DeskSYNC: Automatic office check-in (Administrator Guide)

What is DeskSync?

DeskSYNC is Ronspot's lightweight desktop app for Windows and Mac. It runs quietly
as a background agent on an employee's laptop and automatically checks them in to
their Ronspot booking when it detects they're at the office — no app to open,
no button to press.

Instead of relying on the employee to remember to check in (from the web app,
the mobile app, or a QR code at the door), DeskSYNc recognises the office from
signals the laptop already sees, the office WiFi Network or a docking
station / wired connection — and confirms the booking on their behalf.

Why use it

- Higher check-in accuracy — attendance data reflects who actually came in,
because check-in is automatic rather than self-reported.
- Zero friction for employees — they just open their laptop at their desk;
DeskSYNC does the rest.
- Works for desks and parking, Wi-Fi-based and docking-station-based
offices.
- Admin-controlled — you decide which networks and docks count as "the
office." Nothing is hard-coded in the app.

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How it works (in one minute)

1. You configure, in the Ronspot admin panel, which Wi-Fi networks and/or
docking stations represent each office zone.
2. Ronspot sends that configuration down to the employee's DeskSYNC app.
3. When the laptop is on a matching network (or connected to a matching dock),
DeskSYNC reports what it sees to Ronspot, and Ronspot decides whether it's
a valid office presence and checks the user in against their booking.

The app is deliberately "thin": it reports the signals it observes and the
Ronspot server makes the decision. This keeps the logic centralised and means a
configuration change takes effect without updating the app.

Check-in only happens when all of these are true:

- the employee has a booking for that day in a zone they belong to,
- that zone has the relevant check-in type enabled (Wi-Fi or
Ethernet/Network), and
- the laptop is on the configured network / dock for that zone.

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Before you begin

Make sure you have:

- Administrator access to the Ronspot admin panel.
- Your zones and spots already set up, and employees assigned to the correct
zones.
- The Wi-Fi details of each office you want to map (the network name/SSID,
or the access-point MAC/BSSID), or the docking-station details for a
wired/dock office.
- Employees who will book spots as normal — DeskSYNC confirms an existing
booking, it does not create one.

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Step 1 — Choose how each office is detected

DeskSYNC supports three mapping types. Pick the one that fits each office:

| Mapping type | Best for | What it matches on |

| SSID (Wi-Fi name) | Most offices with a single, stable Wi-Fi name | The network name, e.g. `HQ-Staff` |
| BSSID (access-point MAC) | Sites where you want to pin to specific access points | The AP hardware address, e.g. `58:ba:d4:74:0a:b0` |
| Docking station | Desks that connect via a dock / wired Ethernet | The dock's USB ID plus network anchors |

SSID vs BSSID: an SSID mapping matches anywhere that Wi-Fi name is broadcast. A BSSID mapping is stricter — it matches a specific access point. Use SSID for simplicity; use BSSID when you need to distinguish floors or buildings that share a network name.

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Step 2 — Add a Wi-Fi mapping (SSID or BSSID)

1. In the Ronspot admin panel, open the Wi-Fi check-in settings for the
company.
2. Add a new mapping and choose SSID or BSSID.
3. Enter the value:
- SSID — the exact Wi-Fi network name (case and spacing don't have to be
perfect, but avoid typos).
- BSSID — the access point's MAC address.
4. Assign the mapping to the zone(s) it represents.
5. Save.

TIP: you can map several networks to the same office (for example a `2.4 GHz` and a `5 GHz` version of the same Wi-Fi, or multiple access points), and the same network to several zones if they share it.

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Step 3 — (Optional) Add a docking-station mapping

Use this for desks where people dock their laptop rather than join Wi-Fi.

1. Read the dock's USB ID. On a laptop connected to the dock, open DeskSync in administrator mode and use the Detected USB devices panel to read the dock's VID:PID (for example `0x17EF:0x30B0`). This value is local to the laptop and is only used to identify the dock model.
2. In the admin panel, add a Docking station mapping and enter the dock's
VID/PID.
3. Optionally add network anchors for the office — gateway MAC address, subnet (CIDR), public IP, and/or DNS server. These make the match stronger and prevent the same dock model at someone's home from counting as the office.
4. Assign the mapping to the zone(s) and save.

Docking-station check-in records as an Ethernet/Network check-in.

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Step 4 — Enable the check-in type on the zone (important)

A mapping only takes effect if the zone has the matching **check-in type** switched on:

- For SSID/BSSID mappings → enable Wi-Fi check-in on the zone.
- For Docking-station mappings → enable Ethernet/Network check-in on the
zone.

This is the most common reason a correctly-added mapping doesn't work: the network is mapped, but the zone's check-in type is off, so it's never sent to the app. If DeskSync says "Outside office network" on a network you've just  mapped, check this first.

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Step 5 — Roll out the app to employees

1. Have employees install DeskSync on their laptop (from your internal distribution link).
2. On first launch they sign in with their normal Ronspot account.
3. After that it runs automatically in the background and starts on login.

Employees don't need to configure anything — they only sign in once.

Windows Location Services must be on.  Windows only reveals the Wi-Fi network name to apps when Location Services is enabled. DeskSync shows an amber banner with an **Enable** button if it's switched off.

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Step 6 — Verify it's working

1. On an employee laptop that's booked for today and on the office Wi-Fi (or docked), open DeskSync.
2. The status should read "Connected to office network" and, once checked
in, "Checked In". Docking-station offices also show "Docking station:
Connected."
3. Confirm the check-in appears against the booking in Ronspot as normal.

DeskSync re-checks automatically on common events — connecting to Wi-Fi, switching networks, plugging in the dock, unlocking the laptop, and on a regular timer — so it doesn't rely on the employee doing anything.

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Troubleshooting

"Outside office network" on a network you've mapped

- Confirm the mapping is assigned to a zone the employee belongs to.
- Confirm the zone's check-in type is enabled (Wi-Fi for SSID/BSSID,
Ethernet/Network for docks) — see Step 4.
- Have the employee use Sync Now in the app (or restart it) so it re-fetches
the latest configuration.

Check-in doesn't happen even though the office is detected

- The employee must have a booking for that day in that zone. "No booking
for today" is expected when they haven't booked.

Wi-Fi name shows as blank / office not detected on Windows
- Check Location Services is on (both the master switch and "Let desktop
apps access your location").

Nothing detected after plugging in a dock
- Give it a few seconds — DeskSync waits for the dock's USB devices to finish
enumerating, then re-checks automatically.

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Privacy note

DeskSync reports only what's needed to confirm office presence — the observed
Wi-Fi name/access point, basic network details (gateway, DNS), and, for
docking-station offices, the connected dock's model ID (VID/PID, no serial
numbers). It does not track location beyond confirming the configured office,
and diagnostic data is cleared when a user signs out.

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Need help configuring DeskSync for your offices? Contact the Ronspot support
team.