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Accruent EMS

Accruent EMS

Overview

What is Accruent EMS?

EMS Software is an enterprise space management, event, class and resource scheduling application acquired and now supported by Accruent in June 2018.

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

EMS, or Event Management System, is a versatile software solution widely adopted by colleges, universities, and organizations for …
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Satisfied

7 out of 10
July 18, 2022
Incentivized
I am the campus administrator for EMS. I oversee all event scheduling, consult on academic scheduling, as well as coordinate with IT on …
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Pricing

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What is Accruent EMS?

EMS Software is an enterprise space management, event, class and resource scheduling application acquired and now supported by Accruent in June 2018.

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  • Setup fee required

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  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Product Details

What is Accruent EMS?

Accruent's EMS Software connects people with the right spaces, resources, and technology, solving today’s workspace and scheduling challenges and enabling organizations to get the most from their modern work and learning environments.

Employees want the flexibility to work from anywhere and to collaborate using their preferred technologies in a safe and social environment. At the same time, leaders need to drive value for their businesses by making the best possible use of their real estate footprint. Multi-use spaces, hoteling or hot desking, and open floor plans can provide efficiencies, but not when burdened with redundant, outdated tools, and processes disconnected from the rest of a business.

So EMS Software is provided as an intelligent, enterprise-class scheduling and resource management software platform, configured and integrated to a unique office environment. The vendor describes it as a management tool that offers the flexibility employees demand, while providing users the visibility, control and insights needed to drive value for the organization.The vendor further boasts deep industry expertise, with over 35 years in the business .

Accruent EMS Features

  • Supported: Self-Service Meeting Booking
  • Supported: Desk Hoteling
  • Supported: Digital Signage
  • Supported: Video Conferencing Integration
  • Supported: Web-Based Booking
  • Supported: Managed Space and Events Approval Workflow
  • Supported: Invoicing and Billing
  • Supported: Utilization Reporting and Custom Queries
  • Supported: Catering Management
  • Supported: Academic Planning and Optimization

Accruent EMS Integrations

Accruent EMS Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsWindows
Mobile ApplicationApple iOS, Android, Mobile Web

Frequently Asked Questions

EMS Software is an enterprise space management, event, class and resource scheduling application acquired and now supported by Accruent in June 2018.

Condeco by Eptura, AgilQuest, and Teem by Eptura are common alternatives for Accruent EMS.

Reviewers rate Availability highest, with a score of 9.1.

The most common users of Accruent EMS are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(403)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

EMS, or Event Management System, is a versatile software solution widely adopted by colleges, universities, and organizations for scheduling and managing events. The system efficiently books rooms, tracks conference room reservations, and facilitates communication between service providers. Users appreciate EMS for streamlining scheduling processes across the organization, from classes and meetings to events. It also helps with work assignment delegation and managing services for internal and external events.

Hospitals also benefit from EMS by using it to schedule conference rooms and manage room and catering requests. For example, TIAA integrates EMS with Outlook, creating a one-stop booking experience that includes features like Webex and attachments. EMS goes beyond room reservations and effectively manages non-room items like banner spaces and van usage.

EMS provides comprehensive support for academic scheduling, event management, and non-academic space management within universities. Many departments already use EMS for event scheduling, with plans to implement it in more departments in the future. In fact, the University of Kentucky relies on EMS more than any other university in the nation for scheduling across all buildings.

EMS is invaluable for risk management and logistical planning. It is utilized in conference centers and other school units with unique spaces. Real-time utilization data allows users to evaluate meeting spaces and classrooms' efficiency. By effectively managing resource allocation and service allocation, EMS enables efficient operations across different departments.

EMS plays a crucial role in enhancing safety and security efforts through essential reporting capabilities. It is used campus-wide for managing catering orders, facilities requests, IT requests, and room reservations. Various groups within an institution benefit from EMS implementation, including the Registrar's Office, Athletics Department, Performing Arts Department, Auxiliary & Event Services, among others.

