Hoteling and Flexible Seating both allow a user to log in to a phone or device that is not assigned to them.
Flexible Seating is designed for 24×7 call centers and other “shared desk” style environments. Flexible Seating allows a user to log in to a dedicated host phone, and take over that phone for the duration of their shift.
Meanwhile, Hoteling allows a user to temporarily place and receive calls from another user’s dedicated phone. It’s most commonly used by executives and other employees who travel infrequently, but may need to borrow a local employee’s office for a day at a time.
Flexible Seating Guest
To start their shift, a Flexible Seating Guest will first log in to an empty Flexible Seating Host phone by entering their passcode on the phone’s keypad. Upon successful login, the phone will reboot, load the Flexible Seating Guest user’s profile, display the user’s line extension, and place/receive calls exactly as if it were that user’s phone.
Guests may disassociate themselves from a host phone at any time by pressing the logout soft key. They can also wait for the association time limit (default 8 hours, max 12 hours) to run out.
Guests may not have a dedicated physical phone of their own, and they may only be logged into one Flexible Seating Host phone at a time. However, guests can still use the UCx desktop and mobile apps at all times.
Flexible Seating Host
A Flexible Seating Host phone must be 100% dedicated to the Flexible Seating feature. It will have no primary user. Instead, it remains permanently available for a Flexible Seating Guest user to take over.
Host phones also have an association time limit (default 8, max 12 hours), like the guests. If the Host time limit and guest time limit do not match, the system will automatically disassociate the guest’s profile from the host phone whenever the shorter time limit is reached.
Hoteling Guest
When traveling, the Hoteling Guest may login through the UCx Web Portal and associate their user profile with any available Hoteling Host phone. While the phone’s display and settings will not change, all inbound calls to the guest user’s profile will be routed to the host phone, and all outbound calls from the host phone will use the Caller ID of the guest.
Guests may disassociate themselves from a host phone at any time through the web portal, or simply wait for the association time limit (default 8 hours, max 12 hours) to run out.
Hoteling Host
Hoteling Host allows you to designate a user’s phone as an available Hoteling Host to support other users temporarily taking over that phone with the guest user’s profile.
Host phones must also have an association time limit (default 8 hours, max 12 hours). If the host time limit and guest time limit do not match, the system will automatically disassociate the guest user’s profile whenever the shorter time limit is reached.