Having installed Rendezvous for hundreds of clients, large and small, we have managed to assist many users in streamlining their business processes.  This leads to improved efficiency and better service to their “customers”.  In the broad context of this document, we use the term “customer” in the context of both internal and external customers.  This document seeks to provide an insight into how Rendezvous users are using the powerful functionality of the software to achieve business benefits beyond the basic scheduling tasks.

Automating Complex Booking Arrangements:

How much time could you save if your booking system was able to book the items required automatically for a complex meeting such as a video conference?  With Rendezvous, groups of items (Resources, Food Service, People) can be scheduled automatically for complex meetings, making the booking process much faster and also ensuring that every detail relating to video conference and other multi-property meetings can be taken care of.  For example, a meeting involving multiple rooms each with a different layout, requiring different equipment to be provided could take hours to schedule.  With Rendezvous, by simply selecting the rooms and appropriate layouts for a specific meeting type, the scheduling and thus the management of all items required can be fully automated.  This Auto Scheduler feature can save you hours of valuable time.

Managing Set up and Breakdown Times:

 How often have you not allowed enough time to prepare for an important meeting requiring equipment, catering or a room layout change?  Using Rendezvous, with fully automated set-up/breakdown management, you can now relax.  By selecting a specific room layout or equipment required for your meeting, Rendezvous will automatically add the appropriate set-up and breakdown time to ensure that your meeting plans are perfect.  As an example, if there is a late booking of a video conference that requires special equipment (projector, bridge, phone, etc) Rendezvous will, by checking resource availability, add the appropriate set-up/breakdown time to the meeting as well as alert the department responsible.

Package Handling for Efficient Bookings:

How could you save time in planning major events or conferences that require different combinations of things for different groups?  For example, planning an event involving a few hundred people organized in groups can be a major task.  The schedule could include full day meetings that include breakfast, lunch, dinner, AM/PM breaks and possibly AV equipment, while a social function, like a dinner reception may include a special menu, champagne toast and overnight guest room accommodation.  With the package handling utility in Rendezvous, individual items collectively become customized packages that are applied on a per person basis, including package cost, package expenses, discount and special notes captured against each item making the booking process a breeze!

Meet and Greet – First Impressions Count:

Are you constantly challenged by last minute booking changes and the impact of dealing with Visitors?  The Rendezvous Visitor Management Module lets you capture visitor details, arrival and travel arrangements as well as preferences (e.g. catering) to ensure a positive first impression.  With security in mind, visitor badges, including photo badging, can also be accommodated.

Dealing with Last Minute Changes:

As conference manager, you have made the perfect plan for tomorrow.  By 9.00am on the day a number of changes need to be made to meeting arrangements and you now need to communicate these easily to meeting hosts and service providers.  The Rendezvous Tracker utility immediately alerts the relevant service department as you make changes and allows the department to acknowledge receipt of instructions.

In addition, the Rendezvous Rolling Display feature enables you to communicate meeting room status and other changes to be conveniently displayed on plasma screens throughout your facility, ensuring hosts and guests are kept fully informed.

Matter Number Validation and Cost Center Capture:

Most commercial scheduling systems do not offer event management features beyond the simple booking process.  With the Rendezvous suite of scheduling solutions, things like Client/Matter number or Project Codes can be automatically validated ensuring that meeting costs are correctly captured and posted for accurate department accounting.

In addition, comprehensive reporting of costs by department and interfaces to the leading Accounting and ERP systems guarantee a seamless flow of information between the booking and billing system, saving hours of manual effort in charge reconciliation after the event!

Browser Based for Quick Deployment:

Today, the IT resources required to deploy and maintain software across the organization can be a major commercial and technical issue. Think about how easy and cost effective it would be to have a “zero deployment” scheduling solution, with access to users controlled only by user profiles and advanced features such as connectivity to the corporate Exchange server and Outlook for seamless access.  As a Browser-based solution, Rendezvous meets all these requirements, making it the most cost effective solution to install and support!