How desk booking works in Calven

Tell Calven which days you're coming in, and Calven will book you a desk near your group. This guide covers how your plan turns into a booking, when Calven books desks, and how your office's settings decide which desk you get.

Your office's administrators choose many of the settings below, so some sections may describe options your office doesn't use.

Table of contents

1. Know the ways you can get a desk
2. Set your plan
3. Know when Calven books your desk
4. Understand how Calven chooses your desk
5. See why you got a desk
6. Let automations keep desks free
7. Turn auto-booking off
8. Check if your office uses the legacy algorithm

The ways you can get a desk

Calven offers four ways to get a desk. Your office can use one or several of them at once.

• Auto-booking: you set your plan, and Calven books you a desk for each day you've planned to be in the office.
• Manual booking: you pick an available desk on the floor plan in the Calven mobile app or Calven web.
• Presence-based booking: if your office has presence integrations, Calven can book a desk when it detects you've arrived, for example when you plug into a monitor or tap a desk booking panel. Learn more about presence-based booking.
• Assigned desks: your office can give you a permanent desk, even if everyone else is auto-booked. Calven will auto-book your assigned desk on your office days.

Set your plan

Your plan is where you'll be working each day. Calven uses it to decide which days to book you a desk, and who to seat you near.

How do I set my regular week?

When you first use Calven, you'll be asked to set your default weekly working locations. This repeats every week, so your calendar fills itself in. You can also set a default sitting with group for each day of the week, if you sit with a different group on some days.

To change your default week in the Calven mobile app:

1. Tap your profile photo, then tap Edit profile.
2. Under Work information, choose a working location and sitting with group for each day.
3. Tap Save.

To change your default week in Calven web:

1. Click your profile photo to open your profile.
2. In the Work information section, click the edit icon.
3. Choose a working location and sitting with group for each day, then click Save.

Can I change just one day?

Yes. In the Calven mobile app, select the day in your calendar and tap the edit icon, or tap Change on your pass. In Calven web, go to the Desk booking tab and use your pass. Learn more about the calendar and working location.

Who will Calven seat me near?

Your primary group, by default. That's the group you report to first. If you set a different sitting with group for a day, Calven will seat you with that group instead. Learn how to choose who to sit with.

When Calven books your desk

Calven auto-books on a rolling basis. Each day, Calven books desks for an upcoming day, for everyone who's planned to be in the office that day. How far ahead it books is set by your office's administrators.

Your office has three booking windows:

• Auto-booking horizon: how many days ahead Calven auto-books your desk.
• Manual booking window: how far ahead you can pick a desk yourself on the floor plan.
• Administrator booking window: how far ahead booking administrators can book desks for themselves or others.

Some neighborhoods can have their own manual booking window, so you may be able to book further ahead in one part of the office than another.

How far in advance will my desk be auto-booked?

It depends on your office's auto-booking horizon. Calven auto-books desks once a day, usually between 1 AM and 2 AM in your office's local time. Your desk booking pass shows the date Calven will auto-book your desk for that day.

What if I try to book too far ahead?

If a day is outside the manual booking window, Calven will tell you when desks for that day become available to book.

What if I didn't plan ahead?

If you haven't got a desk for a day, press the + button on your pass and Calven will book you one. If no desks are free and your office uses the waitlist, Calven will add you to it.

How Calven chooses your desk

Your office's administrators decide what Calven prioritizes when it auto-books. You can see your office's priorities under Desk preferences in your profile.

Which neighborhoods can I be booked in?

Groups are allocated to neighborhoods, areas of the office set aside for them. Calven will auto-book you within your group's neighborhoods. If they're full, Calven works through the office's neighborhood booking order to find you a desk elsewhere.

Some neighborhoods are only open to certain groups. You can manually book a desk there if you're in one of the groups that can book it. Calven will only auto-book you there if it's your primary group's neighborhood, or you're sitting with one of those groups that day.

How does Calven pick a desk within a neighborhood?

Each office, and sometimes each neighborhood, uses one of these seating priorities:

• Group togetherness only: Calven always books you alongside your group. Individual desk preferences aren't used.
• Groups first: Calven seats you with your group first, then matches your desk preferences where it can.
• Individuals first: Calven matches your desk preferences first, while still seating your group nearby. You may sit a little further from your group to get the desk you prefer.
• Learns user preferences: Calven learns which desks you book yourself most often and prioritizes those for you.

