Making every space work harder, from the office and the meeting room to the community spaces that bring public services closer to the people who need them.
Background
Buildings are expensive, and they're emptier than they used to be. Real estate accounts for around 10-20% of an organisation's expenditure, yet roughly half of office capacity sits unused on an average day.
At the same time, more of daily life has moved online. Over half of government, NHS and education pathways now have a digital route, which works well for most people and not at all for some. The question is no longer how much space an organisation has, but how well that space connects people to each other and to the services they need.
The challenge
Flexible working has changed what people expect from a building. Nearly half of workers now spend part of the week working remotely, so they need to collaborate just as effectively from home, a satellite office or a client site as they do at a desk. It matters: hybrid teams with reliable, effective access to collaboration are two thirds more likely to remain engaged with colleagues and 29% less likely to be burnt out.
At the other end of the scale, an estimated 10-15% of the UK population face significant barriers to accessing government, healthcare and education services, through a combination of digital exclusion, affordability, accessibility requirements, mobility limitations and a lack of local support. Moving a service online only widens the gap unless there's somewhere nearby where people can actually use it.
The solution
We design and deliver the technology that makes spaces work: reliable connectivity underneath, collaboration tools people can use without training, and the insight to understand how a building is really being used.
Whether it's an office floor, a meeting room or a pod on a high street, the principle is the same. People should be able to connect, collaborate and access what they need without thinking about the technology at all.
Optimise your real estate with flexible, effective smart working spaces, giving people high-speed Wi-Fi and 5G, desk and room booking, and occupancy insights that show you how your space is really used.
Bring employees, customers and partners together regardless of location, with simple, intuitive and reliable Teams meeting rooms, complete with AV, screens and meeting bars built in.
Create accessible, safe and connected community spaces where people can reach services digitally, inside acoustically and visually protected pods that bring public services closer to the communities that need them.
Internet, Wi-Fi, 5G and occupancy data delivered as one joined-up service, so every space performs consistently rather than depending on whichever supplier installed it.
Connected Logistics combines technology, connectivity and operational expertise to help logistics operators keep goods, data and people moving. As an independent telecoms and IT provider based in Northampton, dbfb understands both the technology and the operations it supports.
Through our work with logistics and freight businesses across the region, we help operators connect sites, vehicles and systems more effectively.
Based in Northampton, supporting logistics operators across the MK–NN–Beds corridor.
Connectivity, mobile, IoT and secure IT delivered through one relationship.
Independent advice shaped around what's right for you, not tied to a single vendor.
Technology that grows with your operation, from a single depot to a growing fleet.
What it supports
What a space needs to do depends on who's in it and why. Connected Spaces is built to support three very different jobs, using the same underlying connectivity and support.
Reliable Wi-Fi and 5G, voice and video calls, desk and room booking, and occupancy insights that help you make confident decisions about the space you hold.
Teams meeting rooms and spaces with AV, screens and meeting bars, chosen and configured so that starting a meeting takes seconds rather than a support call.
Immersive spaces, digital PlacePods and Teams endpoints and kiosks that give people a private, accessible place to reach the services they need, close to home.
The wider picture
Connected Spaces works best alongside the other services that make a place function. The connectivity that supports a smart office is the same connectivity that supports a community pod, a housing scheme or a public safety deployment.
Full fibre, Wi-Fi and private 5G
Smart workplace technology and AV
Cloud communications and Microsoft Teams
IoT sensors and occupancy insight
Managed IT and cyber security
Connected Care, Digital Housing and Digital Public Safety
Connectivity, collaboration technology, installation and ongoing support under one managed relationship, rather than stitched across several suppliers.
Available through established public sector routes including CCS, Procurement for Housing, WM5G and G-Cloud. See our procurement frameworks.
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Whether you want to get more from the buildings you already have, give hybrid teams somewhere that genuinely works, or bring services closer to your community, we'd be happy to help.