How Does EMS Hot Desk Booking Work?

Otherwise known as “office hoteling,” and “free address,” hot desk booking or "hot desking" is a practice that allows employees or student to reserve a desk or an area of unassigned seating. With hot desking, in particular, desks or spaces can also be available on a first come, first serve basis. Here’s how it works:

  1. Your team designates which spaces are “unassigned” and open for hot desking
  2. Your employee or student can book a space directly via the web browser or in EMS’ Direct Spaces mobile app
  3. Use the tool to set neighborhoods, find colleagues or even use certain tools – like video – that facilitate collaboration
  4. Utilize big-picture analytics to improve your space utilization and make informed real-estate decisions

 

Hot Desk Software Benefits

 

Facilitate a Hybrid Work Environment

Use real-time floor plans and filters to organize spaces based on availability, catering options, equipment, social distancing guidelines, cleaning schedule and more. Easily change your options or desk availability as your office evolves.

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Empower Employees with Flexible Self-Service Hot Desk Booking Software

Need to book a space for an entire day? Or switch spaces mid-day to accommodate a team meeting? EMS makes it easy to make multiple reservations, update them, or assign spaces to regular team members.

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Leverage Comprehensive Reporting and Analytics

Comprehensive, integrated data and analytics help you track key metrics like where employees sit, how much time is spent in each space and how your employees collaborate. This information can inform important decisions about your real estate, space utilization, employee training, departmental structure and more.

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Enable Mobile and On-Site Reservations

Harness the power of touchscreens, mobile devices and digital signage to reserve a space, add spaces to your calendar and choose between lounges, room, desks and more.

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EMS Hot Desk Software Key Features

EMS is a comprehensive scheduling platform that offers a full range of hot desking and meeting room booking features. These include:

Interactive Floor Plans

Easily orient yourself and find the space you need no matter what.

Permanent Desk Assignments

Is a particular employee staying on-site? You can provide a semi-permanent desk for them.

Useful Analytics

Use analytics and desk usage metrics to understand real-time space usage and lower real estate costs

Direct Spaces Mobile App

Direct Spaces works as a hot desk booking app that allows your students and employees to update or change reservations on-the-go

Neighborhoods

Allow teammates to find each other easily to streamline collaboration

Reservation Updates

Change of plans? No problem. Easily update, modify or cancel reservations as necessary with EMS

Hot Desking Software FAQ

What is hot desking and why does your office need it now?

Hot desking allows employees or students to pick unassigned seats for a workday, meeting, or study day. This kind of flexible workspace is extremely important today. For one, studies have shown that millennials -- the biggest portion of the workforce today -- don’t want to be assigned to a particular seat, and they feel more productive if they can flow between spaces and choose their hours, their focus, and their space. Additionally, this generation of “digital natives” -- and the Gen Z users entering the workforce – ar accustomed to a variety of advanced, mobile-friendly technology. They also expect and search for companies that can offer them these tools to create a positive employee experience.

What is hot desking software in computing?

In any instance, hot desking is a workplace sharing approach. It not only allows users to effectively share physical spaces, but also simplifies the sharing of computers or other technological tools. This can maximize utilization and technological efficiency.

How do you implement hot desking?

To implement hot desking correctly, you must keep three factors top of mind: creating the right space in your office, maximizing visibility and keeping your employees at the forefront. The right software can help, allowing your team to: - Find a desk or space based in individual employee user permissions - Schedule workplaces in advance or book them on the spot via web application, mobile app, or in-office points of access - Check detailed floor plans, photos and resources tied to a particular space - Simplify collaboration across spaces and devices - Filter results based on location, in-room technology, space capacity and more

What are the benefits of hot desking?

When executed correctly, desk hoteling or hot desking leads to many benefits, including: - Improved networking: If you’re sitting in the same desk and interacting with the same team members regularly, it makes unplanning collaboration and connection more difficult. A hot desk booking software, on the other hand, allows employees to interact with new teammates, start new conversations, and find new inspiration. - Lower Cost: Decreasing the amount of assigned or unused space can allow companies to reduce their real estate footprint and overhead. - Increased employee productivity: When employees can select their own space, they are more likely to choose a space that truly meets their needs and allows them to be more productive. Have a day full of conference calls or video meetings? Choose a small meeting room or an uncrowded space. Need to brainstorm with your team? Choose a larger room with presentation software or larger tables. - Improved employee satisfaction: Employee well-being is strongly linked to productivity and performance. Perhaps one of the largest factors of well-being is the physical workspace. As Jacob Morgan notes, employees who enjoy and like the environments they are a part of will be more engaged, productive, happy, and healthy.

What is the difference between hot desking and hoteling?

Though the terms are often used interchangeably, there is technically a difference between hot desking and desk hoteling. With desk hoteling, on one hand, users can use a tool like EMS to reserve a space, a meeting room, or a neighborhood. Hot desking, on the other hand, is generally more first-come, first-serve. With EMS, though, users can take hot desking to the next level and reserve their spaces ahead of time. This increases transparency, visibility, productivity and safety for everyone working in the office.