When desks are no longer assigned to named people, two questions come back every week: where will I sit, and who else will be there on the same day. Hamilton Deskbooking answers both with an interactive floor plan, a simple presence declaration and a policy everyone knows, which avoids empty desks as much as days when nobody finds a place.
What you can do every day
Booking works in two ways, depending on what you prefer. On the floor plan, you see free and occupied positions at a glance and click the one that suits you. From the list, you filter on the criteria that matter to you, such as the floor or the equipment of the position, and you book without going through the plan.
Alongside one-off bookings, you declare your presence for the coming weeks: days on site, remote days and absences. This declaration is what allows your colleagues to organize themselves and your organization to anticipate attendance. If your plan requires your manager's agreement, the request is sent automatically.
Team presence completes the picture: you can see who will be in the office on a given day and where, which helps to arrange a shared day or to pick a seat near the right people. Managers also have a screen to approve their team's plans, and can define the rules that apply to their own service.
Two simple habits then make all the difference to real occupancy. Cancel a booking you will not need, and release your desk when you leave the site earlier than planned: the position immediately becomes available to someone else. Finally, desk and work presence statistics give usable occupancy figures by period, floor or zone.
What the administrator sets up
The setup of Hamilton Deskbooking is deliberately compact. It starts with the mapping: floors are created, then desks are positioned on the plan where they actually stand, which makes booking immediately readable for users.
Each desk then receives its properties and equipment, which become search criteria: number of screens, docking station, sitting or standing position, anything that helps a colleague choose. Desk groups and their booking permissions determine who may book which positions, for example to reserve an area for a department or a project team.
That leaves the flex office policies, which are the heart of the matter. Service by service or site by site, they set the number of days expected on site, any mandatory days and the need for approval. A policy can be blocking, and then refuse a non-compliant plan, or simply informative and limit itself to flagging it.
What connects to your environment
Hamilton Deskbooking relies on the shared foundations of the suite rather than on integrations of its own. Accounts are the same as for the other products, sign-in can go through your Microsoft or Google credentials, and users can be created automatically from your corporate directory.
The description of sites, buildings and floors is also shared with the rest of the suite: if you already use Hamilton Meeting or Hamilton Visitor, a good part of this groundwork is already in place. Lists displayed on screen, including presence plans, can be printed and exported in the format of your choice for further work.
Where to start
For a first hands-on session, see "Book a desk on the floor plan" then "Declare and plan your weekly work presence". Before planning your week, it is worth reading "Understand your flex office policy", which explains the rules that apply to your service.
If you manage a team, see "Approve your team's presence plans" and "Set the flex office policy for your department". If you are preparing the rollout, start with "Set up floors and place desks on the floor plan" then "Define flex office policies" in the Hamilton Deskbooking administrator guides.