There is much more to workplace lockers than storing a bike or keeping the workspace organized. Smart lockers help make the office dynamic and empowers employees by giving them absolute freedom to work from anywhere.
Workplaces are more dynamic than ever! With the hybrid model of working where people are not in their offices as often, your people must have a safe place to store their belongings as well as confidential documents that can later be handed over to someone else. Smart lockers enable frictionless movement in the office and are an absolute necessity for workplaces, especially now as the way we work is changing!
There’s more to smart locker systems than storing personal belongings. It enables workplace flexibility, saves facility management time, and enhances employee collaboration and productivity. But what kind of features do you need in your smart locker solutions to make sure they are worth the investment? We tried to capture a few of the most essential features that smart workplace lockers must have in order to promote dynamic working in their workplaces. Let’s walk you through it:
The top 10 features of smart lockers:
Self-service Solutions for all
Self-service office lockers use leading-edge technology and are built for convenience. Employees can easily access the lockers with their existing access cards, smartphones and facial recognition. So, no keys and no pin-codes! With advanced locking technology at your fingertips, no one should struggle with the hassles of lost keys, re-setting pin codes, and un-blocking lockers. Simply connect your locker with your smartphone and access it contactless.
Facility managers can also save up to 90% of their time by reviewing occupancy and managing locker allocations remotely. They can use one system to manage different user groups and configure occupancy and permission control at their fingertip. This system is not only a timesaver, its clever usage configurations also ensure employees always find an available locker when and where they need it, which is a crucial element in achieving a successful dynamic workplace. This makes a smart locker system not only significantly reduce administrative work, it also improves employee productivity and wellbeing.
Use the lockers as and when you want. Most importantly, however, you want
When it comes to smart lockers, the concept of one-size-fits-all is not valid. Everyone who is in your office is not necessarily using the locker the same way. Some might need a Fixed Locker to store their belongings as long as they want, some might need flex lockers that they can use on the go and some might be visitors and need visitor lockers. Also, a team might be in a need of team lockers and someone who is a fitness enthusiast might want to use the locker as a changing locker.
So, you need to choose your locker management partner in a way that can accommodate all the locker needs of your employees. Also, the software should have a very strong permission access control so that the lockers, at the end of the day doesn’t end up being under-utilized or worse, wasted.
Cloud-based Solutions
I’m sure most of you reading this article have heard the term ‘’Cloud-first’’. It has been floating around for quite some time now. What it means is to consider cloud-based solutions before everything else. And it is exactly what we recommend for smart locker systems too. With a SaaS solution you not only have the most secure system, but you also have more options, always the latest updates and features at your disposal, and greater flexibility compared to an on-premise solution.
Cloud-based solutions also mean no hassles of establishing or running a data center or investing in computer software and hardware. It is also highly scalable and can handle your enterprise’s needs now and in the future. Data storage capacity, processing power, and networking can all be easily scaled using existing cloud computing infrastructure. It also requires significantly less time and can be done with little to no disruption. That means time savings for your IT team, more flexibility and convenience alongside considerable cost savings.
Sustainability
Standing in 2021, it’s not important to explain why contributing to a sustainable environment is crucial in making the world a better place to live for everyone. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) allows businesses large and small to choose products that are right for them but also encourages social change. Research shows that younger investors and consumers report the strongest belief in corporate responsibility.
Future-proof workplace storage solutions contribute to sustainability since with dynamic storage, you need fewer lockers per employee. What’s more, based on actual usage data the storage facilities can be optimally configured, also if workplace dynamics change. Real-time user insights also help companies avoid further investments in procuring add-on lockers and reducing solid waste to landfills.
Buy solutions that use fewer batteries as disposing batteries containing toxic materials into the earth cause both air as well as water pollution. Vecos’ smart locker solutions contribute to companies’ sustainability policies and at the same time don’t compromise on quality and design.
Data analytics and reporting
Did you know that 95% of all available lockers are occupied, but only 50% are used over 3 months? A good smart locker management software should provide real-time data and insights on locker usage so that one can use that data to continuously optimize their storage.
Based on real-time behavioral data (data on occupancy, daily users, lockers not opened for significant time), you can judge space usage and make sure you are not investing more than you should and not further contributing to environmental waste. Furthermore, this entire process of data collection and reporting saves a lot of facility management time. With visualization, one can understand behavior faster and make strategic choices.
Read More: The Smart Office - A data driven workplace
Seamless Integration
Every business needs to respond to market demands quickly. Whether it is to improve workplace productivity or customer experience or security, integrations play a crucial role in refining your business processes.
Choose networked lockers that can seamlessly integrate with external third-party applications and easily fit into the overall workflows of your company.
Read More: Testimonial from Enlighted, A Siemens company
What's more, with employees entering, moving, or leaving the company on a daily basis, make sure you leverage automatic employee data updates through integration too. That way, uploading outdated excel files becomes a thing of the past.
Security
Are smart lockers safe? Absolutely! Security is pivotal when it comes to smart lockers. A secure and reliable storage solution is essential for the employees to trust the lockers with their personal belongings as well as confidential workplace documents.
With networked locking systems, security is guaranteed. As the lockers can be operated remotely by facility managers, in case of misplaced access cards, access can be revoked remotely in a few seconds. Also, if an employee decided to leave and forgets to return the card, locker access with that card can be blocked and the locker can be re-assigned to somebody else.
Vecos’ networked lockers are ISO27001 certified which means your data is our responsibility. This standard provides us with the necessary know-how for protecting our clients’ most valuable information and safeguards their data.
Multilingual Support
With globalization, workplaces now have employees that come from all parts of the world. Your smart lockers should ensure that they have access to choose their language of comfort and not get stuck behind language barriers. This also emphasizes the fact that the company recognizes and supports different cultures and versatility of its locker users. And at the end of the day, it’s always fun to interact in one’s mother tongue even it’s for a few seconds on a display screen.
Remote Monitoring, Diagnostics & Repair
Did it ever happen to you that you pitched your business to some company internationally and despite being a pretty great match, you were not chosen as a vendor because you were settled in another country or continent? The question that often came up was “What will happen if we need support?’’. Well, that is a thing of the past because, over the past year, Covid-19 made it impossible for people to physically travel to the offices to provide support. And thus, we felt that we should have a dedicated section on Remote support when it comes to choosing smart lockers.
Thanks to remote monitoring and repair, IT support staff can now remotely access your network even if they are across cities, countries, or continents. It really doesn’t matter where the server computers are located anymore – technology bridging the gap yet again! This gives customers peace of mind knowing that no matter what happens, their IT team can troubleshoot the system from anywhere and ensure that things run smoothly. It also results in significant cost savings because no one needs to cross oceans to fix the network incidents.
Regular App Updates
Multiple smart locker management companies have custom-branded mobile apps that one can use to access and release their lockers. But, that’s not enough! Make sure that you choose a company that sends regular app updates. This not only means happy users but also greater security and lesser bugs.
Final Words
Electronic workplace Lockers aim to make sure that your employees can work dynamically. If you are still stuck with the 9-5 mentality, then not only you are hampering office productivity, but you probably are also losing out on quality talent. According to Compare Camp, 87% of professionals think that holding a flexible job would lower their stress level, and 97% claim that flexibility in their jobs would have a positive impact on their overall quality of life.
The future of work is dynamic and if you are still not a part of it, your time is now!
