In this hands-on Officely review, I’ll share everything you need to know about the simple desk management app, available for Slack, and Microsoft Teams.

Flexible work is here to stay – whether business leaders like it or not. Today’s employees want the freedom to choose where they work, and when they visit the office. Around 73% of employees are more satisfied in their roles when they have access to hot desking opportunities.

The trouble is, making the most of your available office space, and ensuring team members can access the resources they need when they visit your workspace, isn’t easy. That’s where tools like Officely come in. Integrating directly with the collaboration tools teams already use, like Slack and Microsoft Teams, Officely gives staff a simple way to book desks, meeting rooms, and more.

I put this simplicity-first app to the test, to help you decide if it might be the perfect solution for hybrid work optimization.

Officely Review: Quick Verdict, Pros and Cons

Officely is an intuitive and straightforward desk booking app, brilliant for simplifying workplace management. Though it’s not as advanced as some of the comprehensive workspace management and meeting room platforms I’ve tried, like Deskbird, or UnSpot, it’s a good option for smaller teams.

The best thing about Officely is that rather than giving you an external platform to use for workplace management, it integrates directly into the tools you’re already using (Slack, and Microsoft Teams).

That means users can book desks and meeting rooms, submit time-off requests, and manage their schedule, all without leaving their favorite productivity apps.

Pros:

  • Direct integration with Microsoft Teams and Slack
  • Excellent space management and resource utilization tools
  • Handy bonus features for workplace culture
  • Affordable pricing for smaller businesses
  • User-friendly interface

Cons:

  • Lacks advanced AI features
  • Limited analytics and insights

Officely Review: The Core Features

Officely was designed to make hot desking simple, and it really does excel in that regard. This streamlined app eliminates the need for clunky workplace booking tools, connecting seamlessly with Slack and Microsoft Teams. It even comes with handy insights into attendee visibility, so your staff can choose when to attend the office based on who else is going to be around.

Here’s a quick overview of all the key features (and what I liked and disliked about them).

Hot Desk Booking System

The hot desk booking system is essentially the heart of the Officely app. There’s nothing particularly “revolutionary” here. For instance, you don’t get a Copilot assistant like you do on Microsoft Places that can give you personalized suggestions on when to visit the office.

But you do get an intuitive experience anyone can access directly from Slack or Microsoft Teams. All you need to do is install the app for your chosen productivity tool, and click on the “Officely” tab to gain access to a booking dashboard. The dashboard instantly shows which desk and collaboration spaces are available. Plus, you can add extra spaces to reserve too, like focus spaces.

Users can choose when they want to book a space, and how long they want to hold on to it for. Plus, they can send alerts to other team members letting them know exactly when they’ll be in the office. The app keeps track of your number of available spaces in real-time, and even gives business leaders a handy analytical dashboard showing insights into desk and workspace utilization rates.

That dashboard can even provide quick-glance overviews on when certain office spaces are most popular. Plus, it allows companies to set up policies advising employees of how often they want them to return to the office. The great thing about Officely is it’s not just for desk booking either. Users can book parking spaces, lunch tables, and even spaces for after-work gatherings.

Officely Attendance Insights and Resource Management

As I mentioned above, Officely doesn’t just show team members when other employees are going to be in the office. It also gives business leaders a comprehensive real-time view of their teams. You can see an instant where all of your employees are located, inside and outside of the office.

You can also send instant notifications to your employees from an all-in-one dashboard. So, for instance, if you want to tell your staff that a particularly popular meeting room is available for use, or that you’re hosting a birthday party in a conference room, you can do that in seconds.

The app also integrates with calendar tools, so team leaders can gain a quick insight into when teams are planning on visiting the office, making it easier to organize meetings and training days.

I really like how straightforward the analytical tools are in this app. You can’t create really granular reports about things like employee engagement levels. However, you can get instant real-time insights into how many people visit your office each day, and attendance trends over time.

Plus, there’s the added benefit of the “Parkly app” which is included with the Officely software, making it simpler to manage your parking spaces, alongside your in-office resources. You can even split parking destinations into zones and monitor who parks where.

Bonus Features to Boost Collaboration

Like most of the top desk and space booking apps I’ve reviewed lately, Officely has gone all-in on introducing features designed to help companies get employees back into the office. Even without the added assistance of an AI agent like Copilot, Officely can still provide insights to team members on the best times to visit the office based on upcoming events and team availability.

The app, when integrated into Slack or Microsoft Teams can send notifications to your employees, suggesting opportunities for real-time in-office collaboration. From those notifications, teams can even instantly “join” work spaces, or invite employees to meetings.

Plus, there are built-in collaboration features too. In Slack and Teams, Officely creates new channels specifically for employees currently in the office. This makes it easier to rapidly organize get-togethers, lunches, and quick brainstorming sessions with available team members.

I also love how you can set up custom notifications that let you know exactly when certain preferred desk or office spaces are available, or when new colleagues arrive in the office.

Plus, on most plans, each user can also adjust their status on the Officely app in real-time, instantly showing teams when they’re traveling for work or on vacation. You can even broadcast your status to all in-office employees.

Officely Review: Pricing and Plans

Although Officely isn’t quite as feature-rich as some of the other hot desking tools I’ve tried, it makes up for that with an extremely low price – ideal for smaller businesses. For instance, platforms like Envoy (which albeit, include more features) cost around $109 per location per month.

Officely is available for free, if you only have up to 10 users, and comes with every feature already included. If you need to add extra users, you’ll pay an extra $2.50 per month for the “simple” desk booking features. To unlock more functionality for a wider range of users, you’ll need the “Flexible” plans. These give you access to all of the features of Officely, including vacation status, office coordination tools, and integrated chat, for $4 per user, per month.

There’s also an Enterprise option for unlimited users, which come with a custom price. Whichever option you choose, I’d say Officely is very affordable, particularly for smaller teams.

Officely Ease of Use and Customer Support

Finally, I wanted to take a closer look at two specific things in this review: how easy Officely is to use, and how much support they offer their customers. First, as you’ve probably noticed based on my previous comments, I think Officely is incredibly user friendly.

It’s much easier to embed this app into your digital workplace than it is to leverage a completely new, external platform, as you can just integrated Officely into Slack or Teams. The interface you get is straightforward and intuitive, and you get plenty of guidance (if you need it) during the onboarding phase. Officely even offers plenty of how-to guides and FAQ blogs on its help center page.

If you do encounter any issues, there’s a live chat and email contact option, but I couldn’t find any way to call the support team. Plus, it’s worth noting that a lot of your chat responses are likely to be AI generated. Still, if you feel like you do need extra support, you can choose the Enterprise plan, which comes with a dedicated account manager.

Officely Review: The Verdict

Overall, Officely is an intuitive, affordable, and convenient app for managing hybrid workplaces. There are definitely more powerful solutions out there, but this app will make it easier for teams to connect, collaborate, and access the spaces they need, without having to use a separate platform.

One thing I will note, however, is that although Officely is available for both Slack and Microsoft Teams, you don’t get the exact same experience with both integrations. Microsoft Teams, for instance, lacks the automated booking, office check-in, and guest invitation tools you get on Slack.

You also can’t create customizable booking windows, or leverage the “Office Chat” feature in Teams. With that in mind, this might be a better option for smaller businesses using Slack, than companies who want to add hot desking features to Teams.

However, if you were looking for a desk booking solution compatible with Microsoft, I’d probably recommend considering Microsoft Places over Officely anyway. It offers most of the same functionality, and it comes with the added benefit of Copilot.



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