How the Zens integration works with desk booking

You can see whether a desk is free from across the floor, get checked in without opening an app, and charge your phone on the exact same spot. That is what the integration between Gfacility desk booking and the Zens desk management hardware does. This article explains exactly how it works, from the ring in the desk to the data in your occupancy reports.

What is the Zens hardware in the desk?

Zens builds a wireless charger into the desk surface: a puck that sits flush in the desktop. Around it sits an LED ring, and inside it a presence sensor. One device, three jobs:

• The LED ring shows the desk status in colour, visible from a distance.
• The presence sensor detects whether someone is actually sitting at the desk.
• The Qi charger charges a phone or earbuds that are placed on it, with no cables on the desk.

The hardware is installed per desk and connects to the desk booking software, in this case Gfacility. Zens lists Gfacility as an integration partner.

How does the ring follow your desk booking?

Gfacility is the source of truth for reservations. Whether someone books a desk on the interactive floor map, from Outlook or through the kiosk in the lobby, the booking lands in Gfacility, and the integration passes the status of each desk to the Zens hardware:

• Green: the desk is free and can be booked or taken on the spot.
• Red: the desk is reserved or in use.

The colour changes the moment the reservation does. Someone who books desk 12 for the afternoon turns its ring red for that slot; when the booking ends or is cancelled, the ring turns green again. The floor map, the kiosk and the ring on the desk all show the same status, because they all read the same reservation.

How does automatic check-in work?

This is the part that removes a real everyday annoyance. Desk booking systems use a check-in to confirm that a booked desk is actually used, and auto-release to return no-show desks to the pool. That only works when people remember to check in, and they often do not.

With the sensor in the desk, check-in stops being a task:

1. Peter books desk 12 in Gfacility for tomorrow morning.
2. He sits down and puts his phone on the puck, or simply starts working.
3. The sensor detects the presence and Gfacility checks the booking in automatically.
4. Auto-release leaves the desk alone, because the system knows it is really in use.

To be precise about what a sensor can and cannot do: it confirms use once someone is there. It does not predict a no-show in advance; for that, calendar and access data give an earlier signal. The two work together: prediction frees desks before the slot starts, the sensor makes the check-in effortless and keeps the picture on the floor honest.

Wireless charging on the same spot

The puck is also a Qi charger, so the desk gains a charging point exactly where people already put their phone. No chargers to hand out at reception, no cables to manage per desk, and one more reason the phone lands on the sensor, which in turn confirms presence.

What does it mean for your occupancy data?

The sensor registers that a desk is in use, not who is using it. The link to a person exists only through the booking in Gfacility, exactly like a booking without hardware. What you gain is honest usage data: booked versus actually used, per desk, per zone and per floor, feeding the same occupancy reporting that desk booking in Gfacility already provides. That is the number you need when the discussion turns to floor space and costs.

Getting started

The hardware side is a Zens installation per desk; the software side is desk booking in Gfacility with the desks on your floor map. Want to see it working with your own floors? Schedule a discovery call and we will walk through it, or read more about floor maps and desk booking first.