Meeting room displays — a complete buyer's guide for UK offices
Walk into most offices and you'll see one of two things outside meeting rooms: nothing at all, or a printed A4 sheet sellotaped to the door. Both create daily friction. This guide covers every realistic option for meeting room displays — from tablets to dedicated panels to corridor screens — with honest pros, cons, and pricing.
The four problems meeting room displays are supposed to solve
Before choosing a solution, it helps to be precise about which problem you're actually solving. Most organisations experience at least one of these:
The double-booking problem. Two teams both believe they've booked the same room. Nobody can tell who got there first. One group retreats to a huddle space. Everyone's slightly annoyed.
The ghost booking problem. The calendar shows the room as booked until 4pm. In reality, the meeting ended at 2pm and the organiser forgot to release it. The room sits empty for two hours.
The "which room is this?" problem. You're visiting a site you don't know well. You can't find the room. You arrive late. The meeting has already started without you.
The visibility problem. There's no easy way to see, at a glance, which rooms are free right now. Staff walk from room to room checking. Facilities managers field calls about room availability.
The right solution depends on which of these problems is most acute for you — and how much you're willing to pay to fix it.
Option 1 — Printed door signs
How it works
A laminated A4 sheet showing the room name and a QR code or URL to the calendar booking page. Updated periodically. Occasionally, a weekly timetable printed and taped to the wall.
Cost: Near zero
Solves: The "which room is this?" problem, partially
Doesn't solve: Any of the other three problems
Printed signs are fine as a supplement to a digital system — room names and capacity on the door are always useful. As a primary system, they're a band-aid that creates more work than they save.
Option 2 — Tablet-based room panels (Joan, Roomz, dedicated iPad)
How it works
A tablet (often purpose-built like Joan or Roomz, or a repurposed iPad) is mounted beside the door. It connects to your room booking system (Google Calendar, Microsoft 365, Outlook) and shows live availability. Staff can book ad hoc meetings directly on the panel.
Cost per room: £200–£600 hardware + £8–£25/month software
Solves: Double-booking, ghost bookings (with check-in features), visibility (at the room level)
Best for: Companies that primarily care about the room booking workflow rather than broader signage
Popular options
| Product | Hardware cost | Monthly cost | Calendar integration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joan 6 Pro | ~£300 | £8–£12 | Google, M365, Exchange | E-ink display; long battery life; no power cable needed |
| Roomz Display | ~£350 | Included (some plans) | Google, M365, Exchange | PoE powered; check-in to prevent ghost bookings |
| Logitech Tap Scheduler | ~£450 | ~£12 | Google, M365, Teams | Purpose-built; PoE or USB-C; Teams Rooms integration |
| Crestron TSS-770 | ~£800+ | Varies | Deep M365/Teams/Zoom integration | Enterprise-grade; requires AV installer; overkill for most SMEs |
| iPad in a kiosk mount | £400–£700 (iPad + mount) | £8–£20 (app) | Via app (Teem, Robin, etc.) | Flexible; familiar interface; higher theft/damage risk |
Option 3 — Digital signage software on an existing TV
How it works
A TV or commercial display mounted near the room (or inside the room facing the door) runs a digital signage app. The app shows the room name, current and upcoming bookings, and can be updated remotely. Optionally integrates with Google Calendar or Microsoft 365 to pull live booking data.
Cost per room: £80–£200 player + £5–£15/month software
Solves: Visibility at a distance, the "which room is this?" problem, basic schedule display
Best for: Organisations that already have TVs or want to use signage for both room panels and general communications
Where this approach wins
- One platform manages room panels and other signage (reception, canteen, corridor announcements)
- Lower per-room cost than dedicated panel systems, especially for 5+ rooms
- Non-booking-focused offices (training rooms, seminar rooms, activity spaces) that just need to show a schedule without live booking integration
- Care homes, schools, and hospitality venues where "meeting room booking" is less relevant than "what's happening in this space"
Option 4 — Corridor screen showing all room availability
How it works
Instead of (or in addition to) per-room panels, a single large screen near the main meeting room cluster shows all rooms at once — a live floor map or grid showing which rooms are free, booked, or about to become available.
