How can we help you today?

In the past few months, we’ve introduced a number of innovative tools and updates designed to help you plan smarter, allocate resources more effectively and streamline operations. Here’s what’s new:

Meeting Services: Centralized Meeting Management

Planning onsite meetings has never been easier. With Robin’s Meeting Services, you can manage every detail in one place, from catering to AV setups, ensuring employees have the support they need to focus on collaboration.

• Centralized dashboard: Gain full visibility into all meeting service requests on a single dashboard. Track every detail in real-time, whether it’s catering, room setup or technical support.
• Customizable services: Define service categories tailored to your office needs, such as AV support, furniture arrangements or special equipment requests. Create workflows that reflect how your organization works.
• Notifications: Keep everyone in the loop. Employees requesting services and admins handling logistics are automatically notified of status updates, ensuring smooth communication and fewer dropped tasks.
• Approvals for service requests: Admins can configure approval workflows for specific service types. Approvers receive email notifications to review and approve or reject requests, with updates reflected in real-time on the dashboard. Any changes to a meeting's details trigger follow-up approval requirements.

Learn more about using meeting services here.

Space Planning Tools: Desk Assignment Scenarios, Quick Drafts and Sharing

Reimagine office layouts without disrupting day-to-day operations. Robin’s newest space planning tools allow admins to test, adjust and refine seating arrangements with ease.

• Create desk assignment drafts: Experiment with new layouts by either clearing all current desk assignments for a fresh start or copying the existing setup to refine as needed. Perfect for major reconfigurations or seasonal updates.
• Quick drafts: Simplify small-scale changes directly on active floor plans. This tool is ideal for quick adjustments, such as reallocating desks for a specific project team or accommodating new hires.
• Share view-only drafts: Share draft layouts with stakeholders for input and approval before rolling out changes. This collaborative approach reduces back-and-forth and ensures alignment across teams.

Availability: Rolling out now automatically to all customers. 

Learn more here.

What Else is New

Visitor Management: Enhanced Security with Visitor Photos on Badges

Say cheese 📸 Robin’s Visitor Management now supports adding visitor photos to printed badges, enhancing office security and meeting compliance requirements for organizations with stricter visitor policies.

• Visitor photo capture: When enabled on the arrival display, visitors will have their photo taken during check-in. This photo is included on the printed badge and can also be viewed in the Visits tab for reference.
• Streamlined setup: Admins can toggle on visitor photo capture within the badge printing configuration. For detailed instructions, check out the updated help doc here.

Availability: Available to all customers using Visitor Management.

Smarter Resource Allocation with Priority Desk Booking Policies

Hybrid work demands flexibility, and Robin’s priority booking policies ensure the right people get access to critical resources when they need them most. Whether it’s giving executives first dibs or balancing access across teams, this update simplifies the process.

• Set priority rules: Create customized booking windows for specific groups. For example, executives can book desks up to three months in advance, while the rest of the company gets access one month ahead. This ensures high-priority employees never lose access to key resources.
• Layered access: Manage overlapping rules so multiple teams can share desk access without confusion, keeping everyone productive and spaces optimized.
• Time-based releases: Automatically release desks for general booking if the priority group doesn’t reserve them within a defined timeframe. This ensures no resource goes unused.

More on priority desk booking here.

Availability: Available now for all customers.

Delivery Management: Track Packages and Notify Recipients

You asked, we delivered 🥁. Robin now includes delivery tracking tools to simplify package management for your office.

• Create delivery zones: Define specific areas for package pickups.
• Log deliveries: Add recipient details and delivery locations for each package.
• Email notifications: Automatically notify recipients and track pickups in your admin dashboard.

More on delivery management here.

Availability: Available now to all customers using Visitor Management.

Brivo Integration for Improved Check-Ins and Data Accuracy

Take the guesswork out of attendance tracking with Robin’s Brivo integration. This feature streamlines employee check-ins while providing admins with the data they need to optimize office operations.

• Seamless check-ins: Employees who use Brivo access control systems are automatically checked in when they enter the office.
• Accurate occupancy data: Admins can access real-time attendance insights, helping them better understand how spaces are used and make data-driven decisions about office layouts and resource allocation.

Learn more about Brivo + Robin here.

Availability: Available now to all customers.

See our pricing page for the full list of available plans.  

First time setting up an office with Robin? You're in exactly the right place. Follow this checklist and you'll be up and running in no time.

Build & customize your office building

Before jumping in, do you have multiple office locations to set up and manage? Appoint dedicated Office Admins in Robin to delegate office location-specific tasks.

• During the onboarding process, Robin will prompt you to add your building. Then, you can add more building details later (e.g., working hours, timezone, and address). 

• During the onboarding process, Robin will prompt you to add floors to your building and submit floor plans to be converted to Robin maps for each floor. 

• Keep the office running smoothly and gain a better perspective of how it is being used with our scheduling policies and desk policies.

  • Pro tips: Turn on the abandoned meeting & desk protection policies. These allow desk & meeting space reservations to be automatically canceled if no one checks in by a certain time. This helps free up office resources for others to use and gives office managers a better understanding of office utilization. 

  • Allocate desks effectively and give priority desk booking access to specific users to maximize office space usage. 

• Customize your organization with branding. 

• Add your own custom amenities options under Manage > Amenities so users can easily find exactly which rooms or desks are equipped with the tools they need.

• [Requires Advanced Authentication & User Management] Do you need to restrict who is allowed to sit where or have special roles for managers who can assign and reserve seats for others? Set up groups and permissions.

• [Requires Visitor & Delivery Management] Need a way to manage office visitors? Use our Visitor management feature found under the Visits tab in the web dashboard to pre-register guests, notify the host of guest arrival, and monitor visitors with the visitor log.

  • Set up a badge printer to provide your guests with a name tag. 

  • Add a guest pre-arrival health questionnaire and documentation agreements (NDAs) at check-in. 

• [Requires Visitor & Delivery Management]  Easily track incoming office deliveries and promptly notify the recipient with our Delivery management system.

• Share office updates, policies, & events with employees in real-time with our Workplace Announcement feature,

• Bring people together, creating a social atmosphere and a sense of community by creating and joining office activities.

• Do you want to understand what drives employees to come into the office and how to make it a place folks go to do their best work? Or managing a new facility and curious how employees are liking it? Check out our Workplace Experience survey here.

Create interactive office maps

• From a floor map, add spaces, desks, soft furnishings, and points of interest for an interactive office experience. 
• Assign seats to employees who need a permanent desk with our interactive seating chart. 

This guide assumes someone in your organization has already created an account on Robin. The next step is to connect with Microsoft 365 and pair calendars with your Robin spaces. Follow this master checklist, and you'll be up and running in no time.

Choose how to connect - service account or app

• Choose how to connect IT

Connect via app - Recommended

• Connect Microsoft 365 with Robin IT
• Why a Global Admin is needed for the app method set up IT

Connect via service account

The service account should have room delegation access for all of the room calendars you'd like Robin to manage. This enables creating and editing events through Robin.

• Configure room delegation IT
• Connect Microsoft 365 with Robin IT

Connect your Microsoft 365 calendars to Robin spaces

• Add spaces to your map & connect room calendars    Office Manager

• Still need to set up a map? Follow these steps here. 

• Need to create resource calendars? Follow Microsoft's step-by-step instructions here.

• Optional Download the Robin add-in for Microsoft 365 calendars

Common errors when you connect via service account

• Fix "Calendar not found" IT

More help with Microsoft 365

• Switch or disconnect the integrated Microsoft 365 account
• How to book meetings as yourself, the organizer
• Understanding permissions with Microsoft 365 enterprise apps
• Enabling single-sign on with Microsoft 365

Use the Workplace Announcement feature to share real-time office updates and policies with employees. Workplace Announcements can go live immediately, or you can schedule announcements.

You can post two types of announcements: a standard announcement that lands in the "announcement inbox" or a priority announcement, which requires an acknowledgment and is considered a "mandatory announcement." 

How to create an announcement

1. Open the web dashboard, click the announcement icon at the top right corner of the Schedule homepage, and select "Create announcement." 

You can create a new announcement from the Office page or under Manage > Announcements. as well. 

2. Name the announcement-- the name is visible to employees. 

3. Enter the announcement details.

Rich text is supported- meaning you can emphasize messages with bold, italics, underlined, & include URLs. 

4. Select the office(s) you want to share the announcement with.

Announcements are displayed on the Robin mobile app and web dashboard to those who have access to the selected building(s). 

5.

Decide when the announcement should go live and for how long—publish it immediately or schedule a publish date. 

Note, the same is true for the announcement end date: manually archive an announcement or schedule an automatic archive date and time.   

6. Decide which type of announcement you want to post.

A. Standard announcements don't require acknowledgment and don't pop up upon opening Robin. Instead, they live in the "announcement inbox" that everyone can access on both the web dashboard and mobile app at their leisure. 

B. Priority announcements are mandatory and require acknowledgment before continuing to use the application. These announcements populate immediately upon opening Robin on the web dashboard and/or the mobile app when a new, unacknowledged announcement is posted (provided the user has been onboarded and is logged in). Use the toggle for priority messages (captured below).

