With many businesses now operating some form of hybrid working and employees splitting time between the office and working from home, making the most of their time is vital.
For many of us, the days of having a designated desk in the office are long gone as it is often a struggle to get the best spots (or any spots) with the scourge of hot desking meaning everyone is on your own.
But if you're a Microsoft Teams user, you could unexpectedly get some help thanks to a new update to the video conferencing service that aims to make getting a desk in the office a lot less painful.
Microsoft Teams Desktop Reservation
In its entry on the Microsoft 365 roadmap, the new feature is simply called “Reservable Desktops,” and it does more or less exactly that.
Users will be able to reserve desks upon arriving at their workplace or office by connecting to hot desking, quickly detecting where the spaces are and hopefully allowing them to connect and work seamlessly.
Microsoft says the feature should also benefit IT administrators, who will be able to monitor and highlight any available desks that can be reserved in shared spaces using the Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro Management portal. In addition to alerting employees to vacant spaces, administrators will also be able to manage and collect data from these desks regarding usage, quiet periods or occupied hours, allowing for better workplace management and planning.
The feature is rolling out now to Microsoft Teams users worldwide and will be available on the desktop platform alongside Teams and Surface devices.
The launch is the latest tool from Microsoft as it aims to ease the transition back to office work for both bosses and workers. The company recently introduced Microsoft Places, a new platform it hopes can help workers coordinate the best time to go to the office, as well as enable more in-person connections.
Places also integrates desk booking with other services, such as calendar markers to notify workers that an office space is fully booked or when other members of their team will also be in the building that day.
