Glossary
Welcome to the Asure Software Workplace Management Glossary. Here you will be able to find the definitions for a number or workplace management terms. While viewing the different workplace management defitnitions, please feel free to explore the different links provided. These links will help you navigate to additional web pages, with helpful information on a number of workplace management solutions.
Actual Real Estate Usage
Record of time when space is actually used, opposed to time which space has been reserved or scheduled for use.
Actual Space Utilization
Percentage of time that a space, such as a room or workspace, in an office is actually utilized by one or more employees. Learn more about tracking actual space utilization.
Alternative Workspace
An unassigned workspace that can be used by multiple employees within an organization, either through advanced reservations or by means of first-come-first-served assignment.
Alternative Workspace Strategy
A strategy employed by a company to reduce the amount of office, desk or workspace within the organization. Alternative Workspace Strategies (AWS) often involve multiple workspace sharing concepts, such as hoteling, hot desking, and telecommuting.
API
Application Programming Interface, an interface that a software program implements in order to allow other software to interact with it. API's are usually well defined and backward compatible so that the calling applications can maintain connectivity from release to release.
Building Management System
A Building Management System (BMS) is a computer-based control system installed in buildings that controls and monitors the building’s mechanical and electrical equipment such as ventilation, lighting, power systems, fire systems, and security systems.
Business Intelligence
A popularized, umbrella term used to describe a set of concepts and methods to improve business decision making by using fact-based support systems, typically involving computer-based techniques. BI technologies provide historical, current, and predictive views of business operations. Common functions of Business Intelligence technologies are reporting, online analytical processing, analytics, data mining, business performance management, benchmarking, text mining, and predictive analytics.
CAFM
Computer-Aided Facility Management (CAFM) is the support of facility management functions by use of information technology. Typically, CAFM systems track and maintain: Floor plans, building and property information, space characteristics and usage, employee and occupancy data, workplace assets (furniture and equipment), business continuity and safety information, and LAN and telecom information.
Carbon Footprint
A measure of the amount of carbon dioxide produced by a person, organization or state in a given time.
Cloud Based Computing
Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software and information are provided to computers and other devices on-demand, like the electricity grid.
Digital Signage
An electronic device with a screen used for the purpose of a Room Display. Digital signage can be either active or passive. Passive devices allow only the viewing of the schedule, while active devices allow modification of the schedule and creation of new events.
Efficient Space Utilization
Efficient Space Utilization measure the effectiveness of how an asset was used. For example, if eight people meet in a room that has a maximum capacity of ten, the efficiency of the room usage was 80%.
Energy Management System
A system in an organization that monitors and controls the heating, ventilation and lighting systems in a building in order to achieve energy efficiency through well laid out procedures and methods. Visibility of consumption and awareness of personal energy usage to the consumers is usually part of the system.
Hot Desking
The working practice of sharing desks or workstations between workers, as a means of saving space and resources. Hot Desking differs from Hoteling in that space is not typically reservable. Hot Desking may involve workers on different shifts with non-overlapping work schedules utilizing a common workspace.
Hoteling or Hotelling
See "Office Hoteling"
IWMS
An Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) is a software solution designed to optimize the facility management and real estate performance of an organization. The term, as originally defined by Gartner, included 4 main solution areas, but has been expanded and now includes these five components: Project Management, Corporate Real Estate, Facilities & Space Management, Maintenance Management, and Environmental Sustainability.
Mobile Interface
A software user interface designed specifically to work on a smaller screen sizes, as commonly found on mobile devices.
Office Hoteling
A modern office paradigm where office workers don't have their own offices, cubicles, or even desks, and instead reserve whatever space or resources they think they will need ahead of time. Workers who participate in Office Hoteling commonly work from home and only commute into an office when working in a collaborative mode.
On-Demand
On-demand (OD) computing is an increasingly popular enterprise model in which computing resources are made available to the user as needed. The resources may be maintained within the user's enterprise, or made available by a service provider. The on-demand model was developed to overcome the common challenge to an enterprise of being able to meet fluctuating demands efficiently.
Operational Costs
The recurring expenses which are related to the operation of a business, or to the operation of a device, component, piece of equipment or facility. Operational costs fall into two categories, fixed and variable. As an example, fixed costs for a facility would include rent, while wages and electricity would be variable costs.
Planned Space Utilization
The scheduled usage of a room or resource based upon prior reservations or bookings. Planned Space Utilization does not take into account no-shows or changes in usage time.
Presence Detection
The ability to know that at least one person is present in a defined space. Presence Detection does not provide information regarding the occupancy of a space at a given time.
Real Estate Management
Also referred to as Property management, Real Estate Management is the operation of commercial, industrial and/or residential real estate. Learn more about Real Estate Management Solutions.
Real Time Occupancy Data
Instant record of how many people are in a location or defined space at a given time.
Resource Management
The process of managing the efficient and effective deployment of an organization's resources where and when they are needed.
Room Displays
Any device, whether passive or interactive, that shows the schedule of a room, and whether or not it is currently occupied.
Room Management
Efficient and effective scheduling of an organizations real estate through the use of defined policies and scheduling methods.
Room Management Solution
A Software and hardware based solution designed to improve the efficient use of real estate through industry best practices, monitoring of actual usage and continuous process improvement.
SaaS
Software-as-a-Service, is a model of software deployment over the internet. With SaaS, a provider licenses an application to customers as a service on demand, through a subscription or a “pay-as-you-go” model. Saas is also called “software on demand.”
Scheduling Kiosk
More generically referred to as an Interactive kiosk, a Scheduling Kiosk is a computer terminal that provides information access and scheduling functions via a controlled user interface. Most kiosks provide unattended access to applications, often web based, and restrict the user from access to local computing resources.
Shared Workspace
A physical space such as a desk or office that is not assigned to a unique individual for use. Shared Workspaces can often be reserved in advance, used on a first-come-first-served basis, or assigned for use by multiple workers with non-overlapping usage schedules.
Space Occupancy Detection
The ability to know when rooms were occupied and by how many people.
Telecommuter
A person who regularly engages in the practice of telecommuting.
Telecommuting
The use of telephones and, in many situations, computers to enable an employee to work off-site, outside the traditional workspace.
Visitor Management
The process of scheduling and controlling visitor or guest access to a facility or space. Visitor Management includes, but is not limited to: scheduling visitors, pre-registration, visitor badge creation, and check-in/check-out management.
Web Based
Information and/or an application made available via the World Wide Web.
Workplace Business Intelligence
A Business Intelligence solution focused on the collection, analysis and trending of valuable real estate information in order to enable an organization to actively manage current and future real-estate utilization by improving operational efficiency or reducing costly overhead.