10 Best Hot Desk Booking Software for Hybrid Teams in 2023

deskbird is a flexible and easy-to-use desk booking solution that your employees can access from anywhere. In just two clicks, you can easily reserve a desk, meeting room, parking spot, or any other resource. For ease of use, you can make bookings through multiple methods, including their web platform, their mobile app, or directly through Microsoft Teams, or Slack. Their software also includes Outlook and Google calendar integrations, you can avoid scheduling conflicts and get real-time analytics.

Other key features in their desk booking tool include health policy reviews prior to checking in, check-ins via QR codes, and incognito bookings if you want your trip to the office to stay anonymous. Platform administrators also have the ability to monitor space utilization metrics, dedicate zones to particular teams, and restrict access to key areas as needed.

deskbird integrates directly with calendar programs, communication tools and active directory systems. They also have a mobile app for Android and iOS mobile devices.

Pricing for deskbird’s workspace booking tool starts at $2.25/user/month. They also offer a 14-day free trial with no credit card or other strings attached.

Deskfound is a Slack-based space management software tailored for a hybrid workforce. It allows employees to find the appropriate workspace, view floor plans, and book desk reservations from an easy-to-use, centralized platform or their existing Slack program.

The cloud-based software enables supervisors to strategically assign desks to different employees, evaluate seating arrangements, and manage available workspace for a designated number of days or even weeks. It allows employees to manage work desks across multiple locations, view workspace status, availability, and schedule reservations for dedicated and temporary desks in offices. Users can view desks by area, book permanent or hybrid seats, and update reservations by simply using the built-in drag-and-drop user interface.

In addition, the software enables users to easily track each team’s location, configure user access rights, set up the software’s contact tracing functionality, and manage other critical tasks within a unified system. Apart from Slack, the platform supports seamless integration with other third-party applications, including Google Maps. Users can use QR codes to scan desk labels and ensure the visibility of seating arrangements and locations.

Pricing starts from $1.00 per user/month. A free trial is available for the first 10 users.

Skedda’s customized booking system allows you to control the usage of all your corporate spaces including desks, meeting rooms, studios, labs, or anything else you want to make reservable. Their system is designed to remove the hassle of manually managing spaces by automating the process and enabling self-service bookings. This means you only have to set up your bookable items and automated user rules once. After that, your staff will be able to help themselves.

Their floorplan maps are interactive, making it easy to view and make bookings directly from the map interface. Included in the floor plan is a time-of-day range-slider, so users can determine exactly when their favourite spot will be available again. Users can also make reservations through their booking calendar, which allows platform admins to review bookings using day, month, grid (all listings) or list (per space or user) views. For pay-per-use venues, the platform also makes it easy to collect payments from users during their initial booking, which is saved for convenient reuse.

To ensure easy access, Skedda has full-featured native apps for Android and iOS devices that works for users, as well as owners and administrators. The system also integrates with other commonly used calendar programs such as Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook (and Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 to generate meeting invites and video-conferencing links), iCloud, and with communication tools like Microsoft Teams, Slack, Trello, Basecamp, Mailchimp, and many others. 

Pricing for Skedda starts at $7 USD per month. A 30-day free trial of their premium version is available, as well as a free demo. They also have a freemium version with limited features for up to 5 bookable spaces.

WorkInSync is a hybrid workplace scheduling solution with all the standard features you’d expect for a hot desk booking application, and more. The system helps managers stay on top of their hybrid employees by asking staff to fill out an Employee Preference Report once per week, indicating the days they would like to work from home or in the office.

When staff are ready to make a booking, they can browse the interactive booking platform to find seats near other team members, and search for workstations with special features, including cubicles with ergonomic chairs, or dual monitors. Within the same process, employees can also book parking spaces too. On the day of a booking request, the system automatically sends a health risk assessment questionnaire to ensure employees have no cold or flu symptoms before heading to the office.

