Target audience: McGill departments and faculties
Pxier Desk is a cloud-based workspace booking app that facilitates hoteling and hybrid working at McGill. IT Services has been mandated to assist and oversee all Pxier Desk implementations across the University. This allows us to control what data is shared with the Pxier cloud, ensuring compliance to McGill's Cloud Directive, while also simplifying technical support.
See the About: Hoteling space booking (Pxier) service description for information about how to request access, who can use Pxier, and more.
In this article:
Initial questions and considerations
When considering implementing Pxier, ask yourself:
- How many workspaces will be available for booking? Pricing is per workspace.
- What are the floors (locations) where workspaces will be located? IT Services will obtain the relevant floor plans directly from Facilities and Ancillary Services and share them with the vendor.
- Who are the dedicated resources for implementation? In addition to meetings and email exchanges with the vendor and IT Services, and getting necessary consensus from your team, unit representatives who have been tasked with the initial setup and implementation of Pxier will be responsible for:
- Deciding which offices, open workspaces, and cubicles will be bookable through Pxier. Note: We recommend continuing to use Outlook to book meeting rooms.
- Identifying "neighborhoods" or "zones" if applicable. These can allow restricting employees to booking within specific areas.
- Defining rules for booking each space (e.g., cannot book more than 30 days in advance; cannot book same workspace recurringly, ability to make tentative bookings). Download a copy of Pxier-data-template-EN.xlsx or Pxier-data-template-FR.xlsx to see a list of optional settings. Note: Do not edit in the original xlsx file.
- Specifying what equipment will be available at each workstation. Pxier can display equipment on the map to allow employees to choose a desk that meets their needs.
- Specifying whether there are dedicated desks, and to whom they are dedicated. Pxier supports assigning dedicated desks/offices if desired.
- Who will be the administrators of your system after go-live? See Administrator responsibilities below.
- Pxier offers configuration settings that give you the flexibility to implement your own hoteling business rules. We recommend keeping it simple to start with.
- Bookings made or cancelled in Pxier are reflected automatically in the user's Outlook calendar. However, users must initiate the booking/cancellation from with the Pxier app.
- Single Sign On (SSO) using McGill’s Microsoft 365 credentials is mandatory for access to both the user/booking portal and the administrative portal. SSO setup requires assistance from IT Services.
- Pxier allows you to print QR codes for each workstation to allow users to book them on the spot using the Pxier Desk mobile app. We strongly recommend printing the codes and adhering them to each workstation to facilitate same-day booking. You can choose to implement this at any time.
The Administrator role
Pxier administrators are required to attend a training course (approximately two hours).
Administrators use a dedicated portal to manage access; this is separate from the Pxier user portal.
After go-live, an administrator's weekly administration duties may include:
- Taking a workspace “offline” if equipment is broken
- Moving employees to different departments
- Applying booking permissions if needed
Weekly administrative tasks usually require less than one hour per week. Allowing managers to book/cancel bookings on behalf of others can further reduce this time requirement.
Employee usage
Each unit has its own Pxier user web portal. Users can either sign into this portal, or use the PxierDesk mobile app.
Through either the web portal or app, users can:
- Book workspaces using either a map or calendar view
- View the booking status of workspaces by date/time
- Cancel bookings
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES: