Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) has been protecting wildlife and wild places since 1858. Today, roughly 1,500 people work across 18 countries, supporting conservation projects from the Serengeti to the Carpathian Mountains. While most staff are based in the field, the Frankfurt headquarters serves as a central coordination hub for international teams, partners, and protected area authorities.
That global coordination requires constant communication. Daily video calls connect colleagues across time zones, landscapes, and infrastructure realities. As in many growing organizations, this increased collaboration placed new demands on shared office space in Frankfurt.
We spoke with Jan Mathia, Team Lead IT at FZS, about how the organization modernized its meeting room management - and why simplicity and scalability mattered.
When international coordination scales up
After the pandemic, more staff returned to the Frankfurt office, and demand for meeting spaces rose quickly. Teams needed reliable access to rooms for scheduled international calls as well as short, spontaneous check-ins.
Initially, FZS used a simple system: printed room names and a shared email address for booking. While functional on paper, it created operational friction. Availability was not always transparent at a glance, and spontaneous bookings were difficult to manage efficiently.
“We’re having a lot of calls, obviously working internationally,” Jan explains. “We needed a solution that made room availability clear and easy to manage.”
For an organization coordinating projects across continents, reducing small operational bottlenecks can make a noticeable difference in daily workflows.
A solution that fits an NGO environment
When Jan was asked to evaluate alternatives, the requirements were clear. The solution had to integrate seamlessly with Microsoft 365, require minimal installation effort, and allow the organization to start small and scale over time.
“As an NGO, we were not looking for a big, complex system,” Jan says. “We wanted something we could implement easily and expand if it proved useful.”
The Frankfurt headquarters, originally built in 1858 and modernized over the years, also presented structural limitations. Extensive rewiring for tablet-based systems was not an option.
That’s how FZS discovered Joan Workplace.
Simple setup, immediate clarity
FZS installed Joan room booking displays across its meeting rooms, including smaller phone booth-style spaces used for focused calls.
“There’s no need for additional wiring, which is always very convenient,” Jan says. “And the integration with M365 makes it very easy to connect to our existing room calendars.”
The impact was immediate. Room availability became visible at a glance, and spontaneous bookings could be handled directly at the door. Instead of uncertainty or interruptions, staff now rely on clear digital signage to manage their time efficiently.
“It helps us a lot to see the bookings of the room immediately,” Jan explains. “And it’s especially useful for spontaneous meetings, which happen very often here.”
By removing small but recurring friction points, the system supports smoother coordination across teams.
Built for flexibility - in Frankfurt and beyond
FZS currently uses Joan in its Frankfurt headquarters, where roughly 60 to 70 percent of staff are in the office on any given day. The organization maintains a hybrid work environment and plans for more flexible workspace concepts in the future.
Beyond Frankfurt, FZS sees potential for similar solutions in field offices operating under different infrastructure conditions. In some regions where the organization works, reliable electricity cannot always be taken for granted. Low-energy, battery-powered devices offer practical advantages in such contexts.
“Especially in more remote locations, power reliability can be a topic,” Jan notes. “Devices that don’t rely on a constant power source can be very helpful.”
A straightforward solution for growing teams
When asked how he would describe Joan to another IT professional, Jan keeps it simple:
“It’s very easy to implement, without major planning. It integrates well into the Microsoft 365 environment and solves a real operational challenge.”
For an organization coordinating conservation work across continents, operational clarity matters. With a scalable and easy-to-maintain solution in place, FZS has streamlined one more part of its daily coordination - so teams can focus on the work that connects them worldwide.
Ready to see how Joan can support your organization? Let’s talk.
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