Issue link: https://resources.esri.ca/i/1361311
12 Connecting the workforce Using location analysis, workplace planners see ways to improve employee interactions. For instance, GIS calculates distances between members of the same team. Indoor maps show who works where, the type of work they do, and their proximity to primary and secondary teams. The workplace map shows common routes to colleagues' offices and collaborative space so that the planner can assess the space and rearrange it to better accommodate face-to-face interaction. Using location analytics to visualize occupancy, planners readily see where office vacancies create space fragmentation. These "holes" in office space impede collaboration. The workplace map is the canvas for implementing a consolidation plan that brings teams together. Mobile apps are also a useful collaboration tool. Connected to the indoor tracking service hosted on company's web services, mobile apps help employees find each other. Staff use their smart devices to navigate to locations in the building and elsewhere on campus. Upon subscribing to the service, they share their current location with others who may need to find them. In addition, staff publish their calendars to show when they will be at other locations on the campus. Indoor apps show coworkers how far away a teammate is from a meeting. When running late, an attendee sends the meeting coordinator an estimated time of arrival. If the meeting location has changed at the last minute, the coordinator texts updates to all participants and sends a map to the new location. As long as employees are connected to and within range of the business's IPS, they can access location intelligence. Facility sensors collect information about people and objects in the building and transmit it to the tracking service. For instance, an IPS sensor detects when an employee is in his or her own office and then streams the data to the central system. The service turns on the app's on-demand capabilities, so the employee can raise the office's temperature. Service providers also take advantage of indoor tracking to monitor when high-traffic spaces are unoccupied. They can then schedule maintenance and housekeeping services at times that are least disruptive.