The platform boasts several unique features that I haven’t seen in other systems. To improve productivity, their software has integrations with Google Assistant, Alexa and Siri so employees can reserve desk spaces during their drive to the office. Once they arrive, the platform’s Mask Detector feature asks employees to confirm they’re wearing a face mask by uploading a selfie of them wearing it. After that, the next step is a temperature check using WorkInSync’s digital thermal hand scanner, which checks and records employee temperatures to ensure no fevers are developing. QR code scans also work in tandem with their Contactless Access Management module and Digi-Pass, ensuring contactless check-in for booked desks or meeting spaces.

WorkInSync integrates with Microsoft Teams, Slack, Google Assistant, Microsoft Outlook, G-Suite Calendars, Microsoft ADFS, Okta, One Login, Honeywell EBI, and Siri.

Pricing for WorkInSync starts at $2.50 USD/user/month. A free plan is also available for organizations with less than 50 employees. A free demo can also be requested via their website.

Robin’s sophisticated desk booking system aims to empower employees, while giving management teams the tools they need to manage safety, security and space utilization effectively. Thanks to their real-time analytics, users always know how many desks are assigned, hot, hoteled or flexible at any given moment. Bookings can also be made easily through their mobile app, desktop interface, or through kiosks placed at strategic locations around your office, like meeting rooms.

Their system includes useful functions to improve employee productivity, such as wayfinding features, and platform searchability, enabling employees to find co-workers quickly, rather than wasting time walking around. For meeting room scheduling, Robin has space utilization features to ensure a meeting room intended for up to 10 people isn’t booked by groups or 2 or 3. Check-in features also remove ghost meetings, meaning a room booking will be released if no one checks-in for the meeting within a set amount of time.

Robin integrates with Microsoft Office 365, BlueJeans, Exchange, Google Calendar, Slack, and Zoom.

Pricing for Robin starts at $1,500 USD/year for their Basic service level. A free 14-day trial and free demo can also be requested via their website.

Kadence is a full suite of easy-to-use hybrid working software designed to improve the coordination of people, space and time to help your teams work smarter. Their next-generation operating system for hybrid working was designed to unleash the potential of people, powering a more positive way of working.

Kadence’s intuitive user interface and interactive floor maps (web and mobile versions) help your employees find and book available desks in seconds. Their platform also includes analytics on desk bookings, occupancy, or wasted bookings, to help you get a better understanding of your office space utilization. Their system also includes an auto-release capability that eliminates no-shows and improves availability.

Another unique team collaboration function is their “Personal Kadence” profile feature that helps office managers and teams get a clear view of employee’s personal preferences, and generates a list of who’s booked to come into the office on any given day to help with efficient meeting coordination.

Kadence integrates fully with Microsoft Teams, Outlook and Google calendars so your teams can easily find, and book available spaces all within the tools they already use.

Pricing for Kadence starts at $4/user/month. They also offer a free demo.

Envoy’s hot desk booking system makes it easy to manage the desk booking process from end-to-end. Facility managers can control which spaces are bookable, permanently assigned, or unavailable to facilitate social distancing. Interactive workspace maps and neighborhood features are also included. Employees can reserve spaces through Envoy’s mobile app or web interface, or seat assignments can roll out automatically depending on each employee’s function or project team. In addition to their desk booking features, Envoy also has separate modules for visitor management, managing office deliveries, booking meeting rooms, and protective safety measures for staff.

Analytics are built right into the system to ensure space optimization. They also have a feature called ‘unused desk protection’ which allows employees to free up their desk space if they no longer need it so space is never wasted. For employees using the hot desking feature, the system will ask them to complete a health questionnaire before allowing them to make a booking. For longer term arrangements, employees can reserve the same desk for multiple days or weeks in advance, or request a permanent desk assignment.

Envoy integrates with 85+ common software applications including access control platforms like braXos, Genetec, Honeywell and Proxy, communication platforms like Cisco Webex, CXApp, Google Chat, Microsoft Teams, Ring Central, Workplace by Facebook, Zoom and many others.

Pricing for Envoy Desks starts at $3 USD/desk/month, sold in packs of 25 desks. A freemium version with limited features is also available for up to 25 active desks.

