Frequently Asked Question

Hot Desking (aka Hoteling)
Last Updated 7 months ago

Hot Desking (often referred to as Hoteling) allows multiple users to utilize a single device or allows users to sit at different physical seats and accept phone calls on the device in front of them.

Hot Desking cannot be used in combination with Call Center on our platform.

Important

  • Devices that are to be used for hotdesking should not be created to belong to a specific user (person).
  • The Hot Desking Answering Rules only change the 'Default' Answering Rule, and you MUST leave 'ring all users phones checked'. If another answering rule is created above the Default rule, calls the Hot Desking rules will not apply.
  • Devices that are to be used for hotdesking should have feature sync disabled as this will cause routing problems. The overrides to disable feature sync are as follows
    • for Yealink devices:
      bw.feature_key_sync="0"
    • for Polycom devices:
      voIpProt.SIP.serverFeatureControl.cf="0"
      voIpProt.SIP.serverFeatureControl.dnd="0"
      voIpProt.SIP.serverFeatureControl.localProcessing.dnd="0"
  • In order to receive calls at the shared workspace, the user must activate the device. In so doing, the device is then associated with them.
  • Once the device is activated their calls are automatically routed to the device and call statistics will follow them as well.

Setup

You will need to set up User Accounts for each of your physical users, as well as User Accounts for the physical phone location. Remember the phone that will be used in Hotdesking should not belong to a specific person.

Example Extensions
UserExtension
John Doe100
Jane Doe101
Receptionist Phone200

In the scenario above 100, and 101 should NOT have Phone Extensions (only User Extensions). 200 Should have a User and Phone Extension.

Users 100 and 101 will be logging in and out of Extension 200.

Hotdesking

There are two steps for Hotdesking on the platform, Logging In sets up the SIM RING and assumes ownership of the device, it will also log out the previous owner. Logging out Relinquishes Ownership of the device to the original owner.

Logging In

To log in to a physical extension, John Doe needs to activate Hotdesking.

  • From phone extension 200, John Doe will dial *44.
    • He will be asked to Enter his Account Number (100)
    • He will be asked to Enter Password (voicemail pin) followed by Pound.
    • The current device owner will be announced, and he will be prompted by pressing 2 to take ownership of the device.
    • If he presses 2 and assumes ownership of Device 200, there will be a confirmation, stating the new device owner.

Logging Out

Logging out associates the device to the Extension

  • From Extension 200, John Doe will dial *46 to relinquish ownership of Extension 200.
    • He will be asked for his Voicemail Password followed by the Pound Key.

John Doe is not required to log out for another person to log into the phone. If Jane Doe logs into extension 200, John Doe will automatically be logged out.

Considerations when Logging Out
  • The CID of a HotDesked user after logging out of a Hot Desking Phone becomes "Domain User." To address that, the user needs to log in to their own phone, the same way they did to the HotDesking Phone, following the steps described in this article.
  • The user registered on a phone used for HotDesking Purposes will have a CID that reads "Domain User" after someone else logs in and logs out of it. If that phone is used outside Hot Desking and needs to show its own Caller ID, Someone needs to log in to it using its own user (extension registered on this phone.)

What is *45 used for?

*45 is a deprecated code that is not necessary for Hot Desk scenarios that were set up after 10/24/2019.

What if a user forgot to log out of the phone before the next person logs in?

Calls to the user will SIM Ring to that extension until ownership is removed. Ownership can also be removed by having another user login to that extension.

The user will also be moved if they log into another extension.

How to Route to a Hot Desking User

You will simply route to the Hotdesking User (not user device) that will be hotdesking. Unanswered calls will go to their voicemail if they aren't active on a phone.

My Phone Extension got deleted when hotdesking

Remember. Our best practice recommendation is that you do NOT have any extensions associated with your users who will be hot desking.

However, It actually didn't get deleted by the system. A User can only own one device at a time. When 100 logged into device 200, the system dropped ownership for its own device (100). If 100 logs back into to their extension 100 phone, extension 100 will reappear in the portal.

How does the Sim ring answering rule work?

The Sim Ring answering rule will always take place on the Default Answering Rule.

You are required to leave 'Ring all user's phones' checked. Removing this option will prevent Hotdesking from working properly. When the user hotdesks into a physical device, the device is associated with their User Profile and is automatically added as a Sim Ring.

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