Note, standard and (acknowledged) priority announcements will live in the announcement inbox for employees to reference at any time until an admin archives them. jj

7. You can cross-post the announcement via email. Use the toggle to enter individual or group email addresses.

The email includes the option to view or acknowledge the announcement in Robin. It will look something like this:

8. Lastly, you can send a mobile push notification to employees who have push notifications turned on. 

9. Click Publish in the top right corner. Then review the announcement settings and select Publish to make it official. 

Managing announcements

Announcement log

All announcements live in the announcement log (Manage > Announcements), where you can:

• Filter by location and announcement status.

• View the details; announcement name, status, when, and who created it. 

• See the number of views and acknowledgments for each announcement. 

• Edit announcements: click on the announcement name to open and edit it.

  • Updating an announcement does not repost it, so anyone who has already seen it will not see the updated version. 

• Archive announcements: when an announcement is no longer relevant, click on the announcement name to open it > Archive in the top right corner. 

  • After an announcement is archived you can't un-archive it or reinstate it.  

Announcement analytics

For a quick announcement analysis, anyone with the Announcement posting permission can see how many views and/or acknowledgments an announcement has by viewing the announcement in the web dashboard.

To learn more about viewing announcements, follow this guide.

Introduction

Meeting service assignees and approvers can manage service requests in the Tickets tab on the Services page in the web dashboard. Here, you can:

• Track
• Update
• Export ticket logs
• Download tickets as a PDF
• Communicate service request statuses & updates

View request details

• Click on the blue ticket link to open the ticket and review the request details. 

Download the ticket request as a PDF

• Select the PDF icon in the top right corner of the ticket details module.  

Filter & export tickets

• Use the filters at the top of each column to easily search for specific ticket information.
• Download a CSV file of the current ticket view for flexible data analysis and reporting. The CSV file reflects any filters you have applied.

Update the ticket status

1. Click the Status field and select a new status from the drop-down menu.
2. The service assignee and requester are notified via email of the status update and any changes made to the location or delivery time. 
   Note: If you change the status to Done or Cancelled for a past event, you cannot reactivate or update it back to To-do or In Progress.

Example of a status update email notification:

Intro

The Microsoft Outlook Add-In provides easy access to Robin where people already get work done. The Add-In works alongside the Outlook calendar for convenient room and desk bookings. 

Add rooms to meetings

The Add-In will suggest the best-suited spaces based on the location, meeting criteria, and the user’s recent and frequent room reservations. 

Book desks for the same day as in-office meetings

The Add-In provides users with desk recommendations for quick and easy desk bookings right from the Add-In.  Users can view, cancel, and end desk reservations directly from the Add-In.

Installing the Add-In

Robin's Outlook Add-In is available on Microsoft AppSource. Once installed by an administrator, it will appear as an option in both Outlook's desktop and web app Add-In menus for users to access.

For Exchange customers:

Exchange 2016 or higher allows admins to configure Office Add-Ins like Robin via a manual install. If you've never installed an Add-In for your on-premise environment before, you may need to adjust your configuration to allow store installs. Microsoft's "Install or remove Add-Ins for Outlook for your organization" guide shows you how to do this using the manifest file below.

Managing user access to the Add-In

By default, all users on your Outlook account have access to Outlook Add-Ins. However, if administrators have enabled more specific permissions, Add-Ins may only be available to individual groups. It's important to note that apps like Robin cannot manage these permissions for you. If you want only certain users to access Robin's Add-In (or any other Add-Ins), an admin will need to adjust user permissions within Outlook accordingly.

Things to know about the Robin Add-In before introducing it to employees

• Make sure user consent is enabled on the organizational level. 

• If employees are instructed to log in using SSO, make sure users have the "Enable pop-ups" setting ON for their web browser. 

• The Robin Add-In requires a minimum of API version 1.1 (Exchange 2013+ On-premise)

• Outlook Add-Ins can support recurring events for customers running Outlook API 1.7+.

• Outlook Add-Ins support delegate booking for customers running Outlook API version 1.8 + and above. Check Microsoft's guide to see if your Outlook version qualifies. 

• For the best user experience, set up amenities and capacity for each space.  

Room booking tips

• Robin simply syncs events from your Outlook calendar to the Robin dashboard, room displays, & mobile app, relying on your native calendar rules to recognize conflict.

• When users book through the Robin dashboard or mobile app they're booking events on behalf of the booking user, unless personal booking settings are configured.

• When users book events in the Outlook calendar they're booking through their own account. Events booked through the Add-In have the same behavior as booking via Outlook Calendar. For users to book via the Add-In, they need to have the correct permissions to book events on the resource calendars. 

With the Robin app for Teams, users can easily manage their schedule and complete actions in Teams without having to switch between apps. Follow this guide to learn how to integrate Robin with your organization's Microsoft Teams instance. 

How to add Robin to Microsoft Teams 

MS Teams allows you to highlight and install applications on the behalf of your users. Follow the steps below to manage the app's setup policies. For more context, please see Microsoft’s documentation: Manage app setup policies in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Teams

1

Add Robin from the Teams directory.

2

Select Add to install the application. 

3

From the MS Teams admin console, navigate to Teams apps > Setup policies. Then edit the default "Global (Org-wide default)" policy or create a new one if you wish to restrict the installation to specific users/groups.

4

To install the application on behalf of all users in the policy, click Add apps under installed apps and search for the Robin application.

With the Robin app for Slack, employees can easily see who is in the office, update plans, book a desk, and receive timely reservation notifications without switching between apps. In order for employees to interact with Robin from Slack:

1. An admin needs to connect Robin + Slack on the organizational level

2. Employees need to connect their individual Slack accounts in their Robin user settings 

Follow this guide to learn how to integrate Robin with your company's Slack account.

1

Open Manage > Integrations > Add to Slack option.

2

This will open a window where you can sign in to your Slack team.

3

Select your Slack team, then authorize the app.

4

Once you press "Authorize," Robin will connect to your Slack team automatically. Invite it to a common channel, or just leave it as a DM-only tool. Pro-tip: you can select a DM with yourself from the dropdown. 

Learn more about the different ways employees can interact with Slack:

• Slack + Robin: The "Who's in" digest
• Slack + Robin: Notifications

Overview

Integrate Brivo with Robin to allow Brivo-controlled doors to check users into Robin with a badge swipe automatically. This guide will walk you through the steps to set up and start using the integration. 

How it works 

When users swipe their badges at the Brivo-controlled doors, they'll be automatically checked into the office via Robin, streamlining the check-in process and enriching attendance and usage analytics.

• If a user has a desk reservation or assignment, they’ll be checked into their desk.
• If a user does not have a desk reservation or assignment when they swipe their badge, a visit will be created, checked in, and reflected as being in the office for the day.
• Admins can view this data in Analytics. Learn more here. 

How to set it up

1. In the web dashboard, navigate to Manage > Integrations on the left.
2. Scroll down to the "Access Control" section on the Integrations page. 
3. Locate Brivo and click Connect to begin the setup process.  
   
   • 
4. Under "Authentication," select your region. 
   • 
5. Enter your public Brivo API key. If you don't have a public API key, contact your Brivo representative. 
   • 
6. A Brivo login popup window will appear; enter your Brivo owner account credentials and click login. Ensure that the"allow pop-ups" setting is enabled for your web browser. If you get an error with your login credentials, check you're using a username to log in and not email.
   • 
7. After successfully connecting your Brivo account, you'll see a table mapping Brivo Door IDs to the designated buildings and floors. 
8. Use the table to configure the relevant buildings, doors, and floors where you want to enable automatic check-ins via Brivo. 
   
   • 
9. Click Save. 
10. Review and confirm your changes and click Save.   

FAQ

• Why should I integrate badge swipe data with Robin?

  • Integrating badge swipe data increases the accuracy of check-in and attendance data. This is particularly helpful for organizations that use assigned desks, have low check-in rates, or have users who come to the office without a desk reservation.

This message is typically related to a syncing issue with your personal calendar integration. This is usually a quick fix by disconnecting and reconnecting your personal calendar integration. To do this, follow the steps outlined below. 

First, disconnect your calendar integration:

1. In the web dashboard, navigate to your user profile in the top right corner. 

2. Click User Settings.

3. Click Integrations in the left panel.

4. Depending on which calendar system you use, click Manage next to either Google or Microsoft 365.

   • 
5. Click Remove at the bottom of the page.
   • 
6. Robin will ask you if you're sure you want to remove your account, click Ok. 
   
   • 

Now, connect your calendar integration again:

1. From the integration page, click Connect next to your calendar system.
2. Click Connect again.
3. Follow the Oauth verification steps.
4. Now, try booking a room again. 
5. If you're still having trouble, try:
   1. Logging out of Robin and back in. 
   2. Clearing your web browser's cache.
6. No luck? Use the chat bubble in the bottom right corner of the Robin screen to reach out to our customer support team. They are happy to help! Pro tip: Include a screenshot of the error message you're hitting. 

What’s improved?

• A faster, more performant map experience. 
• Improved date picker to better support multiple-day bookings.
• Enhanced zoom levels for more focused workflows.
• Moved from a pop-over to a sidebar experience to provide better navigation.