Overall, EMS receives high praise from users due to its ability to streamline scheduling processes, allocate resources efficiently, and optimize space management within organizations. Its wide range of use cases makes it a valuable tool in educational institutions, conference centers, and organizations requiring efficient scheduling and event management.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-4 of 4)
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Amy Williams | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
EMS software is used by our registrar's office as well as other departments across campus. In my department, Notre Dame Studios, we use EMS to schedule services, resources, and space. It has helped us manage all of our resources in one place.
  • EMS allows us to schedule our staff, equipment and rooms that are needed to complete our services.
  • EMS process templates allow flexibility in scheduling among different types of users across the University.
  • The book view in EMS allows the staff to view the day ahead in a glance.
  • When using the calculations option in pricing, it is almost impossible to report on those amounts. We currently have to run several reports to get the details needed. It can be very tedious pulling the data together.
  • When entering payments it would be ideal to allow a batch of reservations to be shown as paid, rather then entering each reservation number individually.
  • When processing invoices, it would be ideal if the invoices could be emailed as a mail merge instead of one invoice at a time.
The % calculation function is difficult to report on. The software is great for scheduling events and adding various resources to the event.
  • accuracy
  • invoicing
  • reporting
  • EMS has allowed us to offer different services to different clients through the process requests.
  • We recently upgraded and found some options in the desktop client to be valuable.
  • We have been disappointed that the web client no longer offers the configuration and various options available on the desktop client.
It was already selected on campus when I started using it.
300
We have several staff who use EMS as a requester and less that use it to manage space, resources or staff. We use it in our Department called Notre Dame Studios. We manage space , ghost rooms and services. The campus uses it for room reservations. A new department on campus that manages events is getting set up to use it as well.
4
It does require training to use EMS especially if you are using it a little differently then other people. The 4 people in the answer above is from my department only.
  • Registrar controlled rooms for classes
  • Events
  • Services
  • By creating Ghost rooms, so you can book a service even though it was intended to for rooms.
  • A lot more services on campus would be able to use EMS, if it had a little better invoicing piece. Bulk should mean a mail merge not one by one emails to clients.
This decision is not up to one individual. I would say the University would most likely renew it if there are improvements and upgrades when things are outdated.
Not Sure
  • Product Features
I believe it was originally selected for the registrar classrooms the product works very well for that use. We use it for a service and it can be a bit more complex and not as easy for us at times.
Get more users of the product involved in the evaluation. Explore what it does that we currently don't use it for. Compare similar products accordingly.
  • Implemented in-house
Yes
We worked with a consultant who setup all the steps to get us going.
  • unsure
EMS is very detailed in a lot of ways but then in other ways there are not enough options.
  • Online Training
It was dece
It was great but could have been a little better. I feel like there are different ways to use some of the software and some of that was not explained. I think at the time the training was great but now that we are more experienced with the product I can see we missed training based on what part of EMS the instructor thought we were going to use.
At this point I am unclear on how configurable it is. I am hoping to find out more options at this conference.
Be consistent and double check everything
Yes - we have customized the interface extensively
This was pretty easy for our team to do
No - we have not done any custom code
no
I am not usually the one who makes large change requests but I would say my questions do get addressed.
Not Sure
no
A lot of the time it works well for us but it can be very challenging
  • Booking a room.
  • specific room details
  • gathering info on requester
  • process templates
  • Managing Services
  • Invoicing multiple clients--email or mail merge needed
  • Lack of desktop client for Mac, we access with microsoft remote desktop, constantly freezes up
  • Managing room schedules, you can only manage close times for a building not by room.
Yes, but I don't use it
I am concerned about the softwares ability to handle higher traffic as more users start implementing the software. The system does already seem to have slow periods where there is some increased lag time.
it is available when I need it
reports work great but we can't do everything we need to in EMS . We have to use several other softwares to get the info we need. Other integrations are needed. We use this software for a service and not just room scheduling. The ghost rooms are services and this is a horrible way to view the schedule for the say after assigning staff resources
  • Google Calendar
  • 7 points
  • Trello
