Skip to main content
TotalCX is now part of CallRevu! Click here
Sign in Navigation

How To: Hot Desking, Hoteling, Phone Sharing

Cam
  • Updated

Hot Desking Overview

Hot Desking (sometimes called Hoteling) is a feature that allows multiple agents to share the same device, yet still show the agent extension/name when making/taking calls. This works by allowing the agent to log into or take control of the phone. 

This feature is not enabled by default for all users, there is a considerable amount of configuration needed for this feature to work correctly.

 

Jump to Section

 

Important Verbiage

Hot Desk Extension (HDE) - The shared device(s) that agents log into and share amongst one another

Hot Desk User (HDU) - The agent that logs into different devices

 

Important Notes for Setup and Usage

  • A Hot Desk Extension should not be assigned to any specific person
  • Hot Desk Extension's answering rules should always have "Ring All User's Phones" checked.
  • It is best practice to have feature sync disabled on all Hot Desk Extensions. Examples for Yealink and Poly below:

Yealink

bw.feature_key_sync="0"

Poly

voIpProt.SIP.serverFeatureControl.cf="0"
voIpProt.SIP.serverFeatureControl.dnd="0"
voIpProt.SIP.serverFeatureControl.localProcessing.dnd="0"
  • In general, a Hot Desk User should not have any phones assigned to their user profile
  • Very important to understand that only users who are set up for hot desking can only log into phones set apart for hot desking.
    • i.e. Hot Desk Users cannot just go log into any phone thats assigned to someone, and users who have an assigned phone cannot just go use the Hot Desk feature on some other phone, even if its an HDE.

 

How to Setup Hot Desking

It is best practice to have a separate extension range for the Hot Desk Extensions

1. Hot Desk Extension devices will need to be setup as usual users but as No Portal scope and no voicemail

2. Assign and provision the MACs on the Hot Desk Extensions as usual

3. It is also best practice to give the phone a certain template to add line labels to the phone and speed dials for hot desking in and out of the phone, *45 and *46 respectively. This template can also hold the override/parameter for disabling feature sync. 

NOTE: Labels on the lines are used because it would display the HDE number for every user logging into the phone, it doesn't change based on which user is logged in. This label will reduce confusion for the end-users.

4. Set up the Hot Desk Users as usual but very importantly, do not check the box Add Phone Extension

In this case extension 2019 is a Hot Desk User logging into a phone at extension 3001

 

How to Use Hot Desking

Logging In

In our example above, 2019 is now set up to log into any hot desk extension.

To log into a phone follow these steps: 

  1. Dial *45 (or press the corresponding speed dial, HD In).
  2. The system will prompt for the Hot Desk User's extension; enter the extension and press #, or wait.
  3. The system will then prompt for the Hot Desk User's PIN; enter the voicemail PIN and press #.
  4. The system will prompt once more to confirm you want to take ownership of the device by pressing 2; press 2.
  5. The system will confirm which user has taken ownership, you can then hang up.

Logging Out

  1. Dial *46 (or press the corresponding speed dial, HD Out).
  2. The system will prompt for the currently-logged-in Hot Desk User's PIN; enter the voicemail PIN and press #.

 

Important note: You do not need to sign out the existing user in order for a new user to log in. If a new user goes to a phone that already has an agent logged into it, the new user can log in with the steps above and take ownership of the device. This will automatically remove the previous user from the device.

 

FAQ

Will my outbound caller ID follow me if log into another phone?

Yes.

 

What if someone is already logged into a device that I want to log into?

Follow the steps to log in, and the previous user will be automatically logged out.

 

How do I route calls to the hot desk user agent? 

In every case add the agent's extension, not the hot desk extension, to the call queue, or DID destination etc. The user will have to be logged into a phone to receive calls.

 

Phone extension/MAC missing from user that is using Hot Desking

It is best practice to not have ANY phone assigned to a user that is using hot desking. Simply log the user out of any device they may have logged into, or log out the user that is logged into the MAC assigned to a user and it should re-appear in the user's phone inventory. If you need assistance, please reach out to support.

 

How does billing work with Hot Desking, am I adding extra seats to our bill? 

No, the Hot Desk Extensions would not be billed, only the Hot Desk Users.

Related articles