How to access the new map

In the web dashboard on the Office map, there is a pop-up module with a prompt to switch to the new and faster map. Click Try it out to access it. 

Employee experience

• The date picker now includes tabs at the top to choose between making single, multi-day, or date-range desk bookings (if the office policy supports hotel desk bookings).
• Easily access the office they used most recently.
• Improved zoom levels that help orient employees on the map to better understand where their booked desks or spaces are.
• A more purposeful reservation end-time drop-down menu.
• An at-a-glance view of all avatars to see who is sitting where.  
• No more pop-over modals blocking the employee's view—now all desk and space booking actions are handled through the right sidebar menu.

Admin experience

• A smoother and more intuitive workflow for managing desk assignments directly from the office map.
• All desk and space actions take place in the right sidebar menu, including everything admins need to know about the desk or space, such as assignments & reservations for the week, booking policies, & more. No more pop-over modules blocking visibility.  
  • 

Future enhancements coming soon

• Edit and cancel multi-day and range desk bookings
• Booking parking and lockers 
• Viewing all bookings and suggestions 
• People search and wayfinding

Looking to jump-start your Robin journey?  You've come to the right place! This quick start guide will help you learn all the basics to get going.

1. Join your organization

You can join your company's Robin account in one of two ways: by email invitation or single-sign-on with your work email address.

By email invitation

If you've received an email invitation to join Robin, get started by clicking the link inside the email.

Keep in mind that each invitation is unique, usable once, and can only be accepted by the email it was sent to. Invite link expires after 2 weeks. 

1. Click the link in your email invitation. It will take you to a login screen.

2. Create your account using the same email address that received the email invitation. Then, complete setting up your user account.

Single Sign-On (SSO) with your work email address

If your Robin administrator has enabled single sign-on, you may sign in using your existing credentials for either Google, Microsoft 365, or SAML.

1. Open your web browser and go to https://dashboard.robinpowered.com/login

2. Enter your work email, then select your desired single sign-on method and use those credentials to log in and complete the OAuth workflow.  

2. Set your user preferences 

You can customize your Robin experience with workplace preferences, such as choosing your homepage and setting a preferred office location. 

Open your user profile in the top right corner of the web dashboard > user settings> scroll down to the "Workplace preferences" section.

• This is where you can choose which homepage view works best for you. The default homepage is the Schedule page, but you can change it to the Office tab, which shows a map for quick bookings. 

• Decide what day of the week your schedule page should start on and whether it should include weekends. 

Next up, add a default location & schedule 

Select the Default location & schedule tab on the user settings page in the left side panel. This is where you can opt into Robin's AI desk booking feature! 

• Select the office and floor you work on most often, and Robin will default to this when you book resources.

• If you have the same schedule each week, select "Remote" or "In office" for each day of the week. This is your default schedule that Robin will use to streamline your experience. 

• If you set up a default schedule & preferred office location, the Automatic Desk booking feature is perfect for you. This feature allows Robin to book desks for you based on your past preferences, default schedule, and preferred office. You can turn this feature ON/OFF here. 

3. Download the mobile app

Robin has a free mobile app for iOS and Android phones. Scan the QR code with your phone or follow the links below. 

• Download from iOS App Store
• Download from the Play Store

Then, follow the steps to log in to the mobile app for the first time. 

4. Book your first desk

Jump right in and try booking your first desk using the mobile app! 

Mobile app:

1. Open the mobile app and tap Book a desk at the top of the home screen. Or tap the + button at the bottom of the home screen, then tap Book a desk from the menu.

2. Now you're on an interactive map where you can easily see what desks are available.

A. If you need to change floors, buildings, dates, and times use the drop-down options at the top. 

B. To book a desk for multiple days tap the calendar icon & toggle on the "Book multiple days" option.  Then tap the dates you need a desk for. 

3. Tap a green desk on the map to see more information and the option to reserve it.

 

4. Tap Reserve to book the desk.  You can invite co-workers to join you in the office by tapping Share, then select the app of your choice to send your reservation link to a teammate (e.g., Slack).

 

5. Book your first meeting room 

On mobile

1. Open the mobile app and tap the + button at the bottom of the home screen > tap Book a space.  Or tap the Office tab. 

2. Now you're on the interactive map, set your room search criteria using the menus at the top. 

• Use the filter icon in the top right corner to find the best-fit room for your meeting. For example, if your meeting requires any special equipment, like a whiteboard,  you can add an amenities filter to focus on rooms that have a whiteboard. 

3. Tap a space on the map to book it.

4. Tap Book or New event & fill out your event details. Then tap Create to complete your booking. 

On web dashboard

From the office search page, click Find a space and select your meeting details and criteria. For a deeper dive into event bookings, head this way!

Now that you know how to book a desk and a space, let's take a quick look at how easy it is to plan your week.  

6. Plan your workweek

Robin's Schedule tab in the web dashboard and mobile app are interactive schedules that make it easy to plan the optimal days for in-office work. This is where you can:  

• Book a desk if you need one.

• Update your work status to let others know when you'll be in the office without having to book a desk. 

• View a list of everyone who's planning to be in the office and where they'll be sitting, so you can book near your team. Click "View all" to expand the list. 

• Join social events with office activities. 

• Stay up to speed with office announcements.

• Update any changes to your plans.

If you have a hybrid work schedule, check out How to plan your work week & see who's in guide!

7. Learn how to view your desk reservations 

On mobile

You can also look up your upcoming reservations by following the View all reservations link on the mobile home screen (Schedule tab). 

On web dashboard

You can manage your desk reservations and/or seat assignments under your user profile. 

8. Learn how to view your meeting schedule

On mobile

The mobile home screen highlights your upcoming meetings for that day, and for an expanded view of your schedule, tap the calendar icon in the top right corner. Tap the event to open the module where you can:

- See meeting details

- RSVP

- Edit the event if you're the organizer   

On web dashboard schedule page

Schedule page > Workweek tab > provides a view of your schedule each day, including upcoming meetings. Select view reservations and a meeting title to see more details.  

Schedule page > My meetings tab > provides a focused view of all your scheduled meetings events.  

Office policies to have on the radar 

Note, that not every office implements these office policies, so if this doesn't sound familiar skip this section.

• Does your office require desk and/or meeting room check-ins? Not to worry, it's super simple! 
  • • How to check in to a desk
    • How to confirm your meeting 

Office search tips 

• Desk status colors to help you find a desk quickly:

  • Green = Available 

  • Dark grey = Occupied; click to see who is occupying it. 

  • Grey Slash (/) = An administrator made the desk unavailable for use. Reach out to your office admin to learn more. 

• User permissions: You can see all spaces/desks from the map, but only the resources you have permission to book (and are available) will show as “green” and available to reserve.

• Office access: Robin will call out the days you do and don't have permission to use the office. You'll notice the "book desk" button is not emphasized, and the desks appear faded on days you don't have access. 

• Office hours: Your office may restrict reservations to working hours only and we'll let you know when you're attempting to book outside of office hours. 

Robin has free mobile apps for iOS and Android phones. Scan the QR code with your phone or follow the links below.

• Download from iOS App Store

• Download from the Play Store

They work best when connected to wifi or cellular data, and are running updated operating systems. This means iOS 12+ and Android 5+ on a supported device.

Head to the Office page to find and book the best-fit space for your meetings or events using the web dashboard. The office page is an interactive map that reflects what's available in your office in real-time. 

Robin uses the following space status colors to help you find a space quickly: 

• Green = Available 

• Red = In use 

• Yellow = Reserved, but not yet checked into

• Grey = On demand; can't book in advance from the map 

Note status colors are customizable and may vary, and on-demand spaces are greyed out & cannot be booked from the map. 

1

Navigate to the Office tab and click a space from the map or click Find a space for additional space search criteria to find the optimal space for your needs. 

2

Set your search criteria using the drop-down fields at the top. The start and end times respect your office's work hours. 

3

When you see something you like, click the Book Meeting button or one of the green time pills to open the event composer. 

4

Use the event composer to fill in the event details and complete your booking. For more information on organizing events for others, check out this article.

Learn more about the power of the event composer:

• Learn more about the power of the event composer here. 

How to book a space from the Schedule page

Robin highlights any upcoming meetings you have scheduled on your Workweek view. On days you're scheduled to come to the office, you'll notice a space suggestion and a one-click booking button next to meetings without a space.  Hot tip: Connect your calendar to see who is attending the meeting in the office.  

1. Open the Workweek tab on the Schedule page.

2.  Click the upcoming meeting you'd like to add a room to.

3. In the right sidebar, click Add to Event to book the suggested space, or click Find Another to search for a different space to book using the office map instead. hh

Even though a meeting is on the schedule it would help everyone in your office to understand if a meeting is likely to still happen. With Robin, you have an opportunity to confirm, check in, or delete the meeting shortly before it starts, thanks to in-app reminders and room display cues.

In this guide, you'll learn how to check in to meeting rooms by tapping "Check-in or Start meeting" on the display app, or by confirming the space ahead of time from the mobile app, Slack integration, or the web dashboard. 

