Hoteling software is bought for the reservation and is worth what its record is worth a month later. Hotelling software, hoteling software for offices, a hoteling system, a hoteling desk reservation system, desk hoteling software, office hoteling software and an office hoteling system are the same product under the spellings people search for, and the product is one row, a person on a desk on a day, made in advance. What separates a system worth having from a calendar is whether that row is filed against the desk and can be read back as a table by desk and day, because that table is the attendance count and the count is the only evidence for the ratio the floor runs on. This guide is the row, the table, the ratio and what to ask before the demo.
The row, filed against the desk
A reservation is three facts: this person, this desk, this day. Filed against the desk, a month of reservations says how many people were in on each day, which desks are never reserved and which are fought over, and what the busiest day looked like. Filed into a calendar, the same rows say who is in on Tuesday and nothing else. A hoteling desk reservation system that cannot export by desk and day has kept the convenience and lost the measurement.
The table, and the ratio it proves
84 in on an average day against 140 desks is 60% utilization; 126 on the busiest day is 90%; 14 desks are spare; the attendance supports 7 desks per 10 people. Each is the reservation table read down a column, and the free space utilization worksheet on this site works them from the two counts you enter. Office hoteling software that shows a live map and forgets last month's table cannot prove the ratio, and the next lease decision is made from memory.
Assigned and hoteled desks side by side
The desk record under the reservations has to hold assigned desks and hoteled desks in one list with the ratio visible: 120 desks with 20 kept assigned leaves 100 hoteled desks for 160 people, 6.25 per 10. A hoteling system that models only reservable desks hides the assigned ones from the arithmetic, and the ratio the policy depends on is wrong by exactly the desks nobody can reserve. The return to office policy template works that arithmetic from your own figures.
What to ask before the demo, and what HardFM keeps
Two questions: does it export reservations as a table by desk and day, and does the desk record hold assigned and hoteled desks side by side with the ratio visible. HardFM Pro answers yes to both, keeps the desks, the reservations and the counts against the building, and exports them for $24 a month for the whole team. It does not book meeting rooms, sign in visitors or draw the floor plan, and it publishes no other vendor's figures on this site.
Questions people ask about hoteling software
What should hoteling software keep?
Each reservation as one person on one desk on one day, filed against the desk and exportable by desk and day, and a desk record with assigned and hoteled desks side by side. That table is the attendance count. HardFM Pro keeps and exports it for $24 a month for the whole team.
Is there free hoteling software for offices?
The arithmetic is free here: the space utilization worksheet works the utilization, the surplus and the sharing ratio from your own counts with no account. Keeping the desks and the reservations as a record is the paid plan.
How many hoteled desks does an office need?
Enough for the busiest day once the assigned desks are taken out. 120 desks with 20 assigned leaves 100 hoteled desks for 160 people, 6.25 per 10; whether that holds is the attendance's answer.