Skip to main content

deskbird Dock: Overview & Setup

Early Beta

deskbird Dock is a lightweight desktop app that automatically sets a user's status to "Office" and checks them into their existing bookings as soon as they connect to a recognized office network. When a user is also plugged into a recognized office monitor while on that network, Dock detects the exact desk and creates a desk booking if none exists for that day. No manual check-ins or booking creation required — the app runs silently in the background. This article covers what Dock is, what it costs, what you need in place before rolling it out, how users install it, and where to go next for each configuration step.

  1. What is deskbird Dock?
  2. Plans and licensing
  3. Prerequisites
  4. Install on macOS
  5. Install on Windows
  6. Set up deskbird Dock
  7. Reference and troubleshooting

1. What is deskbird Dock?

deskbird Dock is a lightweight desktop app for macOS and Windows that runs silently in the background. Manual sign-in is only needed for individual installs — when IT deploys Dock through an MDM solution with pre-configured authentication, the app activates without any user action. In both cases, Dock works in the background afterwards with no further input needed.

Once a user connects to a recognized office network, Dock automatically:

  • Checks the user into their existing desk and parking bookings for that day
  • Sets the user's status for that day to "Office" — or to "other office" when the detected office is not their primary office

Once a user plugs into a recognized monitor while connected to a recognized office network, Dock additionally:

  • Creates a new desk booking if none exists for that day
  • Swaps the existing booking to the desk where the monitor is mapped, when the user moves to a different desk

⚠️ Important: monitor detection and booking automations rely on active network detection. If a device is connected to a monitor but not to a recognized office network, monitor data is not transmitted, and no automatic check-in or booking occurs.

💡 Note: booking automations require the User authenticated privacy mode. In the Anonymous privacy mode — including Intune Company mode — Dock still detects office presence, but it cannot check users in or create bookings, because no user identity reaches deskbird. See Privacy modes and data handling.

For the full detection and automation logic, see How deskbird Dock detects presence and runs booking automations.

2. Plans and licensing

deskbird Dock is licensed through the Workplace Intelligence plan, billed per active device. This plan unlocks the Workplace Intelligence entitlement, which powers Dock's presence detection and occupancy analytics.

Admins can review their plan under Admin > Subscription, where deskbird Dock appears as Dock. Trials are available — contact your deskbird account manager to set one up.

💡 Note: license-based access is being rolled out gradually. Existing beta access is not affected during this transition.

3. Prerequisites

Before deploying deskbird Dock, make sure the following are in place:

  • Account: employees must have a deskbird account and sign in with one of the methods your company has enabled under Admin > General settings > Authentication (Google Workspace, Microsoft Workspace or SAML 2.0)
  • Check-in: enable check-in under Admin > Booking settings. With check-in disabled, Dock still sets the office status but checks nobody in
  • System: macOS or Windows. Some of the behaviour described in these articles requires deskbird Dock 0.7.0 or later
  • Network: the office network must be configured under Admin > Workplace Intelligence > Presence detection. See Setting up office detection and network configuration
  • Floor plan: the floor, area and desk must be active in the floor plan, and the desk must be bookable by the user
  • Monitors: a monitor can only be mapped to a desk if it reports both a serial number and a product code in its EDID data. Monitors that report blank or all-zero values for either are never sent to deskbird and appear as "Unknown display" in the Dock window, so they cannot be mapped. See Setting up desk detection and monitor mapping
  • Installer: download deskbird Dock from https://dock.deskbird.com/ (available for macOS and Windows)

4. Install on macOS

Users install deskbird Dock on macOS as follows:

  1. Download and install: download the macOS installer from https://dock.deskbird.com/. Users open it and follow the installation steps.
  2. Grant permissions: when prompted, users should allow location access. If no popup appears, they can go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services and enable deskbird Dock. macOS requires this permission before any app can read the Wi-Fi network name, so without it every office rule built on a Wi-Fi network name (SSID) or access point (BSSID) silently fails to match.
  3. Sign in: after an interactive installation the app opens automatically. Users sign in through their browser with one of the methods enabled for their company.
  4. Access the dashboard: the deskbird Dock icon appears in the top-right menu bar. Users click it and select "Open Dashboard" to view the detected office and connected devices.

💡 Tip: if the tray icon is not visible, users should free up space in the menu bar via System Settings > Control Center.

There is no separate consent or first-run step. The sign-in screen explains what Dock collects: "We detect your connected networks and monitors to confirm your office presence."

5. Install on Windows

Users install deskbird Dock on Windows as follows:

  1. Download and install: download the Windows installer from https://dock.deskbird.com/ and run it. If a "Windows protected your PC" warning appears, they click "More info", then "Run anyway".
  2. Grant permissions (Windows 11, version 24H2 and later): open Settings > Privacy & security > Location, turn on location services, and turn on "Let desktop apps access your location".
  3. Sign in: after an interactive installation the app opens automatically. Users sign in through their browser with one of the methods enabled for their company.
  4. Access the dashboard: the deskbird Dock icon appears in the bottom-right system tray (click the ^ arrow if hidden). Users click it and select "Open Dashboard".

⚠️ Important: without the location permission, Dock cannot read the Wi-Fi network name (SSID) or the access point (BSSID), so office detection rules that use them never match and the office looks empty. Dock shows a warning on its Overview page when the permission is missing.

💡 Note: when Dock is deployed silently via MDM, users do not see the deskbird Dock icon in the system tray until their next interactive sign-in — locking and unlocking the screen is not enough. They do not need to launch it, as Dock keeps running in the background, but it remains available in the Start menu and through app search.

💡 Tip: for large rollouts, enterprise IT teams can deploy deskbird Dock silently at scale via Microsoft Intune, with authentication pre-configured so users never see a sign-in screen. See Deploying deskbird Dock via Microsoft Intune.

There is no separate consent or first-run step. The sign-in screen explains what Dock collects: "We detect your connected networks and monitors to confirm your office presence."

6. Set up deskbird Dock

Installing the app is only half the job. Work through these articles in order to give Dock something to recognize — without office detection in particular, Dock is installed but detects nothing.

  1. Setting up office detection and network configuration — link your office networks so Dock knows which office a device is in. Required for everything else.
  2. Setting up desk detection and monitor mapping — map monitors to desks so Dock can check users in at the exact desk and create bookings.
  3. Privacy modes and data handling — decide how much personal data Dock collects, and which automations and analytics that unlocks.
  4. Deploying deskbird Dock via Microsoft Intune — optional. For large Windows rollouts, deploy Dock centrally so users never see a sign-in screen.

7. Reference and troubleshooting

Need more help? Contact us here.

Return to top