What are desk preferences?

Desk preferences are the amenities you'd like at your desk, such as a standing desk or a particular monitor. Calven uses them under the Groups first and Individuals first priorities.

To set them in the Calven mobile app:

1. Tap your profile photo, then tap Edit profile.
2. Tap Desk preferences and choose your favorite desk amenities.

To set them in Calven web:

1. Open your profile and click the edit icon under Work information.
2. Choose your amenities under Preferred amenities, then click Save.

Both show what your office prioritizes, so you can see whether Calven will use your preferences.

Who gets booked first when the office is busy?

When there aren't enough desks for everyone, your office's distribution order decides who Calven books first:

• Prioritize frequent attendees: people who've come into the office most over the past 30 days are booked first.
• Prioritize equal distribution: Calven spreads desks fairly, taking into account who's recently missed out on their first choice, been placed outside their group's neighborhood, or been on the waitlist.

Why are there empty desks between groups?

Your office may use a dynamic margin. When there's spare capacity, Calven leaves a few desks free between groups so people who plan late can still sit with their group. When the office is busy, Calven seats groups right next to each other instead.

See why you got a desk

Calven can tell you exactly why you were booked at a desk. To see it in the Calven mobile app:

1. Go to your pass for the day.
2. Tap the menu next to your desk.
3. Tap Why did I get this desk?

In Calven web, open the menu next to your desk on your pass and click Why did I get this desk?

For an auto-booked desk, Calven shows which group's neighborhood you were booked in and what that neighborhood prioritizes. Where they apply, you'll also see which of your favorite amenities are at the desk, and which of your favorite people are booked nearby. If your desk was assigned to you, booked by an administrator, booked by you, or booked by a presence automation, Calven will say so.

Automations that keep desks free

Your office can turn on automations that free up unused desks and rebook them for people who need them. Here's what each one means for you.

Waitlist

If Calven can't auto-book you a desk, it'll add you to the waitlist and book you a desk as soon as one frees up. Depending on your office's settings, Calven checks again once a day or throughout the day, for every day within the auto-booking horizon. You'll get a notification when you're on the waitlist, and another when Calven books you a desk. Don't need a desk after all? Open your waitlist pass and tap I don't want a desk. Learn more about the waitlist.

Auto-release assigned desks

If you have an assigned desk, Calven will release it for others the day before you're working remotely, away or at another office. You'll get a reminder the day before it's released. Change your plan back to the office and Calven will rebook your desk if it's still free, or find you another one if it isn't. Learn more about releasing assigned desks.

No-show prompts

If you didn't turn up for a recent desk booking, Calven will ask you to confirm tomorrow's booking with a quick tap, or switch the day to remote. If you don't confirm, Calven will cancel tomorrow's desk booking at 5 PM local time so someone else can use it. This only applies in offices with presence detection. Learn more about no-show prompts.

Presence automations

In offices with presence integrations, Calven can also:

• Show you're in: add a check mark to your avatar on days you're detected in the office.
• Tell you who's in: send a notification when you arrive, showing which of your favorite colleagues are already there.
• Update your plan: change your working location if you turn up at a different office than planned, either silently, with a notification, or after asking you first.
• Move your booking: update your booking when you're detected at a different desk or neighborhood. Calven only books a specific desk once you've plugged in at it.

Learn more about presence based booking, automations and analytics.

Turn auto-booking off

Prefer to pick your own desk? You can turn auto-booking off and book manually instead. If you have an assigned desk, Calven will still book it for you.

To do this via the Calven mobile app:

1. Tap your profile photo, then tap Edit profile.
2. Scroll to Auto-book desk and turn it off.

To do this via Calven web:

1. Open your profile and click the edit icon under Work information.
2. Turn off Auto-booking.

Does my office use the legacy algorithm?

Some offices set up before 2022 still use Calven's legacy booking algorithm. It works differently: desks are booked in weekly batches every Sunday rather than daily, you're booked based on favorite desks you've chosen on the floor plan, and there's no waitlist or seating priority. You also can't change your default office or sitting with group for specific days.

Not sure which your office uses? Ask your office administrator, or learn more about the legacy booking algorithm.

Now that you know how desk booking works, learn how to choose who to sit with.