Joan

The only room booking tablet an idiot like me could implement

Opmerkingen: For a small business without an IT team, for a company that doesn't want to provide power outside every conference room, or for companies of any size who care more about something that is simple to buy, setup and maintain, I heartily recommend Joan. The value is incredible.

Pluspunten:

The best thing about Joan is the hardware. Unlike every other tablet-based solution, I can mount them without wiring and they only need to be charged every week or two. The software itself is a little annoying to set up (and the desktop software is wonky) but we're seeing great compliance among our employees. At the end of the day, that's all that really matters.

Minpunten:

While the setup was something I could handle myself (I'm not some IT wizard, I'm just the product manager tasked with getting office technology working) the process was a little complicated. The desktop software necessary to configure Wifi on the tablets looks old and sometimes crashes/freezes. The website is a bit tricky, too. But this is small compared to the fact that *I was actually able to set this up*.

Super simple to setup!

Opmerkingen: Excellent

Pluspunten:

Has ability to host the manager on premise to save cost on monthly fees. Devices have long battery life and just work! No issues at all so far!

Minpunten:

Has lots of features but would love to see microsoft teams integration like slack

Eerder overwogen alternatieven: Meeting Room 365

Redenen om over te stappen op Joan: Cost, joan is a device, with other option we would need to purchase devices that would need proper mounting to make it all work

Great software, terrible hardware

Opmerkingen: In conclusion, I believe from a cost/value perspective getting some cheap iPads that are anyway plugged in all the time will provide a better user experience for a lower cost. I like the idea and as pointed out in the pros, the software interface is really neat, but it's let down by terrible hardware implementation.

Pluspunten:

The software interface is done very well. As is the visual design of the tablet. This would be a fantastic solution, were it not for two major downsides...

Minpunten:

The biggest issue is the battery. I think the tablet has issues with mesh networks where multiple wifi access points share the same SSID. Even directly below an access point, the tablet complains about connectivity. I believe it connects to the wrong (i.e. further away) access point, which results in a high battery drain. We have to recharge the tablets every few weeks which is significantly below the guidance of the manufacturer. The other issue is the touch control. I'm not sure if this is an issue with the e-ink display itself or simply a terrible touch layer that's used. But in the end, you might need quite a bit of force to use the display.

Best roomreservartion system ever

Opmerkingen: During our growth we encountered several issues with our meetingrooms. Double bookings, ghost meetings etc. Even while all users could check the room calendars they didn't. Having a physical, low maintance device with the current and next meetings right at the room is a huge improvement. Customers love to see the appointment on the Joan.

Pluspunten:

Easy to use, set it up and forget about it. It just runs. Just make sure the Joan gets charged once in a while and you don't have to do any maintance. The setup is maybe 15 minutes of work and even the advanced stuff is easy to setup.

Minpunten:

Well it's not a huge deal but when setting up and configuring stuff (making test appointments and so on) it takes some time to see if everything is working. There is no realtime feedback, but thats in the nature of the product.

It just works!

Opmerkingen: Who's in the conference room? Who's got it booked next? That's the problem it solves. As our company grows the demand for space grows as well. Joan helps to keep our conference room experience efficient.

Pluspunten:

Setup was very easy for the on-prem server, not much configuration needed after spinning it up. The config to connect to Office 365 was well documented and easy as well. I've had this running since the end of 2016 and it's been one of the more solid systems of any technology I'm responsible for. Users love the visibility Joan provides. And I love the fact I get about a month of battery life.

Minpunten:

There really isn't much not to like. It just works!