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Hot Desking with Grandstream GRP2600 Series IP Phones

The new Grandstream GRP2600 Series is designed for work as it happens today. And not just for the frontline user, but also for the admin. They’re simple to manage with unified firmware and a host of useful features.

There are four Grandstream GRP2600 Series phones available at present:

In this blog, we take a close look at a highly useful feature of the GRP2600 phones: hot desking, which works the same with all four models.

We also clearly explain how to setup hot desking on Grandstream GRP2600 phones.

Grandstream GRP2613 IP Phone

What Is Hot Desking?

Hot desking, also known as public mode, means multiple users can use the same VoIP phone under their own account.

It’s the same thing as having multiple accounts on a computer. One user logs in. When they’re done, they log out. The next user logs in. Extension ID, settings, messages, and such are individualized to the user, not to the phone.

When Would You Use Hot Desking?

There are quite a few scenarios when hot desking would be useful:

Open-plan offices. Let’s say you have an open-plan office. Workers don’t have set desks: they move around, they collaborate. But they still need a professional desk phone. By using hot desking, it doesn’t matter which phone someone uses. They just login to whichever phone is available.

Co-working offices. Co-working offices are similar to open-plan offices, except that they’re even more open: it’s not one company, but anyone who wants to pay for professional space. In which case, having a set extension per user for available desk phones enhances the co-working experience.

Worker at multiple locations. If your time is split between campuses, you can have a personalized phone at any number of locations.

Split shifts. Your business might have multiple shifts. With hot desking, the person on first shift can have a personalized phone, log out when they leave, and the person on second shift can use the same phone for their work.

Flexible schedules. Workers with flexible schedules at places like a call center might come in at 10am one day and 2pm the next day. No matter what their schedule looks like, they’ll have a personalized phone.

Resource efficiency. Most workers don’t need to have 24/7 access to a desk phone. By setting up hot desking, you can reduce hardware expenses while retaining a professional communications experience.

Grandstream GRP2614 IP Phone

How to Setup Multiple Accounts on the Same Grandstream IP Phone

So hot desking sounds great. But how do you set it up?

First, go to the phone’s web-based user interface. The phone and the computer must be on the same network.

  1. Enter the phone’s IP address into a web browser
    • To find the phone’s IP address, press and hold the up button for 3 seconds
  2. Enter the admin user and password
    • The default admin user is admin
    • The default admin password can be found on the sticker on the back of the phone

You’ll now be in the phone’s interface.

Here’s how to setup hot desking:

  1. Go to Accounts > Account 1 > General Settings
  2. Enter SIP server address under SIP Server
  3. Click Save
  4. Go to Settings > General Settings
  5. Under Enable Public Mode, select Enabled
  6. Click Save and Apply
  7. Reboot the phone

Grandstream GRP2612 IP Phone

How Do You Login to a Grandstream Phone?

To login, all you need to do enter your username and password.

A phone set to Public Mode will show a login page when no one is logged in.

To set the username and password, go to phone’s user interface, as shown above. Then follow this procedure:

  1. Go to Accounts > Account 1 > General Settings
  2. Under Username, enter the username
  3. Under Authenticate Password, enter the password
  4. Click Save and Apply
  5. Reboot the phone

To log out, either tap the LogOut softkey on the idle screen or tap Menu and then LogOut.

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