Checking in via room display

Checking in on mobile app

1. Open the mobile app > tap the calendar icon in the top right corner > locate your upcoming event. 

2. If you're within the event confirmation window, then you can check-in/confirm the event is still happening.

Checking in via Slack 

When you enable the "unconfirmed event" Slack notification setting under your user settings AND you're the organizer of the meeting, then you'll receive a reminder to confirm your event for that meeting space. 

Checking in via Teams

You’ll receive a notification for every upcoming event, and if you’re the organizer and the event is attached to a space, you’ll see an option to confirm.

Checking in via email 

If you've enabled the "unconfirmed event" email notification setting under your user settings, you'll receive an email reminder for any upcoming unconfirmed events.

Keep in mind- Check in's  + abandoned meeting protection

If your office implements the abandoned meeting protection it's important to note that there are two kinds of meetings that don't require confirmations and will not automatically remove events from the room's schedule:

1.Meetings that are 8 hours or more (i.e. all-day events), because showing up at midnight to confirm your all-day seminar is probably not a great experience.

2. Meetings booked (from Robin only!) within your set confirmation window (the default setting is less than two hours in advance), including impromptu meetings on the room display, will automatically confirm since they fall inside the confirmation window. The average organization on Robin will see about 15% of their total meetings fall into this category. You can customize this confirmation period via scheduling settings.

Overview

If you have the same schedule each week, then the Automatic Desk Booking feature is perfect for you. This feature allows Robin to book desks for you based on your past preferences, default schedule, and preferred office.

How it works

After you opt-in, each day, desks are booked in a random order for people within the organization using the automatic desk booking feature. Desks will be booked out for you based on the Advanced Booking Threshold for your preferred location or up to a max of 31 days from today's date.

• Example: If your building's Advanced Booking Threshold is 14 days, desks will be booked for you up to 14 days out. If the Threshold is 3 months, desks will be booked for you up to 31 days out from today.

For Robin to smartly book desks for you, the following must be true:

✅ Automatic Desk Booking feature is enabled for your preferred office location (by an admin).

✅ Automatic Desk Booking feature is turned on under your user preferences.

✅ You have a default work schedule set (remote/in-office status).

✅ You've booked a desk in the last 90 days. 

How to turn the feature on 

You can turn the feature ON/OFF from your user profile settings or settings preferences on the Workweek view. 

User profile settings:

1. In the web dashboard, click the profile icon in the top right corner > User settings. 
2. Select the Default Location & schedule tab on the left.
3. Toggle on/off the Automatic desk booking setting.
4. If you haven't already, remember to set up your default work schedule. 

Workweek preference settings:

1. Open the web dashboard and navigate to the Schedule page if it's not your default homepage.  

2. Select your preferred office located in the top left corner.

3. Click the Work status drop-down.

4. Click Edit default schedule.

5. In the pop-out module, toggle on the Automatic desk booking setting.
6. If you haven't already, set up your default work schedule.  
7. Click Save. 

Cancelling automatically booked desks

If you cancel a desk reservation made for you automatically, Robin will not rebook this desk. You can always manually book a desk for yourself for that day. Auto-booked desks are canceled the same way you cancel manually booked desks. One way to do this is from your user profile:

1. Navigate to your User profile in the top right corner.

2. Click Cancel (all) automatic bookings button or click the action button next to the reservation you want to cancel.  

3. Click Cancel reservation(s). When you cancel your desk reservation(s), Robin will update your status to "Remote" unless you uncheck the box.  

Introduction

You can check in to your desk (manually) with a tap of a button using Robin and/or everyday tools, like email, Slack, and Teams, or you can automatically check-in via office wifi.

How it works

When can I check in to my desk?

• Booked desks: You can check into a booked desk any time from the start of the advance check-in window to the end of the reservation.
  • Your office admin sets the advance check-in window, and you may lose your booked desk if you do not check in within the advance check-in window if your admin has turned on the Abandoned Desk Protection policy.
• Assigned desks: Check-ins for assigned desks are tied to the building work hours and the advance check-in window.
  • For example, if the advance check-in window is set to 4 hours and the office opens at 8 am, you can check in to your assigned desk starting at 4 am. 

What if I no longer need my desk?

If you decide you no longer need your desk, change your status to "Remote" or click Cancel reservation and then: 

• For a single-day booking, the reservation is canceled, and the desk becomes available for others to use.

• For multi-day bookings, we'll cancel your booking for that day only, and it becomes available for others to use for that day.

• For assigned desks, we'll mark that you're working remotely. You will still have your assigned desk unless your organization allows you to release your assigned desk. If you release your assigned desk (using your desk-sharing calendar), someone else can book it. 

  • Now that you're working remotely, you'll no longer see your desk/seat assignment on your schedule for that day.

  • ⏰ You need to check in every day for assigned seats or change your status to "Remote." ⏰

How do I get checked in automatically?

If your office supports auto desk check-ins and your device is connected to the office wifi, then you can be automatically checked into your desk reservation when:

1. You walk into the office with your phone via the Robin mobile app 
2. You open Robin's web dashboard or Outlook Add-in on your laptop/desktop

Robin uses your phone and/or computer network connection to recognize that you're in the office. If you don't have a desk reservation, Robin will mark you as "In office."  You can learn more about how it works and FAQ here. 

How to manually check-in

Web dashboard

You can check in directly from the Schedule (Workweek) or Office page. Don't need a desk anymore? Update your status to "Remote," and Robin will cancel the reservation for that day. Or if it's time to check in, select "Release desk" to cancel the booking. 

Schedule page:

Office page:

Another option is to follow the View Upcoming Desks link on the Office page (captured in the image above), which takes you to your user profile page, where you can check in & manage your desk reservations/assignments.

Mobile app

When you open the mobile app, you should see the option to check in on the home screen (Schedule tab). Tap Check in. 

QR codes on desks 

We also have a guide that walks through how to use the QR codes & NFC stickers on your desks!

Slack & Teams check-in notifications (hot & hotel desks only)

With the Robin app for Slack & Teams, you can receive timely desk notifications without switching between apps. You can check in or release your desk reservation from Slack or Teams. It will look something like this:

Check-ins via email

You can open the email from any device, then simply tap Check in or tap Release desk if you no longer need it. Logging into Robin is not required to release your desk. 

And then, you'll see a confirmation message that will look something like this:

Manage desk check-in reminder notifications

Manage your reminder notifications to help you stay on top of your desk reservations and seat assignments. We offer a few options. Choose which one works best for you.

Mobile push notifications

Android users:

Desk check-in push notifications are enabled by default; no action is required. To opt-out, adjust the notifications on your device. 

iOS users:

New users logging into the mobile app for the first time will be prompted to opt-in to push notifications. Current Robin users can opt-in from in-app prompts or from their user settings. 

Email & Slack notification reminders

Manage email and Slack desk reservation reminders under your user settings. Navigate to your user profile in top right corner of the web dashboard > user settings > notifications. 

Is your office implementing the Abandoned Desk Protection policy?

(Applies to hot/hotel desks only)

• When you book something in advance, there’s always a chance that plans will change and you may not end up needing what you booked.
• If your office policies include desk check-ins and abandoned desk protection, then you'll need to check in to your desk sometime between the start of the confirmation window and the end of the abandoned desk threshold or else it will be canceled.
  • Example A: A desk has check-ins and abandoned desk protection enabled, with a one-hour advance confirmation window and a two-hour abandoned desk threshold.
  • If you book a reservation for tomorrow starting at 9:00 am, you'll need to check in between 8:00 am (one hour before start) and 11:00 am (two hours after start) to keep your desk.
• We'll send you an email notification if your desk reservation is automatically canceled that will look something like this:

There are various ways you can confirm your desk and local desk check-ins is one of them. Depending on how your office is set up, local desk check-ins may be optional or mandatory. Scan the QR code or NFC tag on a desk to confirm, reserve, find, or swap a desk.  Watch the tutorial or follow the guide to learn more. 

How do we order stickers? Robin admins can purchase stickers from the web dashboard (Manage > Stickers). 

Getting started

1. Download the Robin mobile app from the Apple App store or the Google Play store. If you haven’t downloaded the app you'll be prompted to do so the 1st time you scan a sticker.

2. Sign in to the app and follow the onboarding prompts. 

3. Reminder: If your office requires you to complete the health checkpoint then you'll be prompted to complete it if you haven't already. Follow the guide for more details.

4. Next up, find a desk in your office with a sticker to get started.

Checking in 

You can check in to a desk reservation any time from the start of the confirmation window to the end of the reservation by scanning the QR code or NFC tag found on desks in the office.

Note, you'll be prompted to complete the health checkpoint if you haven't already (if your office requires it). 

Using a QR code

Using a NFC tag

Supported on iPhone models XS and higher & most Android devices released after 2017.

​

Booking a desk 

Find an available desk and scan the QR code/NFC tag, then tap Reserve this desk to make it yours for the day. 

Note, you'll be automatically checked in and you'll be prompted to complete the health checkpoint if you haven't already (if it's required).  

Finding a desk

A. If you scanned a desk that is already reserved, then we'll give you the option to find another desk using your office map. 

