Because indoor geolocation helps optimize office capacity and access management, which are fundamental rationalization challenges
French companies bear real estate costs that are 40% higher than their German competitors.
Following the widespread adoption of remote work imposed by COVID-19, most large companies became aware of the prohibitive cost of their office space. For example, €220 billion in property-related taxes were paid to the French government in 2019, while the average workstation vacancy rate in France (outside lockdown periods) is estimated at 40%. In this context, maintaining the competitiveness of French companies requires reducing real estate-related costs by downsizing and relocating office spaces.
At the same time, in response to new employee expectations, flex office has become the norm. Employees no longer have assigned desks; they sit wherever space is available.
Perfectly aligned with this new trend, Dominique Savigny, Digital Transformation Project Manager at Société Générale, states:
“Indoor geolocation technologies address employees’ need for mobility and efficiency while also improving their comfort and well-being at work.”
When indoor geolocation makes flex office more human
Upon arrival, employees can search for an available desk in just a few clicks. Their workstation is automatically reserved once their presence is detected and registered by the software. Applications can also display available desks in real time. The stress of finding a suitable desk — the one that enables a productive and satisfying workday — is eliminated.
To meet colleagues, employees can share their location via indoor geolocation applications to find each other easily. Anaëlle Marc, an employee at Société Générale, explains:
“The app allows me to locate my manager at any time. I send a positioning request. He receives a notification and can choose to share his location with me.”
Teams can also view available meeting rooms nearby and reserve a room simply by being physically present in it.
Finally, if the company has large parking facilities, employees can record the position of their vehicle upon arrival and retrieve it easily when leaving.
The new working methods adopted by your company are therefore made possible by indoor geolocation software.
Because IPS helps meet new health and safety regulations
Indoor positioning technologies provide the best solution to:
- Enforce social distancing rules by detecting and alerting users when individuals are too close to each other
- Prevent congestion zones with excessive human concentration
- Identify contact cases if one of your employees tests positive for COVID-19
Indeed, Pole Star’s NAO® Safe system anonymously records the time spent in proximity to other individuals. In the event of a positive COVID-19 case, only the on-site doctor, HR department, or security management would be authorized to access historical data. If prolonged contact with the positive case is identified, the concerned employee can be notified and take appropriate action.
- Create precise office mapping to define maximum occupancy thresholds
By implementing a location system on your site, Pole Star can map your facilities and install sensors strategically across one or multiple buildings. You gain full visibility of your company’s maximum capacity to comply with health regulations, along with access to an interactive floor-by-floor map.
Employees can access this map and benefit from a clear overview of:
- Available desks and meeting rooms
- The fastest route to reach a destination (a colleague’s desk, a meeting room, equipment)
- Areas to avoid in case of crowd concentration
- Sanitary equipment locations (hand sanitizer dispensers, mask stations, etc.)
- Rooms that have recently been cleaned and are available for use
The future of office environments lies in indoor geolocation
“Geolocation is now a major challenge for companies,” says Christian Carle, Co-Founder and CEO at Pole Star. “Indoor geolocation helps streamline employee movement and optimize space utilization. It is a key component that will enable service providers and office occupants to manage their spaces more efficiently and reduce costs.”
If you need further information to plan the deployment of an indoor positioning solution, feel free to contact our technical sales team.