New Tech Launched to Help Social Distancing in the Workplace Post Lockdown

A new app has been launched to help businesses return their staff to the office safely once the COVID-19 lockdown is over.

The service and app, which Dale Office Interiors - the North’s leading office interior design and fit out company – developed in partnership with Dutch tech company, iotspot, provides bespoke desk-booking solutions enabling businesses to introduce staff back into the office post-lockdown, safely and sensibly.

David Bricknell, Managing Director at Dale Office Interiors, explains: “The chances are, when lockdown ends, there will still be measures in place to control the spread of COVID-19, and a key challenge for many companies will be ensuring that employees can maintain the recommended social distancing protocols when they return to work. Bottom line here: too many people in the office will put these protocols under stress.

“It might well be the case that desks that are closer than two metres apart can’t be occupied at the same time, meaning the office can’t fit as many staff in it as it did before coronavirus. Obviously, with everyone trying to get their businesses back on track, no one is looking to increase their overheads by moving to a bigger office, so a smart solution is necessary. 

“We’re proud to be working with iotspot to help businesses manage their office occupancy, providing them with the tools they need to safely transition the workforce back into office-based working.”  

The app gives employees the option to view the available space in their office from home and book desk space ahead of time, thus preventing unnecessary commutes to the office when max safe capacity has been reached. Admins can manage social distancing between colleagues by blocking the surrounding desk spaces, increasing occupancy over time by scanning a chip embedded in stickers attached to desks, enabling them for use. 

The app updates live and, once office capacity is reached, employees are requested not to come into the office and to work from home instead.  

Mark van de Logt, Commercial Manager at iotspot, says, “We realised that companies would be faced with a question on how to deal with the risk of too many people returning to the office once the doors reopen. Here, we saw the opportunity to tailor our existing Smart Workspace platform, with just some slight changes, turning it around into a simple but effective solution, to manage the maximum safe office capacity, at limited cost and deployment in just days. We are very pleased to support Dale Office Interiors in helping their clients deal with today’s challenges.” 

To find out more about this innovative solution to introduce staff back to the office without overloading the space, click https://www.daleoffice.co.uk/office-social-distancing-app/