B. If you scan a reserved desk + forgot you already have a reservation, then you'll see a prompt with your active desk reservation and the option to view it on a map to help you find it. 

Swapping desks

If you scan an available/unoccupied desk + you have a reservation already, then you'll see a prompt with the option to reserve that desk instead (swap desks), view your current reservation, or cancel the action. 

Check-in reminders

Use check-in reminders to stay on top of your upcoming desk reservations and office policies. Below are examples of what you can expect to see across the Robin platforms depending on your office's policies. 

Mobile:

The Robin mobile app will prompt you to scan the sticker to confirm your desk if your office enforces local desk check-ins only. 

If you open the Robin mobile app during the check-in window > tap the blue Check-in button on the Pass tab > This will launch your camera and guide you through scanning the QR code/NFC tag to complete your desk check-in. 

Web dashboard:

Email:

Slack or Teams:

You can make changes to your desk reservations using the web dashboard and mobile app. There are different edit options for hot and hotel desk reservations, which are outlined below. 

Single-day (hot desk) reservations

• You can edit the date, time, duration, and location.
• You can make edits from:
  • Schedule page: Web dashboard & mobile app
  • Office page: Web dashboard & mobile app
  • User profile page: Web dashboard & mobile app  
• If your office uses QR codes for desks, you can scan a QR code on a desk to swap your desk, too. Follow this guide to learn more about changing desks using QR codes. 

Multiple-day reservations (hotel desk)

• You can only edit the dates of the hotel reservation.
  • If you need to change the time & location, cancel the entire reservation and rebook it. 
• You can make edits from:
  • Office page: web dashboard
  • User profile page: Web dashboard & mobile app   

• On the mobile app, you can only cancel the selected day from the hotel reservation. 

Web dashboard

Schedule page: how to edit a single-day reservation 

You cannot edit a multiple-day reservation using the Schedule page. 

1. Open the web dashboard (click the Schedule tab if it's not your home screen)
2. Locate the reservation on your Schedule.
3. Click the reservation to open it.
4. Next to the reservation details, click the 3 dots to open the action menu. 
5. Click Edit reservation. This opens the office map. 

3. Use the fields at the top to change the time, date, or duration.

4. Click Update reservation. 

Office page: how to edit single-day & multiple-day reservations

1. Navigate to the Office tab and locate your desk on the map. Look for a red "Your desk" marker.
2. Click on your desk to open the reservation.
3. Click More... 
4. Depending on the type of reservation, click Edit or Change dates from the menu. (The image below is for a single-day reservation)
   •  
5. To edit a single-day reservation, use the fields at the top to change the date, time, or floor. Click Update reservation to save changes. 
   • 
6. To change the dates of a multiple-day reservation, use the calendar popup to add or remove dates. (To cancel the reservation, remove all the dates.) Click Save.

User profile: edit single & multiple-day reservations

1. Open the web dashboard.
2. Click your profile in the top right corner.
3. Locate the reservation under Desks. 
4. Click the 3-action dot menu next to the reservation. 
5. Click Edit reservation or change dates (for multiple-day reservations). 
6. Editing a single-day reservation:
   1. Use the fields at the top of the office map to make changes to your reservation. Click Update reservation. 
   2. Then, let Robin know if you're still coming into the office or if you need to cancel all of your in-office plans.
7. Changing the dates of a multiple-day reservation:
   1. Use the calendar popup to select different dates. Click Save. 
   2. If you need to cancel a reservation that's for multiple days, go to your user profile and cancel the entire reservation.

Mobile app

1. Locate your reservation on your schedule or under your user profile.
2. Tap the three dots next to it to open the action menu. 
3. Now, there are different modification options based on the type of reservation you have:
   • Single-day (hot desk) reservation:  You can edit or cancel the reservation. To edit, use the fields at the top of the map to change the date/time. Or cancel the reservation. 
   • Multiple-day reservation (hotel desk): If the reservation is part of a multiple-day reservation, you can only cancel (remove) that reservation date from the hotel reservation; you cannot change the time. 

FAQ

Q: Can users with desk delegation permission edit someone's reservation on their behalf?

A: Not today.

Q: Can I edit my own desk reservation if an office admin (or a user with desk delegation) made the original desk reservation for me?

A: Yes. 

Overview

With Robin, booking a desk at the office is easy, with access to real-time schedules and availability. You can book a desk when planning your hybrid workweek on the Schedule page, or you can jump to the Office page for more advanced booking features (i.e., booking a desk with a monitor).   

Booking a desk from the Schedule page

1. Click Book a desk on the Schedule page under the Workweek tab.

Robin might ask you to select the office location you want to join if you haven't set your office building preference yet. 

2. Use the interactive map to find a desk to book. Adjust the reservation time using the time pickers at the top of the map.

• The start/end times respect your office's work hours.

• If your office supports hotel desks, then you can select more than one day at a time in the weekly calendar modal.

3. Click on a desk for more information.

4. Click Book. 

Booking a desk from the Office page 

1. Navigate to the Office tab, select a desk on the map to book "right now," or click Book a desk for additional search criteria. 

2. You can set your search criteria using the drop-down fields at the top, including any amenities (e.g., a monitor) you may need at your desk. A few things to note:

-  The start/end times respect your office's work hours. Assigned seats automatically default to office hours & can't be adjusted. 

If your office supports hotel desks, you can select more than one day at a time in the calendar modal. 

3. Click on a desk for more details & click Reserve.

4. Enter name (or email if you're booking a desk for someone and they're not a Robin member yet). 

5. If you checked the email notification box, then you or the person you reserved/assigned the desk for will receive an email confirmation that will look something like this: 

Viewing & modifying reservations 

You can view and modify your own reservations from your workweek schedule, the office map, or your user profile. Note that delegation permission does not support desk reservation edits at this time. 

From the Workweek schedule

Select a day of the week, and you'll see your reservation details in the right sidebar, including the option to edit or cancel the reservation.

From the office map 

Use the module on the left or look for a "Your desk" marker on the map to find your desk > click on the desk to open the reservation module > Edit Reservation. Then, you'll see the option to edit, cancel, or end your reservation.

For multiple-day reservations, use the calendar module to deselect/select new dates to modify your reservation.

From the user profile

Or follow the View upcoming desks link to be redirected to your user profile for a full list of your reservations & assignments and the option to make changes. 

Office search tips to keep in mind:

• Desk status colors:

  • Green = Available 

  • Dark grey = Occupied; click to see who is occupying it. 

  • Grey Slash (/) = An administrator made the desk unavailable for use.

• User permissions: You can see all spaces/desks from the map, but only the resources you have permission to book (and are available) will show as “green” and available to reserve.

• Office access: We'll call out the days you do and don't have permission to use the office. You'll notice the "book desk" button is not emphasized and the desks appear faded on days you don't have access. 

• Office capacity: We call out the total number of desks available to book and when the office is at capacity and no longer accepting desk reservations for that day.  Note, this does not include assigned desks. 

• Office hours: Robin warns and may block you, depending on how your office is set up, if you're trying to reserve a desk or room outside of the set office hours. 

• Assigned desks: Assigned seats automatically default to the office building hours, which are set by your Robin admin. Meaning you can't adjust the "reservation" time, like flex desk reservations. For example, if your office building hours are 8 am-5 pm then your assigned seat starts at 8 am and ends at 5 pm. 

Office activities help bring people together, creating a social atmosphere and a sense of community. With Robin's Activities feature, you can easily plan, share, and join social, cultural, and community events at the workplace using the web dashboard and mobile app. 

Activities in Robin make it easier for everyone to:

• Discover communities and events at the workplace.

• Create and join workplace events. 

• Know what’s happening in the office.

• Decide which days they’d like to go into the office.

Creating a new activity

By default, everyone (all user roles) can create activities from the web dashboard and mobile app. Admins can manage these permissions under Manage > Roles.

Web dashboard

1. On the web dashboard, click Create activity in the top right corner of the Schedule page.
2. Fill in the activity details. Some notes:
   • Your audience is based on the Robin office buildings you have access to. Anyone part of that building can see and join the activity from their Work Week view. 
   • The location can be anywhere. You can add a video conferencing link to include offsite folks too. 
   • 
3. Click Post activity to share it. 
4. Activities are shared with everyone on the WorkWeek Schedule tab in the web dashboard and mobile app. You can learn more about attending activities here. 

On the mobile app

1. Open the mobile app to the Schedule tab and tap Create activity.
2. Fill in the activity details and add a cover image to jazz it up. Some notes:
   • Your audience is based on the Robin office office buildings you have access to. Anyone part of that building can see & join the activity from their Workweek Schedule. 
   • The location can be anywhere. You can add a video conferencing link to include offsite folks too. 
   • 
3. Tap Post activity to share it. 
4.  Activities are shared with everyone on the mobile app & web dashboard home screens (schedule view). Learn more about joining activities here.

Editing and deleting activities

The activity creator or user roles with the Activity Management permission can edit or cancel activities.

1. To make changes, click or tap the activity to open it.
2. Click the actions menu or tap Options in the top right corner of the activity module in the web dashboard or mobile app. 
3. Select Edit Activity. 

