Catering & Facility Services - Managing service providers with Flexopus

Workplaces and offices only function when all processes run optimally and all employees can focus on their tasks. Modern offices are full of talented and versatile people, yet bringing in third-party providers remains essential for some tasks. 

Whether it's catering, IT services, or cleaning: in many areas, bringing in external support is the right decision. With Flexopus service providers and third-party vendors can be easily digitized, managed, and integrated into workplace management.
This allows you to keep track of all current and future service providers at all times and view and manage the entire process from invitation to completion with Flexopus.

Catering & Facility Services with Flexopus

With Flexopus Catering & Services service providers can be registered, recorded, and commissioned paperlessly and easily. Any conceivable third-party provider can be included directly in the planning without leaving the familiar Flexopus work environment. 

In combination with the room booking system entire meetings can be planned from start to finish: from the appetizer catering at the beginning to the cleaning service afterwards - with Flexopus, you stay in control. 

Catering or service booking process

The process for a catering or service booking takes place within the familiar Flexopus application environment. Similar to workstations or meeting rooms, the booking tile can be accessed directly from the home page. 

In the user-level booking overview, catering and service bookings appear alongside all future bookings. In addition, all data can always be viewed and managed via the admin area.

The actual process takes place in simple steps, but there are several ways to create a booking:

Individual booking of catering and services

1. Select "Catering & Services"
2. Enter details (title, date, location, provider, and notes)
3. (Optional) Select position
4. Save

The created contractor receives the order directly by email. All details (title, date, location, notes) are also included. 

Adding catering & services via room booking

A prerequisite for this is activating the event management option. This expands the simple room booking into an event creation process, allowing for more detailed meeting and appointment scheduling. A catering or service order can also be added to these events:

1. Select "New Event"
2. Enter details (name, date, time, location)
3. Select "Add service order"
4. Enter details (location, provider, notes)
5. Save

Once saved, the created event is stored along with the catering & service order and added to the booking overview. The contractor is notified via email and receives all necessary details about the order.

Book catering and services directly in Outlook

With the Flexopus Outlook add-in, employees can request additional services such as catering or external service providers directly when booking a room. The booking is made in the same step as the appointment and room selection, ensuring all relevant requirements are captured centrally in Outlook. This allows for better meeting preparation, reduces internal coordination, and ensures all required resources are coordinated in a timely manner.

Registering contractors for catering & services

Every contractor must be registered in the admin area at the outset. This allows administrators to keep track of all registered contractors and manage them accordingly.

In addition to provider details, associated buildings and offered items can also be managed here. This ensures that users are only shown what is actually available, preventing incorrect bookings.

There is also an overview of all active orders, which can be viewed retroactively. This makes it possible to verify who was in the building on which day, should retroactive contact be necessary.

Service provider functions

The Catering & Service module adds another tile to the standard Flexopus application. Activating the module provides a variety of useful functions:

Catering and service providers

Manage service providers that perform services in your building. This could be, for example, an external catering provider that supplies food for meetings, a facility management service that carries out regular inspections, or an IT service desk that handles IT-related issues.

Manage offered services

Service providers and their items can be managed in the admin area. Almost anything can be configured as desired, from beverages and rental equipment to cleaning, seating arrangements, or waste disposal services.

Manage orders

Catering and facility services can be managed easily and intuitively as an administrator. All orders can be viewed in real-time and flexibly adjusted via the "Service Providers" tab.

Approve orders

Determine role holders and their access permissions for external service providers. This allows you to determine which third-party providers require approval and to keep track of your expenses using the cost center feature.

Limit orders

Define the framework for catering and facility service orders yourself. You have full control over orderable quantities, how far in advance orders must be placed, and how spontaneously changes can be made.

You have full control over the functions, utility, and limitations regarding your configured service providers, allowing you to personally define the framework within which third-party providers can be utilized and booked.

Use Cases for Catering & Facility Services

The use cases for catering and facility services are diverse, ranging from simple orders to extensive work requests, and can take on any form and level of complexity.

Case 1

For example, if one of your employees makes a mistake and the dishwasher in the office kitchen breaks down, you can avoid endless back-and-forth communication by having already saved a plumbing and maintenance company in the admin area. To keep track of costs, every new order requires approval from the location manager.

The affected person handles the order independently, ensures that the responsible parties are present on the day of the service, and manages the entire workload themselves. Ultimately, the administrator only needs to approve the order and assign it to the correct cost center.

Case 2

A major meeting is coming up. A new partner is visiting in person with several representatives. You want the visit to run as smoothly and comfortably as possible. Using the room booking system, you as an admin create a new booking.

You add all the necessary employees and also want to order some catering. Due to the large number of people, you also need to rearrange the seating in the meeting rooms. The meeting is scheduled to start at 9:00 AM.

You add two service requests to the room booking: one for catering with 10 pretzels at 8:45 AM, and another for the seating arrangement. Since the seating needs to be set up the evening before, you adjust the time for this request accordingly and schedule the company for 5:30 PM the previous day.

With a single click, you complete the room booking, notify all participating employees, and commission both service providers simultaneously. The meeting is now fully prepared and documented in Flexopus, ensuring you always stay on top of things.

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Benefits of Catering & Facility Services

Integrating catering and facility services into your workplace management system offers numerous advantages. Flexopus works seamlessly with this feature, allowing for intuitive integration into your daily work routine:

• App Integration:

Bookings can also be made and managed via the user area in the Flexopus Android and iOS app.

• Cost Control:

With order limits and cost center assignments, you can keep track of all expenses, even when multiple people are making bookings.

• User-Friendliness:

The booking process mirrors existing workflows, meaning the feature can be used immediately by everyone.

• Multifunctional:

There are several ways to make bookings, and all required services can be defined according to your needs.

• Provider management:

The list view of all service providers allows for straightforward access and a clear overview.

• Building assignment:

Providers can be assigned to specific buildings. This ensures that bookings are only made where intended.

• Categories:

Orderable products can be organized into categories to keep the ordering process as simple and efficient as possible.

• GDPR compliant:

As with all Flexopus products and services, data is processed strictly in accordance with GDPR and ISO27001 in Germany.

Conclusion

With Flexopus, companies have the ability to manage their catering and facility services simply and efficiently without losing control. Integrating catering and facility services into the workplace management system enables seamless planning and organization of external service providers – whether for meetings, events, or daily tasks. Thanks to the user-friendly interface, flexible customization, and complete transparency regarding orders and costs, administrative effort remains minimal while the quality of service offerings is always guaranteed. Flexopus thus not only contributes to smooth daily office operations but also ensures that every detail, from booking to billing, is handled professionally and according to the highest quality standards.