Essential Computing

Resource Central

Exchange and Outlook integrated booking system for the Hybrid Workplace. Book rooms, desks, workspaces and parking from within Outlook or mobile app. Manage catering, services and visitors. Automated workflow via email and web console for service providers. Works with Microsoft 365, Azure AD, Exchange, Active Directory. SaaS or on premises.

Features

• Book rooms, desks, parking or any other type of space
• Access via Outlook, mobile app, QR code
• Room and desk devices available
• Microsoft Teams and Teams Rooms integration
• Order catering and facilities services
• Visitor management
• Web-based console for administrators and service providers
• Microsoft Power BI integration for advanced reporting
• Single sign on (SSO) using OAuth, OpenID Connect or SAML2
• Deploy as SaaS solution (Azure) or host yourself

Benefits

• Enable staff to manage their own workspace bookings
• Support return to the office and hybrid workplace initiatives
• Easy access for staff using existing SSO credentials
• Keep Outlook calendars as the central hub for bookings
• Quick adoption with staff via familiar Outlook calendar view
• Integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Teams meetings
• Reporting and BI Dashboards for powerful insights into utilization
• Service provider hub makes daily task management simple
• Adapt quickly to changes in booking requirements
• Reduce management overhead by choosing SaaS solution

£76 to £350 a licence a year

• Education pricing available

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at info@essential.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 13

Service ID

735112982053439

Contact

Clare Knight
01275 343199
info@essential.co.uk

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: Yes
• What software services is the service an extension to: Microsoft Outlook calendars
• Cloud deployment model:
  • Public cloud
  • Private cloud
  • Hybrid cloud
• Service constraints: Only supports Microsoft Outlook, Exchange and Office 365 (cloud only or hybrid).
• System requirements:
  • Exchange Online / Exchange Server
  • Azure AD / Active Directory
  • Windows Server 2016 or above (if customer hosted installation)
  • SQL Server 2017 or above (if customer hosted installation)
  • Exchange Online plan with EWS Support
  • IOS / Android

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: Web based support- response within one hour Monday- Friday 9am-5.30-pm UK time.
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: None or don’t know
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: Our Support Service, which includes: email, phone and remote access support from our Bristol based offices is available Mon-Fri, 9-5.30pm . ; ; Support is provided by our trained technical support team. Installation services are carried out by our Technical Consultants, who hand over to the support and customer care team following planning, install and configuration to suit your organisations needs. ; ; Where subsequent on site support is needed this would be quoted as needed on a day rate basis. ; ; Your customer account manager will work closely with Support to help and advise following initial technical installation and set up. In addition, the vendor provides out of UK hours support via email Monday-Friday.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: We take care to help plan, install, configure and support the 'go live' process through our experienced, dedicated technical consulting and support teams. Through a combination of remote and on site services (for workshops- always best face to face), we'll support your team in getting up and running as effectively as possible. We've learned a lot about what works in a room booking project, what doesn't, and are available to support and offer advice throughout the on boarding process.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: All of the calendar information about meeting bookings is retained and owned by the customer in their own Exchange/Office 365 resource mailboxes.; ; The SQL database containing information relating to things like catering orders, room layout images etc, can be output to CSV or other file types as needed.
• End-of-contract process: 12 weeks written notice is required to end the contract, at which time the service and support will end.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Internet Explorer 11
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Chrome
• Application to install: Yes
• Compatible operating systems:
  • IOS
  • MacOS
  • Windows
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: The mobile service allows staff to book calendar appointments on the fly, locating the right room or workspace, and adding resources to the booking.; The main difference between the mobile and desktop service is that the Order Form, which enables additional services- i.e. catering, room layout, cost codes etc, is only available from the desktop. ; ; Typically users would locate and book their meeting resources on the go- once the booking is sent, the organiser receives an email with a link to add other services when back at their desk.; ; No admin functionality available from mobile client.
• Service interface: No
• User support accessibility: None or don’t know
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: Within the subcomponent RealTime service, we have a private API that can be used to create/modify appointments.
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats: Other
• API sandbox or test environment: No
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: Most aspects of the user interface can be customised to some degree- including , configuration and layout of the workspaces, configuration of the solution around sites, floorplans, and set up.; ; The system can also be visually branded to meet each customer's branding requirements in line with corporate best practices and guidelines.; ; Typically customisation is initially carried out by the Essential Installation consultant following a planning exercise. Training given to allow admins/FM/managers to further make changes to the configuration of the system to meet changing business needs. ; ; Alternatively Essential's support service can assist.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: The application is hosted in a single instance for each customer within Microsoft Azure.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: No

Resellers

• Supplier type: Reseller providing extra support
• Organisation whose services are being resold: Add-On Technologies

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Conforms to BS7858:2019
• Government security clearance: Up to Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations: European Economic Area (EEA)
• User control over data storage and processing locations: No
• Datacentre security standards: Supplier-defined controls
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: Another external penetration testing organisation
• Protecting data at rest: Physical access control, complying with another standard
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type: Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
• Equipment disposal approach: In-house destruction process