New to Microsoft 365? Microsoft has a great guide to administering apps like Robin

Here's how to install Robin's syncing app onto your Microsoft 365 account, which will allow you to connect room calendars to spaces in Robin. This will install a domain-level "Enterprise App" which has permission to manage room resources within your account. You can see a list of other apps you've installed this way here.

1. Navigate to the Manage tab within Robin's web dashboard.

2. Select the Integrations tab, and click "Connect" Microsoft 365.

3. Choose how to connect > Connect via App.

4. This will start the OAuth flow to connect to your account and install the app. The window will prompt you to enter account credentials or show you a list of your Microsoft  Accounts. Since this will be an app for your entire domain, you will need to use a global administrator account to complete this step.

5. Robin will ask for permission to access calendar information in order to sync events. Accept permissions to proceed.

• Why does it ask for full access to all mailboxes?
  • Robin uses an authentication method called OAuth to securely install the app onto your Microsoft 365 account. OAuth is a way for apps to request very specific rights for your account. For Microsoft 365/EWS, Microsoft requires that all OAuth apps request mailbox permission for EWS API's. Once installed, the Robin app only interacts with your calendars.

You can read more about app privileges in Microsoft 365 here.

6. You're all set! You can now pair calendars managed by this account to your spaces. You can confirm by seeing if Robin is visible from your domain's app overview: http://myapps.microsoft.com

Introduction

This guide explains the different attendance statuses you might see in Robin. Understanding these statuses helps you quickly grasp your team's presence in the workplace and effectively manage office occupancy. This system provides more detailed insights into how people are working, moving beyond a simple "present" or "absent" indication.

Attendance Statuses in Robin

• Confirmed On-Site: This status indicates that a person has checked in at the office using a verified local method, such as a badge or the office's Wi-Fi network.
• Remote: This status means that a person has checked in, but they did so remotely. Keep in mind that this type of check-in doesn't provide 100% confirmation that they are physically present in the office.
• Scheduled: This status applies to individuals who have an in-office working location assigned to them but haven't checked in yet.

This attendance system will soon be reflected in the Daily Roster as well. 

Introduction

The Automatic Desk Booking feature minimizes the time spent planning to come into the office for employees with a regular schedule. Robin will automatically book desks for employees who have a default schedule set (and the feature turned on).  

How it works

After employees turn on the feature, employees' desks are booked daily in a random order up to the office's Advanced Booking Threshold (or a maximum of 31 days). Desks are only booked if the building's Advanced Booking Threshold is longer than the desk's Advanced Booking Threshold.

Example: If the building's Advanced Booking Threshold is 14 days, desks are booked up to 14 days out. If the threshold is 3 months, desks are booked up to 31 days out. 

Requirements for Automatic Booking:

• Admin must enable the feature for the employee's preferred office location.

• Employees must enable the feature in their user preferences.
• Employees must have a default schedule set (remote/in-office status).
• Employees booked a desk in the last 90 days. 

Admin experience

Automatic Desk Booking is enabled by default. Admins can disable it at the organization or building level:

1. Go to Manage > Organization.
2. In the "Features" section, toggle off Automatic Desk Booking for the entire organization.
3. To manage individual buildings, click "Manage buildings" and select the relevant locations.

Employee experience

Employees can enable/disable Automatic Desk Booking in their settings:

User profile settings:

Workweek preference settings:

Automatic Desk Booking reporting

Automatically booked desks appear in reporting as "Automatically booked desks," even if no one shows up. Automatically booked desk data can be found in the following: 

• • Desk export
  • Reservation export
  • The Desk Bookings dashboard displays the number of desks booked automatically.

Instead of clicking a button or scanning a sticker, users on office Wi-Fi who open the Robin platform from any device will be automatically checked into their reservation or have a visit created for them. Let's walk through how this works:

1. An admin associates one or many public IP addresses with a building in Robin. This is the address that the outside internet sees when you’re connected to the building’s wifi.

2. A user’s device connects to wifi.
3. The Robin app pings our servers over the internet.
4. We check if that incoming IP address matches one of the buildings the admins told us about. If it does:
   • Look for unconfirmed desk reservations in that building that are within the check-in window and start no more than 4 hours from now.
   • Confirm any of those we can find.
   • Send a push notification to the user, letting them know they are checked into their desk reservation ( if they have one). 
   • If the user doesn't have a desk reservation, a visit is created for them and they're are reflected as "In office". 

FAQ

1. How long does it take for automatic check-in to happen?

You might be checked in within a few minutes, or it may take up to an hour. Your presence is regularly checked on a timer, and the frequency of the timer can be unpredictable.

2. Should I still scan the sticker on my desk? 

Go for it! If you remember to scan your sticker, fantastic! The automated check-in is great for those who have a hard time remembering to check in.

3. It seems like I only get checked in when I wake up my phone or open the app. I thought this was supposed to be automatic.

Phones will often defer background work until an opportune time to conserve battery. Interacting with the phone, especially with our app, provides a strong incentive to do that background work and ping our servers. If you hadn’t touched your phone, you probably would have been checked in slightly later.

4. I didn't get automatically checked in. Why?

Make sure you're giving the servers enough time (at least an hour) to communicate. However, if you're waiting patiently for hours and maybe you lost your desk to Abandoned desk protection, then that's not the experience we are going for. Check these things in order of most likely to least likely: 

• Connect your device to office wifi

• Make sure you don’t have low battery or are in any sort of battery-saver mode

• Make sure you’re logged in to the correct organization on the Robin app.

• If using the mobile app, make sure the Robin app is up-to-date, both in the App Store and under Settings > Check for updates within the app

• If using the mobile app:

  • iOS : Make sure Background App Refresh is enabled for the Robin app (on by default)

  • Android: Check out Don’t kill my app! to see if your manufacturer is being mean

• Stuff generally works better if you avoid swiping the app away and killing it, though we should still be resilient against that.

• If using a mobile device, make sure push notifications are enabled for the Robin app (on by default for Android).

• Ensure you’ve opted into desk check-in reminders within the Robin app (on by default).

• Check if you’re receiving the push notifications that remind you to check in to your desk. You should definitely get one ~30 minutes before Abadonded Desk Protection happens. If you aren’t getting them, something’s wrong. Uninstall and reinstall the mobile app.

• Make sure you aren’t using a VPN or proxy server on your phone.

• While connected to office wifi, ensure user's IP address matches the one configured by the admin. You can see your phone’s IP at https://ipecho.net/plain . IP addresses can change, but US business class internet service usually provides a static IP.

5. What are the requirements for the building's IP address?

• It should be the IP address you get when using wifi at that location. A simple way to find that is to connect to wifi at the building and go to https://ipecho.net/plain, but admins should check with their IT people to make sure they aren’t missing additional possible IPs (backup connections, ranges, …).

• The IP address should be publicly routable. Private addresses like 192.168.1.100 or 127.0.0.1 are a no-no.

• The IP address should be static - this seems typical for business internet connections. Dynamic IPs are liable to change and might be feasible to use, but the admin will need to keep up with changes and reflect them in Robin.

• The IP address should be one that employees cannot use from home, e.g. via VPNs on employee phones. Otherwise, we’ll get false-positive automatic check-ins.

• CIDR ranges are acceptable, with the widest ranges that we allow being /16 for IPv4 and /48 for IPv6. The limit is just because larger ranges are probably user error but can easily be changed

• Limit of 20 distinct ranges/IPs per building, same reason

6. What if multiple buildings share the same IP?

No problem - we’ll check all matching buildings for desk reservations to check in. However, you sacrifice some precision because you might be physically located in Building A and get checked into your reservation at Building B.

Employees on office Wi-Fi who open the Robin platform from any device will be automatically checked into their reservation or have a visit created for them.

This means employees can be checked in automatically via a network connection when they open Robin on the mobile app, web dashboard, or Outlook add-in. We recommend using automated check-ins if you plan to make local check-ins mandatory. 

More information on how it works and FAQ here. 

How to configure automated check-ins 

Robin uses your office building IP address(es) to detect and communicate when an employee has arrived. Admins, follow the steps below to turn this feature on and add your office IP address(es). 

1. From the web dashboard, navigate to Manage > select an office to open the settings page. 

2. Under the "Automatic check-in" section, click the toggle to ON. 

3. Add your office's public IP address(es). You can add up to 20 IP addresses separated by commas. 

We've outlined some helpful requirements for the building's IP addresses in the next section. 

4. Click Save IP address. 

What are the requirements for the building's IP address?

• It should be the IP address you get when using wifi at that location. A simple way to find that is to connect to wifi at the building and go to https://ipecho.net/plain, but admins should check with their IT people to make sure they aren’t missing additional possible IPs (backup connections, ranges, …).

• The IP address should be publicly routable. Private addresses like 192.168.1.100 or 127.0.0.1 are a no-no.

• The IP address should be static - this seems typical for business internet connections. Dynamic IPs are liable to change and might be feasible to use, but the admin will need to keep up with changes and reflect them in Robin.

• The IP address should be one that employees cannot use from home, e.g., via VPNs on employee phones. Otherwise, we’ll get false-positive automatic check-ins.

