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Multi-location Global Law Firm uses Rendezvous to Manage Meeting Rooms
and Catering across Two Sites
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Advanced scheduling solution frees up employee time and helps with IT strategy
Established in 1834 and with a head office in
Birmingham, UK, Wragge & Co. is an
international law firm that provides a full service
to clients worldwide, including hundreds of public
sector organizations and thousands of large private
companies. The company also has offices in London,
Brussels, Paris, Munich and Guangzhou, China. |
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With over 1,000 employees, including 615 lawyers, Wragge
has an excellent work environment, ranking 13th in the
Financial Times' 50 Best Workplaces in the UK; the firm
is also well known for its IT prowess, since the IT team
won IT Team of the Year at the prestigious Law Office
Technology Awards (LOTIES).
Despite this recognition, reception staff used a manual
system, until a major expansion of the head office
focused attention on meeting room management. According
to Reception Manager Caroline Kennedy, who joined the
firm in 1989, "We were using a ruler, a pencil and a
pencil eraser."
These implements were thrown out when Rendezvous, by NFS
Hospitality, was selected to manage bookings in both the
head office and in the smaller London office. Rendezvous
is specifically designed for multi-site management.
Initially the system went live at Birmingham; six months
later the London and head office databases were linked,
and Rendezvous was fully operational at both locations.
The selection process was simple, says Caroline. "One
of our staff had prior experience of NFS, so as
Rendezvous could meet our needs operationally as well as
from an IT strategy point of view, it was a simple
choice. The installation went smoothly, with excellent
help from the NFS team."
Caroline had specified a system that could handle
bookings for the firm's 31 meeting rooms at head office
and another 11 rooms in London. The system also had to
produce maintenance, catering and quarterly meeting
reports. Naturally she wanted a user-friendly system.
"Most of all I wanted simplicity as I had no experience
of computerized room bookings," she notes. "Once
Rendezvous was installed, it was surprisingly easy to
use - especially for a mature non-techie like me."
At present, four reception staff in Birmingham and three
in London use Rendezvous, and the results have been
dramatic. "We've cut phone calls by a third, which
means much more time for quality service for staff and
visiting clients," she adds.
 Caroline
tells how an online booking form was created in the
corporate intranet. "We print the form off and decide
the room assignments. Much of the assignment is quite
personal as we know that particular partners like
particular rooms. For example, some like the atrium
rooms in our head office, while some want windows. Some
like to meet in the older part of the building and some
prefer the new extension."
Wragge has its own in-house catering and is often called
on for silver service at lunchtime. "Rendezvous
handles everything - menus, wine, flowers - the works,"
concludes the Reception Manager. |
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