Partner Spotlight: Kisi x Optix, connecting people and flex spaces

Optix believes in a new way of working. They see the spaces they work in as an opportunity to inspire and see technology as a key part of the equation.

By enabling a seamless user experience for coworking communities worldwide, Optix simplifies the day-to-day, elevating each and every touch point a user has with a coworking or flex space. Through the power of design and technology, they help forward-thinking organizations transform their flex spaces for the better.

Kisi connects people and spaces, so it was natural for Kisi and Optix to join forces back in 2016. Many successful years later, the integration has continued to evolve, providing a more streamlined experience for flex space owners, their staff, and members.

With the Optix and Kisi integration, you can unlock your Kisi-enabled doors directly with your white-labeled Optix app. No need to download the Kisi app to gain access to your space. Everything is done directly within your branded app for a streamlined user experience.

It’s our pleasure to welcome the CEO and Founder of Optix, Kia Rahmani, to Kisi’s Partner Spotlight Series. Many of our flex space clients love the Kisi x Optix integration, and we can’t wait to hear more about the partnership and the flex security space trends it sparks.

1. How does Optix support connecting people and spaces?

Both people and spaces are central to how we think about building products and solutions at Optix. As we learn more about how flex and coworking spaces are enabling people to connect and collaborate more conveniently in the way that we work today, Optix is thinking about how do we further enable our clients with tools to provide a better experience around how users access the community, resources, services, and amenities that a workplace has to offer.

2. What makes access control crucial to coworking and flex spaces?

Access control is the very first touch point, the very first experience that users have when entering buildings and spaces. For us, it is imperative to work and partner with a company that really thinks about pushing the envelope forward around the user experience in how people access spaces. The integration that we have with Kisi allows our mutual clients to be able to provide a much more seamless and flexible way of accessing spaces. I think it caters well in this environment where people are generally working more nomadically – they are transitioning between spaces. I think it's really important that we define a really great experience for them.

3. Are there any interesting use cases you'd like to share?

One of the areas that we are very excited about and something that our clients are telling us is the integration between Optix and Kisi has enabled them to create a much more autonomous flex space and coworking experience. We achieve this by thinking about how we build our solutions around the end users rather than just to focus purely on the physical spaces. Kisi has been a great partner in helping execute an integration that allows users to unlock doors directly from their mobile devices. This has really been a great step forward in enabling a user-centric and mobile-first experience.

4. How do you envision flex space security and access control in the future?

I think there is a lot of progress being made in catering to the changes that we've seen around how people work and their needs around accessing spaces in a more flexible way. We are no longer working nine to five in one space. People are often commuting between home and the office and coworking spaces, so this has provided a great opportunity for efficiency and collaboration, and progress in how we think about providing access and security around spaces. But it also presents, I think, a challenge and an opportunity to further strengthen the tools and the capabilities around security, identification, and privacy, and do it in such a way that puts users in the driver's seat so that not only are we providing them with a really seamless experience around how they access the spaces, but we also do it in such a way that is secure and protects their privacy.

5. Any final thoughts?

We're very excited about continuing to build on the partnership that we have with Kisi and exploring how we can further enable the flexible workplace experience, not only for the needs of today but also thinking ahead in terms of what the workplace will look like in five years from now. We look forward to more learnings and opportunities together.

Big thanks, Kia, for the insightful and inspiring conversation. The flex space future is bright, and we’re eager to play a vital part in securing and streamlining said future together.

Use the Optix and Kisi integration to:

• Customize user access based on Optix plan subscriptions, passes, bookings, assignments, and check-ins
• Access analytics so you can understand who uses your space and when
• Enhance the security of your workspace
• Optimize your workflows

Check out Optix to learn more and read all about the Kisi x Optix integration. Make sure to contact us if you have any questions. Until next time!