working requires employers to invest in the right tools, be it advanced calendaring solutions such as Office 365 or smart, integrated tools to bring these solutions to life. In this, Microsoft’s showcase discovered Joan to be the perfect tool of a responsive and adaptive corporation in the new world of work.
After all, explains Microsoft, new capabilities are not just about working faster, but about reinventing how you get things done.
Photo credit: A. Domitrica
Originally published at getjoan.com on June 23, 2016.
