MySeat meeting room utilization data compared to room booking software

Introduction

Building a truly efficient office requires space planners to anticipate demand for all shared resources. Surveys and wish-lists from employees are a starting point, but there’s often a gap between what people think they need and what they actually use. For example, many companies find that a significant portion of booked meetings never actually occur – studies show up to 30–40% of meeting room bookings end up as no-shows . This is why planners are moving beyond surveys and reservation logs toward real-world utilization data. By measuring actual usage, planners can uncover the true demand on resources and design workplaces that better match employees’ needs.

Room reservation software (like Outlook or other booking tools) is an essential part of workplace tech, allowing users to reserve meeting spaces in advance. But is the data from these booking systems truly representative of how the space is used? The following case study compares booking data against MySeat’s sensor-based utilization data to expose the hidden inefficiencies in meeting room usage.

MySeat conducted a sample study monitoring 8 meeting rooms using its wireless occupancy sensors. These sensors captured the actual time each room was occupied, and we compared it to the time each room was booked according to Microsoft Outlook’s reservation data. The results, summarized in the chart below, show a persistent discrepancy between booked time and real usage time for most rooms:

Booking data (light bars) vs. actual utilization (dark bars) for 8 meeting rooms. Each bar shows the percentage of an 8-hour workday. MySeat’s occupancy sensors captured the actual occupied time, while Outlook’s calendar provided the booked duration.

As the chart illustrates, meeting rooms often sit empty despite being reserved. This mismatch creates friction in the workplace: people become frustrated when a room is booked but unused (“no-show” meetings), as it prevents others from using that space. Such misuse of meeting rooms isn’t just a logistical annoyance – it’s a direct hit to productivity and a waste of real estate resources. When an employee can’t find an available room because others booked them in advance and didn’t show up, time and money are lost. The data clearly indicates that relying solely on booking software can paint an overly optimistic picture of space utilization.

Categorizing Rooms by Utilization Gaps

To better understand the patterns, MySeat categorized the meeting rooms based on the relationship between booked time and actual usage:

Classification of the 8 meeting rooms based on real usage vs. booked data:

• 50% of rooms under-used: Half of the meeting rooms (4 out of 8) were used far less than they were booked. These rooms had many bookings that ended up as empty, unused time slots.

• 38% of rooms over-used: About 3 out of 8 rooms were used more often than reflected in the booking system. This could happen if people use the rooms ad-hoc without formal bookings, indicating informal usage not captured by software.

• 12% match booking: Only 1 room (12%) showed a close match between booking data and actual usage.

In this sample, booking data represented real demand in only about 1 out of 8 cases. In other words, for less than 15% of the rooms observed, the reserved time closely matched actual occupancy. The majority of rooms either weren’t used as much as people had planned (no-shows and cancellations) or were used more than scheduled (impromptu use).

Why Real-Time Utilization Data Matters

This case study demonstrates that calendar bookings alone are not a reliable indicator of workspace utilization. To truly optimize an office, facilities managers need ground-truth data on how spaces are used. By leveraging MySeat’s real-time sensor data, organizations can identify underutilized rooms, address the causes of no-shows (for example, by implementing booking confirmations or penalties for unused reservations), and even repurpose consistently under-used spaces to better serve employees.

In summary, pairing booking software with occupancy analytics provides a more complete picture. Contact MySeat to discover how your organization’s meeting room usage compares to your booking data. With MySeat’s occupancy intelligence, you can optimize workspace utilization – reducing wasted space, improving employee satisfaction (fewer conflicts over rooms), and ultimately achieving a better return on your office real estate investment.