& points we hired an outside company. Google calendar was a failed integration but was not that complex to set up. Tableau was very complex to set up based on the complications of the back end of the program.
  • Google Calendar
May possibly make a second attempt using Google calendar but not likely the same way- this integration would work more like Master calendar and would need an API writtem.
  • File import/export
Not great since I have a mac
Trish Lofton | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 4 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use EMS on a department level for room scheduling in our student center. In addition to scheduling, we can provide room usage reports to upper university management.
  • Invoicing
  • Reports
  • Scheduling
  • Make it easier to select multiple rooms on a reservation
  • Create a common list of reports
  • Easier every day user interface
EMS is the perfect solution for room scheduling. There is no worry about double-booking a room, which is a costly mistake for any business. The software is capable of running so many reports for day-to-day usage as well as future projections in income.
  • Without EMS, our department would not be able to efficiently manage room usage and reservations.
  • EMS provides accurate room rental income.
  • EMS is the main software used within our department. It is sole source of room rental management.
We have not used any other software.
This software efficiently manages any size of building for room scheduling.
This product is the perfect software for our room management. It is incredibly robust and could easily manage any quantity of room rentals.
5
Our office schedules meeting rooms for a university student union. We schedule rooms for groups of 1-3 people to large events of 700. These events are sponsored by on campus and the community.
1
Our university IT department has a specific staff member that is assigned to support this software. He monitors the roll out of EMS updates and patches as well as any network problems that arise. He works well with the software company to iron out any glitches or bugs during an update. He has a background of server support and programming.
  • Maintain room reservations and set up needs for organizations utilizing the student union space.
  • Provide daily event set-up details for our staff.
  • Generate invoicing and accounts receivable records.
  • We linked EMS to electronic paper signs that are mounted outside of each room.
  • The software provides a wealth of information about events held in the building. Detailed reports can be generated with a few clicks of the mouse.
  • The automated reporting features have saved so much time!
  • EMS can be linked to touch screen wayfinding signs. We hope to replace daily event schedules with large monitors on each floor.
  • We plan to move into the cloud-based version of EMS. This is an exciting tool for our staff as well as our online users.
This software is easy to use as well as fool proof. Reservations are not lost. Every change is recorded in EMS giving you specific details about the change of reservation status. This software also allows us a place to upload automatic billing agreements, event documents, and any other information related to the event. It addresses every need in our department!
No
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Product Reputation
I was not involved in the evaluation and selection process so I cannot speak to the evaluation of other software.
  • Don't know
  • I was not part of the implementation of the software.
I was not part of the implementation. My coworkers did say it was a smooth process.
No
Our organization has had very little issues with the EMS support team. No matter the size of the issue, technical support has been wonderful.
Yes
There have been a few minor bugs with the software. The process to report a claim was easy and the response time was immediate.
We had an issue with linking our Epaper Signs to EMS. Although this issue wasn't on the end of EMS, their support team went out of their way to troubleshoot potential issues with our IT department. EMS came to our rescue and solved our glitch! They were extremely helpful and courteous!
  • It is extremely easy to enter new customers and reservations. You can add new information on the fly.
  • The reporting feature has several time saving functions. The reports can also be customized.
  • Web based uses can be quickly added to allow customers to book their own reservations.
  • It is difficult to find specific settings such as changing the numbering system on invoices.
  • It can be frustrating when figuring out what fields to use when configuring new reports.
Yes, but I don't use it
Overall, this software provides all of the features needed to manage a reservation system. There are several different plans that are available for larger companies/universities.
The version of EMS that is used in our organization is desktop based. We rarely have any issues with application errors or down time. As far as reliability, it is top notch! Our organization has been extremely pleased that no data has been lost due to an application error or crash.
The only other software we use in conjunction with EMS is Epaper Signs by Visix. Once we worked out the initial bugs, the integration has been seamless. It does not slow down our software or cause any errors. Our signs are updated every 15 minutes with any problems.
  • Visix Epaper Signs
Our IT department had some difficulty integrating Epaper Signs with EMS. There was no issue on the EMS software side. It was more complicated to configure the Visix software.
January 29, 2019

