A desk that lights up when its next booking is about to start, a check-in that happens without opening an app, a phone that charges on the same spot, and an evening light that tells cleaning which desks were actually used. That is what the integration between Gfacility desk booking and the Zens Desk Management System 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: the Smart PuK, 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 signals in colour when something needs to happen at the desk, 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 what matters to the Zens hardware. Note what the ring deliberately does not do: it never paints the floor green and red.
- Dark: the normal state. A free desk and a desk somebody is working at both leave the ring unlit, so a floor full of desks stays calm.
- Orange: a reservation on this desk is about to start. Whoever is still sitting there sees it is time to wrap up, and whoever is looking for a spot knows this one is taken shortly.
- Blue: the evening cleaning signal, on the desks that were really used that day.
Someone who books desk 12 for the afternoon sees its ring turn orange shortly before the slot begins, not the moment the booking is made; once the reservation starts, or when it is cancelled, the ring is dark again. Free versus occupied is the job of the floor map, the kiosk and the availability filters, where green and red are useful because you are already looking for a desk. On the floor itself, only the two moments that ask something of a person get a colour.
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:
- Peter books desk 12 in Gfacility for tomorrow morning.
- He sits down and puts his phone on the Smart PuK, or simply starts working.
- The sensor detects the presence and Gfacility checks the booking in automatically.
- 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 Smart PuK 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, and the evening cleaning signal on top of it. 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.
Frequently asked questions
How does automatic check-in via the desk sensor work?+
The Zens Smart PuK in the desk contains a presence sensor. When someone sits down at a desk they booked in Gfacility, the sensor detects the presence and Gfacility marks the booking as checked in. Nobody has to open an app or scan anything, and auto-release never cancels a desk that is actually in use.
What does the LED ring in the desk show?+
Only the two moments that need an action. The ring stays dark while a desk is free and while someone is working at it, so the office is not a traffic light. It turns orange when a reservation on that desk is about to start, and blue in the evening on the desks that were used that day. Free versus occupied is what the floor map and the kiosk are for.
Why does the ring turn blue in the evening?+
That is the cleaning signal. At the end of the day the desks that were actually used light up blue, so the cleaning round can do those instead of every desk on the floor. A desk that stayed empty all day stays dark, because the sensor never registered anyone at it.
What data does the Zens hardware share with Gfacility?+
Presence and occupancy signals per desk. The sensor registers that a desk is in use, not who is sitting there; the match with a person comes from the booking in Gfacility. There is no camera and no location tracking of people.
Do we still need auto-release when desks have sensors?+
Yes. Auto-release stays the safety net for bookings where nobody shows up, and the sensor makes it reliable: a desk that is really used is checked in automatically, so it is never released by mistake. Predicting no-shows earlier still comes from calendar and access data.