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: Users should not need to export any data, as all meeting bookings would be retained in Exchange or Office 365 resource calendars.; ; In the event of moving to a non- Outlook based solution, existing Calendar appointments could be extracted as ICS files.
• Data export formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data export formats: .ICS
• Data import formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data import formats: .ICS

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks:
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • Legacy SSL and TLS (under version 1.2)
• Data protection within supplier network:
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • Legacy SSL and TLS (under version 1.2)

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: The service provided is a hosted service, or a support service for the application hosted by the customer in their own cloud.
• Approach to resilience: This information is available on request.
• Outage reporting: Log file entries within the event viewer.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Role based access controls are in place to determine appropriate access according to role.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least once a year
• Management access authentication:
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Username or password

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: Between 6 months and 12 months
• Access to supplier activity audit information: No audit information available
• How long system logs are stored for: Between 6 months and 12 months

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: No
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: No
• Other security certifications: No

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: No
• Security governance approach: Access to the AOP Production Network is restricted by an explicit need-to-know basis, uses least privilege, its frequently audited and monitored, and is controlled by our team. Data is stored a secured password vault secured with 2fa. ; ; All Production Network systems, networked devices, and circuits are constantly monitored and logically administered by Add-On Products staff 24 / 5.; ; The internal framework includes: Staff education and training, company policy, regular review processes, Director ownership of policy and processes.
• Information security policies and processes: The ISO/IEC 27001 Code of Practice for Information Security Management as a framework for guiding the approach to managing security. Add-On Products (AOP) servers are all hosted in Microsoft Azure. ; ; All datacenters are ISO/IEC, CSA/CCM, ITAR, CJIS, HIPAA and IRS certified. ; ; Continually review the use of security measures so that we can improve the way in which we protect our business.; ; Information assets are protected and managed to enable meeting of contractual, legislative, privacy and ethical responsibilities.

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: The Change Management team utilise Jira change control systems and framework. The key objective is to protect the client production services from outage and disruption resulting from change.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: Major application data flow ingress and egress points are monitored with Intrusion.; ; Detection Systems (IDS) or Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS). The systems are configured to generate alerts when incidents and values exceed predetermined thresholds and uses regularly updated ; signatures based on new threats. ; ; Network security scanning gives us deep insight for quick identification of out-of-compliance or potentially vulnerable systems. ; ; Access to the Production Network is restricted by an explicit need-to-know basis, uses least privilege, and is frequently audited and monitored, and is controlled by our team. ; ; Data is stored a secured password vault secured with 2fa.
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: We have defined our own protective monitoring processes in line with contract and customer requirements. All systems, networked devices, and circuits are constantly monitored and logically administered by Add-On Products staff 24 / 5.
• Incident management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Incident management approach: Any security or data breach event must be reported immediately to the CTO. ; ; Security Incident Response, in case of a system alert, events are escalated to our 24 / 5 teams providing Operations, Network Engineering, and Security coverage. Employees are trained on security incident response processes, including communication channels and escalation paths.

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Supplier-defined process

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Social Value

• Fighting climate change:

  Fighting climate change

  Essential recognises that its operations have an effect on the local, regional and global environment. As a consequence of this, the Company is committed to continuous improvements in environmental performance and the prevention of pollution.; ; The solutions we provide support today's organisations in providing a modern hybrid workspace for their staff, visitors and communities. Enabling employees to work from the places which best suit them. This approach to the modern workplace means a lower impact on the environment.
• Covid-19 recovery:

  Covid-19 recovery

  Essential have taken all possible steps to support our staff, partners and customers in recovering from the impact of Covid19. Including:; - Enabling staff to continue working from home as needed or preferred; - Centralising company systems in the cloud to support flexible working; - Supporting office space usage to suit changing staff and business needs; - Providing solutions and advice to customers to support their needs for flexible hybrid workplace solutions, enabling them to return to work safely.
• Tackling economic inequality:

  Tackling economic inequality

  We work in collaboration with our suppliers and vendors to bring the best possible service and value to the organisations we work with, including:; - Provision of external support and testing services to further validate and feedback on new version updates.; - Regular feedback and product review sessions to ensure that our partners are able to move quickly and adjust to customer needs.; - Provision of user groups for customers, to promote best practices, new approaches and fresh thinking among peers.
• Equal opportunity:

  Equal opportunity

  The Company’s objective is to maintain operational standards so that all its employees and employment applicants are treated equally irrespective of race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, disability, age, marital status or ethnic origin.
• Wellbeing:

  Wellbeing

  Our primary responsibility is to our team, and we aim to be a responsible and supportive employer. ; ; We enable our team members to work from home or the office and believe they should choose to work from the place which best suits their roles and lives.; ; As a business we strive to have a positive impact on our own local community, as well as support the environmental and social initiatives of our customers.

Pricing

• Price: £76 to £350 a licence a year
• Discount for educational organisations: Yes
• Free trial available: No

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at info@essential.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.