EMS Rocks!

Peggy Riann Aud | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
EMS is currently being used campus wide. However, we do not permit students to use the system, there isn’t a need for them to do so. The campus users are able to book rooms for meetings, meals, conference and more. We also use the system for the academic side. Having all classes booked within EMS is such a huge help!
  • Desktop access: I love the book and the calendar. These two tools help me to keep up with all reservations and to quickly access buildings/rooms for booking.
  • Web access: the “random” feature for my clients to use is fantastic. When training campus users I show them this for their reoccurring bookings and it’s like I gave them a million dollars! They are so excited and express how much easier that function is to use. It certainly cuts down on the confusion.
  • Wizard: i often have issues with this feature. More than likely it’s operator error and I need to become better acquainted with the area, but I do like the idea of it and the ease of copying bookings.
  • Setting reminders for desktop users: it would be nice if you could select multiple users at once instead of one at a time.
EMS truly is great software! It has the potential to provide for an entire campus or company. As an event professional, I like to have every event, whether it’s a meeting, meal, conference, or class at my fingertips. The ease of access on the desktop side of EMS is terrific .
  • I would say EMS has had a positive impact upon our campus. Before this system we used email, fax, and inter-office mail to do invoices and catering orders. Each department policed the rooms available for booking. Tremendous change, all for the better.
At a previous place of employment I used a different software, I believe it was called Room Tracker. Whatever it was, it did not hold a candle to what EMS can do. I tried to get the owners to switch to EMS, but no luck. The Room Tracker had a much different layout and feel; it was not as user friendly.
This software has a range of functions. One can use all, some, or a couple of the feature. Whatever the case, EMS can handle one's needs.
Configurability for this product is great. It can be as complex or simple as one needs it to be. I especially like the ease of using the resources feature. It’s a great tool for the campus to select services for their event.
200
We are a college campus, and all users are either faculty or staff. Mainly the staff uses the software more so than the faculty.
2
We have a dismal IT department that is supposed to support EMS, and myself. I train all faculty and staff to use the software, and I keep up on day to day dealings within EMS. The person in IT is to keep up with the patches, and upgrades.
  • Book Classes-Academic Import
  • Book Rooms for Lectures/Ceremonies, and other events
  • Ensure the proper and timely use of the services offered on campus for the spaces.
  • I have not found such ways.
  • I honestly couldn't say.
I am frustrated with the customer service when calling for EMS support. When prompted to leave a message I never get a call back, and furthermore, not only do I have to leave a message, but I have to send an email to make sure someone knows to call me back. This method is unacceptable and I am currently seeking a new software.
No
  • Price
  • Product Features
This software predates me in this position, but for what the campus was 20 years this software was fine. However, our IT department and EMS are not meshing, and the customer service from EMS, now, is awful.
I am currently looking for a software that is more user friendly for our campus constituents, and has better customer support.
  • Don't know
  • Unsure, was implemented prior to my start here.
N/A
  • In-person training
The training wasn't too bad, again it was about 15 years ago and one person came to campus and trained a number of us in one of the computer labs.
The training wasn't bad. Instructor was knowledgeable.
Depends on which role one tends to play within EMS. I encourage new users to take a test drive before training and some follow that and end up not needing a lesson. However, we do have a couple of handfuls of people that have been using this system for years, and still have no idea what they are doing.
No.
Some - we have done small customizations to the interface
Not at this time.
I give it a 1 because I can't give it a zero. Your customer support is awful!
Yes
I cannot. Ever since Accruent took over I have received the worst customer support. When attending the conference I met with a rep who had all these plans to reach out to me and do demo's and get our system upgraded and I never got that call.
  • The desktop client is easy to use, much easier than the web interface. The web is much more confusing for our campus partners than need be.
  • Web Based: Booking multiple rooms is daunting.
  • Web Based: No print function
  • Web Based: Cannot always view the contents of the event or wont let the client select services.
Yes, but I don't use it
I give it a 1 because zero isn't an option.
Currently I can only access EMS from my work computer, from in my office, on campus. While I'm sure this isn't an Accruent issue, and mostly our IT issue, Accruent hasn't exactly stepped up and tried to help when these issues have been addressed.
I'm guessing the issues lie within our IT/Infrastructure, but often times EMS will not show reservations, will not let you add services to your reservations, etc.
  • None
N/A
  • We'd like to integrate our physical plant epac system.
to my knowledge this does not support this type of integration.
  • File import/export
I don't use that feature.
N/A
N/A
Up until Accruent took over, Dean and Evans was superior with customer service.
N/A
Pick a different vendor!
Yes
Some have gone fine, while others will completely change different settings, which is incredibly frustrating.
  • I couldn't even begin to say. I have no idea what the newest upgrade did for us.
  • I have no expectations.
Yes
Considering a different software company.
No
Bartholomew Kallgren | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
EMS is rolled out through our entire university. We have our media center as well as our catering and dining services and we are working on getting our facilities office rolled into the fold. Space reservation was fragmented prior to the implementation of the software.
  • Classroom utilization: this process used to take months to do and now it can be done in a week.
  • Getting granular with particular groups and events to find out any info you need
  • Creating custom templates for web users to grant the access that is applicable to all parties involved
  • Mobile usage for v43 and v44.0 is just non-existent
  • Better ability to use on a Mac! This is a huge downfall as my university is heavy into the Apple ecosystem
  • Managing services can sometimes be difficult as when prices with resources don't always coordinate
For campuses that are fragmented this is a highly useful tool that brought our campus all under one roof for data collection.
  • We have had difficulties with EMS in regards to the university changing other software on campus. We just moved to Workday and it seems that, with the staging table, it is becoming more and more difficult to sort the info and have it appear in EMS without a total shift in the way the user data is presented.
