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The end of the office as we know it?

19 January 2005 :: Posted by Susan Poupard

The British Library and Building Zones present the first fully integrated wireless working environment

The British Library and Building Zones are inviting visitors to step into Central London‘s largest WiFi hotspot at the Library‘s St Pancras site to sample the ultimate workplace of the future. From January 18th – March 11th, a special interactive installation will be available for use by the public, showcasing the integration of the latest in practical furniture design and wireless technology.

Until now, public hotspots have simply grafted wireless technology onto existing furniture combinations. These are not always ideal in terms of ergonomics or ease of use. Ten furniture designers were commissioned by the Library to provide innovative solutions to the requirements of 'nomadic' working; they had to take into account the needs of WiFi users in public spaces, in particular:

  •  an integral power supply – to minimise trailing electrical flexes
  • a secure storage space for bags, equipment and documents
  • good ergonomics – including comfort, lighting and safety

The installation will feature furniture from leading designers – Vitra, Kinnarps, Hands of Wycombe, Colebrook Bosson Saunders, Orangebox, Boss/Haworth, Bene, Ahrend and KI as well as incorporating technologies from Philips, Plantronics, Skype and Toshiba.

Fully available for use by the Library‘s WiFi users, the furniture on display is designed to accommodate and complement the wireless products and services which will shape UK business. Visitors will also get the chance to sample future WiFi hotspot services; primarily new voice services where users can make ‘free’ phone calls from their laptop, PDA or (imminently) mobile phones, using software called a softphone.

Softphones allow work to become seamless – rather than voicemail, a phone icon on the user‘s laptop will ring via connection to the wireless hotspot. Softphones will bring a range of new possibilities from video conferencing, unified and instant messaging and collaboration across distance.

Whilst the furniture installation is on display, users will be encouraged to provide feedback on everything from security to storage, comfort to cost. This public consultation will help inform future plans, should the Library choose to install a permanent public working environment within the WiFi hotspot space.

John de Lucy, the Library‘s Head of Estates and Facilities said “Since our WiFi service launched last year, the British Library has become one of the busiest public hotspots in the UK. With this exhibition, we show the possibilities for highly productive work zones by integrating public space, furniture and technology to create an inspiring work experience. We aim to demonstrate innovative environments which visitors can take away and apply to their own organisations.”

“The Library is a popular location for mobile workers and its strategic location between the three major transportation hubs of Kings Cross, Euston Station and the soon to be opened Eurostar terminal is a huge factor in attracting these users who need to be able to access email and the Internet,” said Philip Ross, Chairman of Building Zones. “This is the recognised vision of wirelessly enabled ‘work environments’ rather than locations such as cafés. In the near future, wireless technology will change building design, urban planning and how people work, and the launch of The British Library project is a major success story for this technology.”

For further information, contact Ben Sanderson at the British Library Press Office. Telephone: +44 (0)1937 546126. Email: ben.sanderson@bl.uk. Images are available on request.

Notes for editors

The installation will be open from January 17, 2005 – March 11th 2005 at:

The British Library
St Pancras
96 Euston Road
London NW1 2DB

The St Pancras building is open to everyone at the following times: The St Pancras building is open to everyone at the following times:

  • Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 09.30 to 18.00
  • Tuesday 09.30 to 20.00
  • Saturday 09.30 to 17.00 – Sunday & English public holidays 11.00 to 17.00

The British Library

The British Library is the national Library of the United Kingdom. It provides world class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific communities and offers unparalleled access to the world‘s largest and most comprehensive research collection. Further information is available on the Library‘s website.

The British Library WiFi hotspot

Pioneering the provision of wireless access solutions, Building Zones has enabled the British Library‘s WiFi users to connect to the internet from their laptops, pocket devices or mobile phones throughout the 11 Reading Rooms, the 225-seat conference auditorium, the café and restaurant and even the outdoor Piazza area. Readers, researchers and business-people can connect to the internet and access email using either their existing service provider or by using the Library‘s own pay-as-you-go service. The new wireless service is operated independently from the existing Library private network infrastructure, therefore ensuring there is no security risk to critical business applications and that the Library‘s private network is protected from laptop borne viruses or local hackers.

Building Zones

Building Zones: the managed wireless network provider and project implementation company within the Group. Building Zones works with organisations to recognise that visitor connectivity is as important as employee access to a network and typically meets the needs for visitor services in foyers, conference auditoriums, restaurants and meeting rooms but can be extended to cover the entire workplace. Building Zones is currently providing the service to a range of clients including the British Library, Morgan Sindall, TSK Group and Orangebox.

Skype Technologies S. A.

Skype, the Global Internet Telephony Company™, enables free, unlimited, superior quality voice calls via its award-winning innovative peer-to-peer software for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and Pocket PC platforms. Skype is available in 20 languages and is the fastest growing voice communications offering worldwide. Since its launch in August 2003, Skype has been downloaded more than 49 million times.

Plantronics

Plantronics introduced the first lightweight headset in 1962 and is recognized as the world leader in communications headsets. Plantronics will be demonstrating the CS60-USB for specific use with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) softphone applications - the world‘s first headset giving VoIP softphone users wireless freedom which uniquely delivers remote call answer/end.

Philips Business Communications

Philips Business Communications (PBC) specialises in the provision of communications systems and the associated infrastructure, applications and services that are vital to all medium and large-sized enterprises in both the public and private sectors. PBC has extensive expertise in the areas of converged networks, virtual offices and customer relations providing its customers with all the benefits of simple to use, sophisticated voice systems that incorporate networking, mobile, messaging, contact centre solutions and IP telephony.

Toshiba

Toshiba Computer Systems Division produces notebooks, pocket PCs, and other computing peripherals. Toshiba CSD is a mobility expert is tailoring its business to create world-class flexible working solutions for today‘s increasingly mobile community. Through innovation, miniaturisation and mobility, Toshiba aims to offers a combination of technology, experience and the skills needed to turn the vision of ‘always-on wireless mobile communications and computing’ into a reality.