Case study: How Density helped a major telecom bust ghost meetings, bettering efficiency and vibes

‍Challenge

One of North America’s biggest telecom companies had a costly problem: Their meeting rooms looked full on calendars, but sat empty in real life. With tens of thousands of employees and a coast-to-coast footprint, the company had built its reputation on innovation but also on stellar employee experiences. 

Those “ghost meetings” were taking a toll, blocking access to the very spaces designed for collaboration. The company’s real estate and workplace technology teams needed a clearer view of how space was actually being used—enough to tell the difference between “reserved” and “really happening.” In short, they wanted an automated and accurate way to:

• Detect no-shows for meeting reservations
  
  
• Release unused rooms back into the booking system without a person having to do it manually
  
  
• Give employees a real-time view into what spaces were actually available 

The company had some insights on meeting room occupancy from badge and booking data. But that wasn’t precise enough to confirm if a room was truly in use. And without automation, workplace teams couldn’t solve the fake meeting room shortage in the moment. Employees were getting frustrated.

Solution

The company rolled out Density’s Entry and Open Area sensors across 11 office buildings to measure real-time occupancy in meeting rooms and collaboration spaces. Using Density’s API, they connected occupancy data directly into their mobile application for employees, enabling:

• Instant availability updates: Space status changes are now reflected in real time, ensuring employees see an accurate picture of what rooms are open
  
  
• Real-time wayfinding: Employees can view live room availability and see the fastest path to those spaces directly from the app
  
  
• Automatic room booking release: if no occupancy is detected within 10 minutes of a reservation start time, the system cancels the booking and makes the room instantly available for others to reserve

Results

• Increased meeting room availability: Eliminated “ghost meetings” that blocked spaces for hours
  
  
• Faster access to collaboration spaces: Rooms are returned to the reservation pool within minutes if unused
  
  
• Increased meeting space utilization: More bookings happen without adding new rooms
  
  
• Seamless automation: The process runs without any manual intervention from workplace teams

Why It Worked

• Accurate, real-time occupancy data from Density ensured only truly unused rooms were released
  
  
• Custom API integration with the company’s internal mobile app created a seamless, familiar experience for employees
  
  
• Scalable deployment works consistently across all 11 buildings, applying the same automated room release standard nationwide.

To learn more about how to stop ghost meetings, check out Got ghost meetings? How to solve this costly workplace challenge.

Interested in hearing more about how Density solutions can help your business?