  • We have been able to pull any report senior administration needs, which has proven its worth.
  • Data is only as good as what you put into it and humans and tracking of events becomes difficult sometimes
Banner is a mess and very hard to navigate unless you are a wizard with the info codes, and EMS is just much much easier.
We have a stable base and have 95% use across our university, so we have almost full saturation.
At first there is so much to learn and figure out, but after a while there are just little things that we would like it to do, some of which are specific to our university, and we have to find a workaround for them.
150
the registers office, conference & Event management, facilities and grounds crew. Anything from booking classes, to taking building or rooms offline to do maintenance to the area, to booking rooms for events to happen, both university related or outside clients who want to have an event on campus with us.
4
there are a hand full of people who on campus do a majority of the software support for ems. myself and a colleague do all the coding of new classes and spaces on campus as well as assigning new templates to new employees as well as dealing with end users and their inability to do certain things and do continued training on the software to have a great workflow and make sure people are using the software and not going around it to get things done. we then have a DBA who applys all the backend software updated and patches
  • room reservations
  • classroom utilization
  • determining the needs and helping shape the growth of the campus
  • rolling work orders into ems for events from school dude
  • using web template to allow people to manage their own spaces within certain buildings
  • using rss feeds to feed digital displays on campus within different buildings for events that are going on within that building
  • optimize heating and cooling based on reservations
  • automating athletic field lights based on reservations
  • using ems to unlock and lock automated doors based on reservations
we are all in. there really is no going back after all the man hours my office has put into building the system
Yes
the university was using a homegrown system that was clunky as well as hard to maintain as well as the registers office was using R25 and I knew that they were so happy when we published the first semester in ems as it only took a couple hours instead of a couple days
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Product Reputation
the features! meaning that we needed one platform that can pretty much do it all and help people from across campus, log onto on system and get all the info they need from service providers to prices of things
I personally did not have a say as I started at the university two months after they made the decision to purchase it. but the software know as the Cadillac of room reservation software. need I say more
  • Implemented in-house
Yes
it was over the coarse of 3-5 years where we started with building the system then using it in house out office only, then booking classes within the system,. then we moved event workorders within the system but each step took 6-9 months before we moved on to the next to make sure that we could focus on the task at hand
  • getting the campus community on board
  • moving workorders into the system
  • getting people to read and show up to training
we did a lot on on campus training and moved catering into the system that forced people to have to use the system
  • Online training
  • In-person training
  • Self-taught
we had brought out several consultants over the course of the past couple years and they have been fantastic from Brandy Cahill to Matt Luther
nothing is as good as someone in person walking you through it but it was a helpful resource when needing to find out how to do something
nooo, it is worth every penny to have a consultant in person
take your time, each campus is different with different needs there is no need to rush it. and TEST, TEST, TEST make sure things are working before moving forward as it can really mess you up if it is not working before
No - we have not done any customization to the interface
No - we have not done any custom code
we have HRToolkit that we have implements from our HR software that activates and deactivates the users and it has been so helpful
No
no way. the software is already a ton of money and the amount of times that we have issues does not warrant the need for us to spend any more money
when we made the switch to workday this past year there were a couple hiccups with the staging table to employee data that we are still to this day trying to work the kinks out of
No
have not had an issue with ems really since the purchase by accruent
  • using the book to see spaces
  • using the wizard to book a space
  • running caned reports within the system
  • notifications can be tricky when adding new spaces to campus
  • manage services when multiple people are changing states
  • the query builder. you need to know what you are looking for or else you are looking for days
Yes, but I don't use it
with some training it is a great system but not without some faults
the system is always up and running on my computer as well as my colleagues we use it everyday, the one thing that we have is a localized problem where its the university not the software's fault. but logging in from off campus requires several large hoops to jump through
when looking at large reservations from say a year or two ago it does take a long to time for them to be loaded up but that may be because of the server and the way the software archives the info. that also goes along with running reports of old data that may of been archived that takes a long time to get
  • workday HR software
  • Banner
workday is ongoing but banner was integrated very easily and still do so with the classes
  • social tables
  • school dude, work order software
at this time I do not believe so
  • File import/export
  • API (e.g. SOAP or REST)
  • Javascript widgets
I personally have not been the one doing the tech side of the integration but I have been in meeting and facilities the needs to the DBA and helped facilitate the needs between the university and EMS. some have been challenging
API's are the best I just with you had more partners that would be down for the plug and play functions of the APIs
Dan Hurly is the man, he was very helpful with out purchase process and getting us up and running with the software with what we exactly needed
always there when we needed them, we did not fall to the wayside
the time needed to for implementation and hours needed with a consultant for building out the system
none come to the top of my head. ems was very much a small family company and I would hate to see that go away with the new parent company changing the culture
No
  • we are not on it yet but here are the three that we at looking forward to when we do upgrade
  • mobile app
  • the new web app
  • more services integration and ease of use for end users
  • using desktop on a MAC without needing windows
No
No
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