Used in over 85 countries by 10,000+ organizations, SpaceIQ has three distinct workplace efficiency tools that address space management and space accounting:

• SiQ - a streamlined workplace management and hoteling software for companies of any size that want to get started quickly
• Archibus - an integrated workplace management system (IWMS) that organizes spaces, assets and facilities, which can be customized or run out-of-the-box
• Serraview - an enterprise-level workplace management system for desk hoteling, with detailed analytics for companies with complex structures or needs

All combined, their products offer a full range of agile workplace functions like hot desking, hoteling, desk neighbourhoods, ratio seating, space inventory and layouts, workplace occupancy and vacancy management tools, and the ability to host plans for multiple office spaces easily. Their systems also help operations teams plan for new staff and relocate equipment easily with intuitive suggestions, next steps and notifications. Accounting teams will also appreciate the platform’s ability to allocate the cost of team spaces either by square footage or personnel.

SpaceIQ also has a Wayfinder Portal that makes it easy for staff to orient themselves in the space using interactive, easy-to-read maps with color-coding and distinctive shapes. As well, photos of workspaces can be uploaded to help users visually confirm they are in the right spot. Their maps also identify the locations of useful items like printers, washrooms, cafeterias, stairs, first aid stations, sanitizing equipment, and anything else worth flagging.

SpaceIQ products integrate with Google Drive, Namely, PeopleHR, Slack, Losant, and with common calendar programs like Google Calendar, Microsoft Exchange Calendar, and Office 365 Calendar. Their system also supports single sign-on, secure file transfer protocol (SFTP) data transfers, and other customizations through their open API.

Pricing details for SpaceIQ products are not readily available, but a free demo can be requested via their website.

OfficeSpace’s software supports hot desking, desk hoteling, free addressing (sensor activated check-ins), activity-based working, and booking neighbourhoods to keep team members closer together. Their user-friendly system works from all manner of devices and supports bookings via mobile app, touchscreen kiosk, desktop computers, or even from within Slack or Microsoft Teams. To help limit surface sharing, a touchless check-in feature is also included in their mobile app too.

The platform’s data analytics also aim to help with future demand forecasting by giving administrators access to usage and adoption data in their Insights Hub. Within the data dashboard you can identify seating preferences, track trends, and see which workstations go unused. This valuable data is intended to improve the flexibility of your hybrid workspace arrangements by optimizing how your desks are configured and used.

Beyond that, OfficeSpace also includes tools for scenario planning to experiment with different layout changes. To dive even deeper into your data, their portfolio reports combine your lease information with your usage data to form real estate reports that show you where your budget is going to waste, allowing you to address those issues head on.

OfficeSpace integrates with 35+ commonly used applications including Active Directory, ADP, LDAP, OneLogin, Oracle, PeopleSoft,

Pricing details for OfficeSpace are not readily available, but a free demo can be requested via their website.

Hybrid workforces will appreciate the flexibility of Condeco’s system, which allows for different types of desk booking. Fixed workspaces are permanently assigned to an employee, but can be used and booked by others if the main assignee is away. Flexible workspaces can be assigned to one or more regular users, but reassigned if those employees don’t check in on the given day. And lastly, bookable workspaces have no regular users and can be reserved by anyone at any time.

Condeco supports self-service user bookings through their web tool, their mobile app, or through Microsoft Outlook. Users can browse their visual floor plan for the space they want, and book it immediately through the map view. Users can even reserve parking spaces - a very handy feature.

Condeco also includes some helpful teamwork and collaboration features. Users can search for other co-workers who are in the office, or set their own status as active so other colleagues can find them. For large organizations with sub-departments, Condeco can delineate zones by setting up ‘neighbourhoods’ where spaces can only be booked by members of a designated group, to keep team members together.

Condeco has integrations with 15+ software programs including Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Zoom Rooms, and others. They also have an API to support additional customized integrations.

Pricing for Condeco starts at $35/user/year. You can also request a free demo via their website.