Follow these steps to be up and running with Dash in no time. This guide will help you complete your initial set-up, and walk you through the key features and options you need to get the most out of Dash.
1. Connect your calendars to Dash
If you are using Microsoft Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace then you can complete all the necessary steps from within Dash. Please see our guides on Microsoft 365 Setup and Google Setup for instructions on how to set up your Microsoft 365/Google Workspace account correctly and connect it to Dash.
If you are using a different system to manage your meeting room calendars (for example a local Exchange server or CalDav) then you can connect your device to the service and Dash will read your meeting information from your device's calendar. Please see the section on Using Dash with your device's calendar in our Device Setup guide for information on how to do this.
2. Choose how meetings are displayed
Dash features a number of ways to customize the way your meeting information is displayed which can all be found in the Calendar and display section of Dash's settings.
- Rename calendars - Your meeting rooms might not always be named the way you want in your calendars. If you find this is the case, Dash allows you to rename them. Select Rename calendars, tap on the calendar you wish to rename, and enter your desired name.
- Customize the meeting schedule display - By default, Dash displays your meetings in a calendar display of the current day so that you can clearly see when the meeting room is free. Dash also supports displaying upcoming meetings in a list which can be more efficient if your meeting rooms are often fully booked. Select Display meetings as, and choose a list of either today's meetings or include up to two days of future meetings.
- Display only meetings accepted by the calendar - If your meeting room calendar automatically declines new meetings that clash with existing ones (which is the case for both Microsoft 365 room mailboxes and Google Workspace resources) then turn on this option to hide declined meetings.
- Time format and Language - These options control whether times are displayed in a 12 or 24 hour format, and which of the 23 supported languages is used in the main sections of the app. Dash will choose the best defaults based on your Device's location settings, but you can override this and choose your own time format and language.
3. Security
The Security section of Dash's settings gives you a number of controls which allow you to secure Dash's settings from unauthorized access and to control what meeting information is displayed on Dash's main display.
- Require passcode to access settings - If you wish to protect Dash's settings from unauthorized access, you can set a 4 digit passcode which must be entered before Dash's settings will open. Turn on the option and enter your desired passcode twice to activate it.
- Meeting Information - If you have sensitive information in the titles of your meetings, you can use the Label meetings with setting to control what is displayed. Choose from displaying the meeting's title, the meeting's organizer, or simply show that the room is booked without revealing the title or organizer. When turned off, the Display meeting details setting will prevent the meeting's description and list of participants from being shown when a meeting is tapped on the main screen.
4. Optional Features
Dash offers a number of powerful features to help you manage your meeting rooms, available in the Optional features section. The ideal combination of settings will differ from organization to organization so we recommend that you trial different settings before settling on the combination that works best for you.
- Ending and extending meetings - If a meeting is running longer than expected, Dash can allow users to extend it if the room is available. Conversely, if a meeting ends earlier than expected the booking can be ended early to free the room for other meetings.
- Check-in - One of the largest causes of meeting room inefficiency is abandoned bookings - meetings which are booked in the room but then not attended. Dash can help to prevent these with the Check-in feature. When turned on, a Check-in button will be displayed on the main screen for each meeting. If this button is not pressed 10 minutes after the meeting was scheduled to start then the meeting will be cancelled and the room will be available for other bookings.
- Room booking - Dash can also allow users to book the room directly from the screen. When the Allow booking option is turned on, users will be able to book the room if it is available. Bookings will start from the time the Book now button is pressed, and users have a choice of booking the room for 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, or 2 hours. If the Users can set a message when booking feature is turned on, then users will be given the option to set a meeting title and message before completing their booking.
- Find free rooms - If the room is currently booked, the Find free rooms feature allows users to find other free rooms in the building. When turned on, the Find free rooms option adds a button to the main screen that lists all rooms currently free. Select the rooms you want to include using the Rooms to check option and they will be displayed in the list. The list is ordered by the amount of free time, so the room with the most free time is displayed first.
5. Customize Branding
Dash allows you to choose your own background image. Dash supports any size of background image - the image chosen will be scaled so that it covers your devices display. For best results, you should create an image that exactly matches the size of your device's display in pixels. To find the ideal background image size for your device, open the Appearance and branding section of Dash's settings. The ideal size will be shown just underneath the option for setting the background image.
Dash also allows you to display a custom logo. The chosen logo will appear at the top of the main screen. The ideal image size for a custom logo is 500 x 100 pixels, however you can use an image with a different size and it will be scaled to fit. If you would like to have your logo appear in a different part of the main display you can add it to your background image instead of loading it separately.
Dash also allows you to customize the colors of visual elements such as buttons, text, and dialog backgrounds. For a full list of the customization options please see the Appearance and branding section of our full guide.
Congratulations! You have finished setting up Dash. You can learn more about the available settings in our Full guide, and if you have any questions or comments feel free to Contact us - we're here to help!