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Show HN: Robin – OpenTable for your office

robinpowered.com

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Re: Show HN: Robin – OpenTable for your office

#23

I always have trouble with pricing models like this... how is it 2.5X as expensive to have 3x as many "bookable rooms"? Once you write the software, it's trivial to add more "bookable rooms". Why do you charge so much more for the difference, which really just amounts to a little extra disk space/CPU (not that this is an intensive application to run in either regard anyway). I guess the reason our industry has gone t…

As much as I love capitalism, there's a few differences as you go up in tiers beyond just room limits. Today the most notable is the ability to manage more than one office location. In time it will will expand since certain things (i.e. SAML, high resolution analytics, audit logs) aren't needed by the typical 5 conference room company. The more stuff you're managing, the more complex the relationships become -- not just an N + 1 operation.

Re: Show HN: Robin – OpenTable for your office

#24

I think this is a great idea. Congrats guys!

Just thinking about it more more, there are so many places you could bolt a tablet onto a wall to improve an interface to something.

- think doctor / dentist - think directory to an office building - a doorbell with video conferencing - why not just put a menu on every table in every restaurant.

Re: Show HN: Robin – OpenTable for your office

#25

I think this is a great idea. Congrats guys!

Just thinking about it more more, there are so many places you could bolt a tablet onto a wall to improve an interface to something. - think doctor / dentist - think directory to an office building - a doorbell with video conferencing - why not just put a menu on every table in every restaurant.

If you've been to LaGuardia, it's basically a sea of iPads: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-ipad-is-a-big-part-of-lag...

Re: Show HN: Robin – OpenTable for your office

#26
post #18

Looks gorgeous but I wonder how big a deal power is? I suspect many rooms won't have power nearby and recharging every 1-3 days sounds dreary.

It's generally not a dealbreaker for most offices. With external battery packs you can get extra days, or you could just get a free standing mount that moves closer to a nearby outlet. Most commercial buildings require power every 8 feet or so on walls, so you're rarely in a power desert.

If you can mount near a switch for a light, you can usually get access to unswitched mains right there (1 hot, 1 neutral wire).

Re: Show HN: Robin – OpenTable for your office

#27
post #17

This looks like something that would have been on Silicon Valley (TV Show)...

How is that?

Something tells me it has to do with this -- published at the very same hour: http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/23/envoy-15-million-a16z/#.tkv...

Re: Show HN: Robin – OpenTable for your office

#28
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw your comment and wondered "how expensive could it really be?" - the pricing is just too much. I ran it by our IT team (we're a prime candidate for using a product like this) and they shot it down immediately on price. 15 rooms for $3k/year?

Couple perspectives you might find interesting (I say this having to learn the lay of the land over the past year myself): Most offices are designed with 1 conference room per 10-20 employees. If you have 15 conference rooms you probably have well over 100 employees and many millions in payroll. Those people presumably have many meetings, and the cost of not being able to get their job done is measurable. Conference…

1 conference room per 20 employees? Really? That ratio is much higher than I've seen at any of the companies I've worked at. 10 seems nearer to the mark.

We have 300 employees in this particular location. We bought an alternative solution for $12k with a licence for up to 75 rooms, for a one-time fee.

Re: Show HN: Robin – OpenTable for your office

#29
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw your comment and wondered "how expensive could it really be?" - the pricing is just too much. I ran it by our IT team (we're a prime candidate for using a product like this) and they shot it down immediately on price. 15 rooms for $3k/year?

If you have over 5 conference rooms, you can afford $3k/year.

Can isn't the same as should.
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