• CIDR ranges are acceptable, limited to /16 for IPv4 and /48 for IPv6. The limit is just because larger ranges are probably user error but can easily be changed

• Limit of 20 distinct ranges/IPs per building, same reason

Admins can set up QR codes & NFC tags on desks for desk check-ins and bookings. This is one of the ways employees can check in locally if on-site check-ins are mandatory. You can also set up automated desk check-ins as another local check-in option. 

This guide assumes that you've already: 

• Purchased desk stickers. Robin admins can order stickers right from the web dashboard (Manage > Stickers).

• Configured desks on maps

• Enabled desk check-ins (flexible and/or assigned)

• Set the advance check-in window 

Watch the tutorial below or follow the steps outlined in this guide to learn how to set up QR codes/NFC tags for desks. 

Setting up check-in stickers

Use the mobile app to set up and manage the QR/NFC tags for desks. 

Associating a sticker with a desk

Navigate to the Office tab on mobile > tap a desk > tap Add sticker > camera will open, scan QR code > tap done. Then, the sticker is automatically associated with the desk & will show the sticker # in the desk details. 

Replacing a sticker on a desk

Navigate to the Office tab on mobile > tap a desk > tap Manage > tap Replace camera will open > scan new QR code > tap done. Then the new sticker # will show in the desk details.

Removing a sticker from a desk

Navigate to the Office tab on mobile > tap a desk > tap Manage > tap Remove. The sticker/QR code is removed and no longer visible. 

Sticker summary

Use the sticker summary (Manage tab > Stickers)  to understand how many stickers you've purchased, how many desks have stickers associated, and the location of those desks.

To see more granular details about which desks have stickers, navigate to the Layout tool using the floor link under the building drop-down (captured below). 

Layout tool summary

In the Layout tool, you'll notice that desks with stickers have an icon on the right lower corner of the desk and the floor overview notes the number of desks with stickers. 

You can see the sticker number associated with each desk in the right-side panel when a desk group is selected.

Enable for desk group

From the Office search page > navigate to the Edit floor drop-down menu on the map > Layout Desks. Use your cursor to select a group of desks > in the right menu panel click the Policies tab, then toggle Local check-in only policy.  

Additional information 

Health checkpoints

If you're implementing the health checkpoint for your office, then the survey will pop up when folks scan a sticker if they haven't already completed it. 

• Folks who book a desk in advance will have an opportunity to complete the survey before coming in advance via email and will not be prompted to complete it again when they scan the sticker to check in to their desk.
• If you book a desk on the fly via a desk sticker, then you'll be prompted to complete the checkpoint survey. 

Viewing check-in status

Admins can review the checked-in state on the Daily Roster page (Manage > Access) for visibility into who's accessing the office on a given day.

Hover over the check-in mark to see exactly when someone confirmed their desk reservation and how; locally via sticker scanning or "remotely" from the web dashboard or mobile app. 

Introduction

Desk check-ins help employees stay informed about upcoming bookings and provide actionable data within Robin’s analytics, giving a clearer picture of occupancy, desk demand, and availability. This guide walks through how to set up desk check-ins successfully. 

Step 1. Decide how users will check in

Decide how you'd like users to check in: remotely, locally, both, or locally only. Local check-ins are done at the office vs. remote check-ins are done online from anywhere. These methods are outlined in more detail in step 3.

Step 2. Turn on the desk check-in setting

Turn on the desk check-in setting for hot/hotel desks only or for all 3 desk types. You can enable the setting for an entire building or specific desk groups only. 

Building level setting:

1. Navigate to Manage > Offices > select a building.

2. Scroll down to the "Resource policies" section.

3. On the Desk tab, scroll to the Desk check-in setting. Use the drop-down menu to enable the setting for hot/hotel desks only or All 3 desk types (including assigned seats).

Desk group setting:

1. From the Office search page in the web dashboard, select Edit floor on the map.

2. Select Layout from the menu.

3. Use your cursor to select a group of desks.

4. In the right menu panel, select the Policies tab.

5. Select Add Policy.  To apply the setting to assigned desks, choose All desk types. 

Step 3. Configure preferred check in methods 

Local check-in methods:

• Automatic check-ins using office wifi - automatically by just walking into the office or opening Robin on a laptop/desktop using the office wifi.

• Automatic check-ins using badge swipes with an Access Control integration. Users swipe their badges at the access-controlled doors, and they're automatically checked into their desks. 
  • Brivo
  • Kisi
  • Avigilon (Openpath)
  • Genea
  • Verkada
  • Gallagher
• QR codes/NFC tags on desks- scan stickers on desks with a mobile app to complete check-in.

Remote (online) check-in methods: 

• Web dashboard: In-app prompts; no configuration is required.
• Mobile app:
  • In app prompts, no configuration required
  • Push notifications
• Email notifications: On by default for all users (manage notifications under user settings) 
• Slack notifications:
  • An admin needs to connect Robin + Slack on the organizational level
  • Users need to connect individual Slack account
  • Users turn on Slack notifications under Robin user settings
• Teams notifications:
  • A Microsoft admin has installed the Robin app
  • Users connect and authenticate Robin user account with your Microsoft Teams account
  • User turns on Teams notications under Teams user settings

Step 4. Configure the remote desk check-in window (Skip if using local check-ins only)

The Remote Check-In window is a building-level setting that determines how far in advance someone can check into a desk when confirming remotely. Reservations booked within this period are automatically confirmed. 

This configuration is only related to remote desk check-in methods. Skip this section if you're only using local check-in methods. 

1. Go to Manage > Offices and select a building in the web dashboard > scroll to "Resource policies."
2. On the Desk tab, select the Remote Check-in Window drop-down menu.  
3. Select the amount of time that works best for your organization. From a minimum of 10 minutes to a maximum of 12 hours. 
   • Tips:
     • Reservations booked within this period are automatically confirmed. 
     • Assigned desks are booked for a full day based on your organization’s set office hours.
       • For example, if the remote check-in window is 4 hours and the office opens at 8 am, check-in can start at 4 am. 

Step 5. Add desk check-in policies

Local check-ins only policy:

You can make Local desk check-in methods optional for convenience or mandatory. If you want to make local check-ins mandatory for employees, enable the Local desk check-ins-only setting and set up one of the on-site check-in methods mentioned above. 

Abandoned desk protection:

This feature automatically cancels "no show" (flex) desk bookings when employees don't confirm their desk within a certain window, allowing someone else to use it instead. Learn how to set it up here. 

When someone books something in advance, there’s always a chance that plans will change and they may not end up needing what they’ve booked. Use desk check-ins and abandoned desk protection to get a clearer picture of who’s using which desks and when. 

• Enable abandoned desk protection
• How it works
• What happens when a desk is released

Watch the tutorial or follow the guide below

Enable abandoned desk protection

Abandoned desk protection can be enabled for an entire building or for specific desk groups for flexible desks only. To enable abandoned desk protection, you must first enable desk check-ins. 

Enable for an entire building 

Navigate to Manage > Offices > select a building >  scroll down to "Desk policies" section> toggle on the Desk check-ins + Abandoned desk protection. 

After you've enabled abandoned desk protection, you can adjust the abandoned desk threshold. This is the time to wait before an unconfirmed desk reservation is canceled: 

Enable for flex desk groups

From the Office search page > navigate to the Manage drop-down menu on the map > Layout Desks. 

Use your cursor to select a group of desks > in the right menu panel click the Policies tab > select + to add a policy > select Desk check-ins > toggle Abandoned desk protection > adjust the threshold (the time to wait before an unconfirmed desk reservation is canceled).

How it works

When employees reserve a hot/hotel desk that has desk check-ins and abandoned desk protection enabled, they’ll need to check in sometime between the start of the confirmation window and the end of the abandoned desk threshold.

Example: A desk has check-ins and abandoned desk protection enabled, with a one-hour advance confirmation window and a two-hour abandoned desk threshold. If a user books a reservation for tomorrow starting at 9:00 am, they’ll need to check in between 8:00 am (one hour before start) and 11:00 am (two hours after start) in order to keep their seat.

We'll send an email notification if your desk reservation is automatically canceled that will look something like this:

 

To learn more about the different ways employees can check in to a desk, head this way!

 

What happens when a desk is released

When a desk reservation is released through abandoned desk protection, the reservation is canceled rather than deleted. The user’s reservation will still appear on the desk export, with the "Canceled at" field indicating when the reservation was released and with the "Cancellation type" field indicating how it was canceled (automatically or manually). 

Robin's web dashboard provides several methods for managing assigned desks, each designed for different needs and scales of planning, empowering admins to effectively manage the workplace.

Select the method below that works best for you for step-by-step instructions.

A. Assignment tool- Quick edits: This tool is best for making minor adjustments, such as adding or removing a few desks or minor modifications to seating arrangements without significant overhauls. 

B. Assignment tool- Scenario planning: This tool is best for creating multiple desk assignment drafts per floor to test different scenarios. Before going live, you can share, review, and refine seating assignments with colleagues. 

C. Office map- edit option: This method is best for making one-off desk assignments directly from the live map. 

What is visitor management?

