Behind the Scenes at Access-a-Seat: Interview with Mihai Mascas, Technical Lead

For our second Behind the Scenes interview, we had the pleasure of chatting with Mihai Mascas, the Technical Lead at Accesa and one of the key people developing our Access-a-Seat solution. 

During this interview, Mihai shares valuable insights about the evolution of Access-a-Seat and provides a comprehensive overview of its current form.

What need does Access-a-Seat respond to and why was the solution developed? 

Access-a-Seat started based on a simple need: managing desk allocation in Accesa. It was the beginning of 2018. Accesa had, at that point, around 700 employees (and growing) and 4 offices. For an office manager, it was quite difficult to get meaningful data desk allocations, free desks, and people distribution in offices. We didn’t think this would evolve into a product back then. We saw the potential of Access-a-Seat becoming a product during the COVID pandemic, when people started to get back to the office in a strict and organised manner. This is when we started to implement the seat and parking booking system and connect it to our office access control systems. 

Could you highlight the primary features of the software that were  most effective?  

I am proud of the product and how it evolved in the past years. I think one of the coolest features, also the one that gave us the biggest headaches, was the integration with access control systems (ACS). There are a lot of solutions out there and no common ground to any of them. We couldn’t target Accesa’s ACS systems only, since we wanted to make this product available to any company. Also, Accesa had four office buildings, each with its own type of ACS. So, we came up with a solution that is very flexible and can work in most scenarios. 

How has Access-a-Seat evolved?  

As I mentioned, Access-a-Seat started as a simple office space management solution. It was a product that only targeted office managers, in the beginning. The pandemic changed that, and Access-a-Seat evolved into a robust office space booking system that targeted all employees. It evolved into a product that can be used daily, allowing end users to book a favorite spot in advance, have a clear overview of the floorplan and enjoy a seamless booking experience.  Access-a-Seat is now an indispensable tool for organisations, it makes hybrid work easier and more enjoyable for both employees and office managers alike. 

How do you think Access-a-Seat will grow in the future?  

The product is very versatile and can adapt to all kinds of scenarios that involve any type of asset allocation and booking, in addition to office spaces and parking. I also believe that a key differentiator is the integration with RPA and access control systems. 

Read more about Access-a-Seat