Cost: £600–£1,200 (screen + player) + £15–£30/month software
Solves: The visibility problem most effectively — one glance tells you what's available right now
Best for: Offices with 6+ meeting rooms in a cluster; high-footfall environments; organisations where visitors need to find rooms quickly
Option 5 — Full room booking system (Robin, Condeco, Smartway2)
How it works
Enterprise room booking platforms handle the entire workflow: advance booking via web/app/Outlook plugin, door panels showing live status, check-in to release no-shows, usage analytics, desk booking integration, and visitor management.
Cost per room: £20–£60/month (software only); hardware on top
Best for: Large organisations (100+ employees) where room utilisation data, advance booking workflows, and compliance reporting justify the cost
If you're reading this as an SME trying to solve a practical problem with 4–10 meeting rooms, a full enterprise booking system is almost certainly more than you need.
Cost comparison — a 6-room office
To make the options concrete, here's what each approach costs for a typical 6-room office.
| Approach | Hardware (6 rooms) | Monthly software | Year 1 total | Year 2 onwards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Printed signs | ~£0 | £0 | ~£0 | ~£0 |
| Joan 6 Pro tablets | ~£1,800 | ~£60 | ~£2,520 | ~£720 |
| Logitech Tap Scheduler | ~£2,700 | ~£72 | ~£3,564 | ~£864 |
| Digital signage software (NowBoard) | ~£900 (players) | ~£42 | ~£1,404 | ~£504 |
| Corridor screen only | ~£900 (1 screen) | ~£20 | ~£1,140 | ~£240 |
| Enterprise booking system (Robin) | ~£3,000+ | ~£240+ | ~£5,880+ | ~£2,880+ |
Decision framework — which option is right for you?
Choose a dedicated room panel (Joan, Roomz, Logitech Tap) if:
- Live booking integration with Google/M365 is essential
- Check-in to prevent ghost bookings is a priority
- You want a polished, purpose-built solution with minimal setup
- Per-room cost is less of a concern than workflow completeness
Choose digital signage software if:
- You want to display schedules, activities, or content — not just booking status
- You need to manage room panels alongside other screens (reception, canteen, etc.) from one platform
- You're in a sector (care homes, schools, hospitality) where "room booking" isn't the primary use case
- Cost is a significant factor, especially across 5+ rooms
Choose a corridor overview screen if:
- You have a cluster of meeting rooms and visitors frequently struggle to find a free space
- You want maximum visibility without equipping every door
- You'd rather one central point than multiple per-room panels
Choose an enterprise booking system if:
- You have 100+ employees and significant room booking complexity
- You need utilisation analytics, compliance reporting, or desk booking
- IT has a mandate to centralise workspace management tooling
Where NowBoard fits — and where it doesn't
NowBoard is a digital signage platform, not a dedicated room booking system. It's a good fit for your meeting room display needs if:
- You want to show a weekly or daily schedule on a screen beside or inside a meeting room
- You're managing multiple screens across a building from one dashboard
- You need content that goes beyond booking status — room rules, capacity limits, Wi-Fi passwords, upcoming events
- You're in a care home, school, hotel, or venue where "meeting room" is one of several display types
NowBoard is not the right tool if your primary requirement is live two-way calendar sync with check-in, ghost booking prevention, and advance booking from a door panel. For that, Joan or Roomz are purpose-built and worth the extra cost.
The bottom line
- For pure booking workflow (check-in, calendar sync, ghost booking prevention): choose a dedicated panel like Joan or Roomz
- For schedule display, content management, and multi-screen control: digital signage software is more cost-effective
- For high-traffic room clusters: a corridor overview screen gives the best visibility per pound spent
- For enterprises with complex workspace management needs: a full booking platform is justified
- A 6-room digital signage deployment with NowBoard costs roughly half the hardware cost and 60% of the annual software cost of equivalent dedicated panel systems
Need a simple, affordable meeting room display?
NowBoard makes it easy to show schedules and content on any screen. No specialist hardware. From £10/Location/month.