Your office is not only a space for employees. Organizations across all kinds of industries regularly welcome different types of visitors to the office, including:

• Customers or clients

• Vendors and suppliers

• Contractors and consultants

• Interns

• Freelancers and temporary employees

• Job applicants

Visitor management is simply the set of policies, practices, and tools you use to monitor everyone who uses your office space but isn’t an employee.

About Robin's Visitor Management

Robin's Visitor Management system empowers employees to easily book guests for office visits, gives admins the tools they need to track visitors, and ensures visitors have the information they need to confidently check-in.

Benefits

Walk-in guest registration

Upon arriving, visitors can quickly sign in without the help of front desk staff. Robin provides the option to set up an arrival display on an iPad or something similar that allows walk-in guests to sign in and scheduled guests to check-in. 

Invite guests to visit 

Schedule guests in advance, and Robin will automatically send an email invitation with customizable visit instructions. 

Create custom visitor registration forms

Create unlimited custom visitor registration forms for pre-registered visitors, including any details required for guests (e.g., food preferences or allergies). Add relevant information from the custom fields to display on badges and view custom field information in the visit log. Learn more here. 

Arrival notifications for the host

Robin automatically notifies the host when guests arrive, providing an efficient and pleasant experience for everyone. 

Cover compliance requirements with document prompts

Robin makes it easy for visitors to review and acknowledge any legal documents (such as an NDA or waiver) that offices may require. Visitors can acknowledge documents digitally either on the arrival display (such as an iPad) or before they arrive via email. Learn more about adding compliance requirements here. 

Visitor data records for security 

View a comprehensive visit log to track and access information about who has been at your office and when. To learn more about what the guest experience looks like, check out this guide. 

Badge printing

Badge printing enables offices to print badges seamlessly as part of visitor check-in workflows, keeping your employees and intellectual property safe. To learn more about badge printing check out this article here.

Roles + Permission

Admins can allocate different types of permissions to users and roles, ensuring precise control over the organization’s visitor management process. Find out more about Visitor Management roles and permissions in this article here. 

How to get started

1. Create a list of different types of visits that best fits your office. This helps hosts prepare for upcoming visitors and provides office admins with accurate records.  

2. Set up an arrival display at the front entrance for check-ins. Does your office allow drop-in visits? Enable the guest self-registration feature on the arrival display.  

3. Decide who can invite guests to the office- everyone or only specific users, such as office admins and managers? 

4. Does your office require visitors to agree to any legal documents before their visit? Learn how to upload and manage legal documents as part of the visitor check-in experience. 

5. Become familiar with the Visitor Log to keep track of who has been at your office and when. This is also where you can "Check guests out," or guests can check themselves out from the arrival display. 

Robin is made for teams. Once you've created your organization, add your team! Robin supports several ways to add your team. This guide focuses on how to add folks manually. 

Before jumping in, there are a few things to think about first:

• [Enterprise customers]Do you need to configure user groups and permissions?  Silently add folks to your Robin account and onboard later. 

• How should users log in? User name and password (enabled by default) or single-sign-on, or both?

• Have you introduced Robin to your team yet? We have an email template that makes explaining easy. 

Adding users

You must be an account owner or admin to add or invite folks to your Robin account. You can read more about member roles here.

1

Log into the web dashboard and visit Manage > People.

2

Click Add people. 

3

Add users individually or in bulk using the csv import option.  

4

If your team will be logging in via a username & password method only, then leave the Send invites via email toggle on. This automatically sends an email with a link to set up a Robin user account.

If you prefer users to log in via single sign-on but need to configure user groups before your launch, toggle OFF the "Send invites via email" setting. This will add folks to Robin, but it will not send the automated email invitation. 

The invite email

When you click Send Invitation, an email invite goes out to everyone on your list. Co-workers should keep an eye out for an invite email from <mailer@robinpowered.com> with a subject line like this:

Subject: You are invited to join {your team} on Robin

* Warning: we've seen the email invite get stuck in folk's spam/junk folder from time to time.

When they click on the link, Robin will walk them through account creation and automatically add them to your organization.

Users can select the language of their choice from our supported languages when using the mobile app or the web dashboard.

Admins can also select a language for each building they manage for their office displays (welcome displays, iOS room displays (Android support coming soon), status boards, & kiosks). 

Supported languages

• English

• French

• Canadian French

• German

• Spanish

• Japanese

How to set your language preference

You can set your preferred language under your user settings in the web dashboard and/or mobile app. Settings sync across applications. 

Web dashboard

1. Open your user profile (avatar) in the top right corner > select User settings.

2. Scroll to the Localization section. 

3. Select the language of your choice from the dropdown menu.

4. Select Save & reload. 

Mobile app

1. From the Pass tab, tap the settings icon in the top right corner.

2. Tap Language.

3. Tap the language of your choice from the menu.

4. Tap Save. 

How to set the language preference for your office 

Global & local admins can set the language of choice for their office displays (e.g., welcome displays, kiosks, & status boards) under the building details. 

1. Navigate to Manage > select an office building.

2. In the building details section at the top > select the Edit details button. 

3. Scroll to the Language section under Localization.

4. Select the language of your choice from the dropdown menu.  

5. Select Save changes. 

Introduction

Robin's AI assistant for Advanced Analytics helps admins get instant answers to on-demand questions about desk and space usage. It uses the following data to answer questions:

• Unlimited historical desk utilization
  • Assigned desks with check-in policy enabled
  • Flex desks with check-in policy enabled
• Unlimited historical space utilization
• People inventory

Accessing the AI assistant

If you have Advanced Analytics, reach out to your Customer Success Manager to request access to the early access program. 

Next, open the Analytics tab in the web dashboard and select the AI Assistant in the top left corner.  

Using the AI assistant 

The basics

You can converse back and forth with the assistant to get the data you need about desk and space usage.

• Type your question in the chat window and click submit to start a conversation. 
• The AI assistant will try to match your question as you type or provide examples of different questions it can answer for your organization.
• Each chat session runs for 8 hours and will automatically end after 8 hours.
• Select the New Conversation button to reset the context and start a new conversation from scratch.

Types of questions the AI assistant can help with

Below are some examples of questions the assistant can help answer:

• Which departments book the most desks in xyz building?
• Which people with the title xyz book the most desks in xyz building?
• Which days of the week does Lauren Mcwaters book the most desks?
• Which meeting rooms had the fewest meetings this past year in xyz building?
• What are the names of my buildings?
• Give me a list all of my buildings and the number of desks in each of them.
• What is the breakdown of how far in advance people book their desk reservations in xyz building?

Tips for interacting effectively

Be Specific

• Provide clear and concise instructions.
• Be specific about the building and time range. 
• Use accurate spelling, especially for people's names. 
  • For example, Instead of asking, “What is my office usage?” ask, “What is my office usage for

    11 Farnsworth building in the past 90 days. Calculate usage by total number of desk reservations/total number of desks available.”

Use step-by-step instructions

• For complex tasks, break them into smaller steps.
• For example, "Which meeting rooms have the most recurring canceled meetings?"
  • Follow up: "Of the top 3 meeting rooms, give me a list of the meeting owners and titles." 

Provide context

• The more context you provide, the better the response.

Request adjustments

• If the response isn’t exactly what you need, ask for revisions.
• For example, “Can you provide an alternative response that does not include flex desks.”

Ask for clarification

• To clarify complex topics, ask the AI assistant how it got to the answer.
• For example, “How did you define utilization?”

Advanced Analytics is an add-on feature that allows you to proactively manage your workplace by providing deeper insights and customizable reports that lead to better decision-making.

Key benefits:

• Provides greater control over workplace information.
• Enables data-driven decisions about the workplace.
• Offers flexibility and customization in reporting.
• Saves time and effort with the AI assistant, automated reporting, and alerts.

Key Features:

Advanced Analytics provides a range of powerful features to help you understand and manage your workplace effectively, including:

• AI assistant to answer on-demand questions (currently in early access): This feature allows you to ask specific questions about your desk and space utilization and receive immediate answers.
• Build unlimited custom reporting & dashboards: You can create new tailored reports and dashboards or customize the pre-built dashboards to visualize the data that is most important to you.
• Access unlimited historical usage data: Analyze historical data to identify trends and patterns over time.
• Drill down into data: You can drill down into high-level data to find answers quickly; if you see a conference room with high cancellations - drill-down functionality lets you view precisely who, what, and when these cancellations happened from the same visualization.
• Schedule reports to key stakeholders: Automate the delivery of reports to key stakeholders on a regular schedule.
• Set up alerts and notifications: Configure alerts and notifications to be informed of significant changes or anomalies in your workplace data.
• Connect to our Analytics API to streamline your data exports: Use the Analytics API to integrate data exports with other systems and workflows.

Badge data shows up in analytics as a desk check-in and/or counts towards someone in the office (workplace presence). The only dashboard that currently displays office presence is the Workplace Presence dashboard. 

The following dashboards and exports use badge data:

• Collabscore - Occupancy score specifically counts in office presence
• Occupancy dashboard
• Workplace Insights dashboard
• Executive Insights dashboard
• Workplace Presence dashboard 
• Desk Bookings dashboard
• Desk Check-Ins dashboard 
• Desk export
• Activity Summary export
• Workplace Presence export
• Hybrid Work Policy export