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Set up a desk tablet

Turn a tablet into the library's desk, once, so volunteers only ever need their PIN.

Who can do this: coordinators and admins, on the tablet itself.

Volunteers do not share a login. A coordinator turns on desk mode on the tablet (this is called enrolling it), and from then on each volunteer taps their name and types their own PIN. Any tablet, laptop or phone with a web browser will do; a landscape tablet is what the desk is designed for. A USB or Bluetooth barcode scanner that types into the screen works too, and the camera can scan when there is no scanner.

Before you start​

  • Each volunteer needs a desk PIN. Set them in Settings > Team and devices (see Team and devices).
  • Know which site the tablet will live at. A desk tablet belongs to one site.

Steps​

  1. On the tablet, open your library's site and Sign in with your coordinator or admin account.
  2. Go to your library's desk: add /desk to your library's address (for example hollowbrook.gizzago.com/desk). Bookmark it, or add it to the tablet's home screen.
  3. The desk says this device is not set up yet. Press Enrol this device.
  4. Choose the Site the tablet belongs to and give it a Name for this device, such as "Hall tablet 1".
  5. Press the button to turn on desk mode for that site.
What you'll see

The tablet shows Who's on the desk? with your volunteers' names. From now on, volunteers tap their name and type their PIN. You can sign out of your own account on the tablet; desk mode stays on.

How long it lasts​

Desk mode lasts 90 days on that tablet, then a coordinator enrols it again. If a tablet is lost or stolen, turn it off straight away in Settings > Team and devices > Desk tablets; the next time anyone uses it, it asks to be enrolled again.

If you do not have a spare tablet​

A coordinator can run the desk as themselves without enrolling: open the session from Today or the session button in the top bar. The desk then shows Exit in the header, and it does not lock after two minutes in the same way.