---
title: "Let event staff work a desk from their phone with a desk link | Ticket Fairy Guides"
description: "Share a desk link so volunteers, caterers and gate staff without a dashboard login can hand out passes, give crew meals, check passes at a staff gate or run registration at your event from their own phone or tablet. Each link opens one desk of one event, everything done through it is recorded under its name, and you can stop it at any time."
canonical: "https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/let-event-staff-work-a-desk-from-their-phone"
---

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3. Let event staff work a desk from their phone with a desk link

Accreditation

# Let event staff work a desk from their phone with a desk link

Your volunteers and contractors at the accreditation, hand-out and meal desks will never have a dashboard login. With a desk link on their phone, they work one desk at your event, the desk keeps going if the connection drops, and the link stops working the moment you stop it.

Takes:  5 minutes

- [Open Desks](#step-1)
- [Start a new link](#step-2)
- [Choose the desk](#step-3)
- [Name the link](#step-4)
- [Choose where it works](#step-5)
- [Let a supervisor go past a refusal](#step-6)
- [Choose when it stops](#step-7)
- [Make the link](#step-8)
- [Open it on the desk's phone](#step-9)
- [The desk on their phone](#step-10)
- [A desk with no connection](#step-11)
- [Check the link is in use](#step-12)

## Before you start

- You are an owner, admin or producer on the event. Only those roles can open the event's **Operations** page.
- The desk has what it works from: issued passes for a hand-out desk, meal desk or staff gate, and ticket holders for a registration desk or kiosk.
- To scan passes or tickets, the phone or tablet has a USB or Bluetooth scanner connected. Without one, staff enter the code by hand, or at the hand-out, meal and registration desks the person's name.

1. ## Open Desks

   Open the event, select **Operations**, then select **Desks** in the list of sections.

   **Note:** Desks opens on **Desks and links**, with every desk of the event and the links already made. If Desks is not in the list, select **More sections** and open it there.

   ![The Desks section with every desk of a festival and its desk links, each with where it works, when it was last used and when it stops](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-desk-links--desks.png)    
   *Every desk of the event and its links.*
2. ## Start a new link

   Select **Make a desk link**, or **Share a desk link** on the desk's card.

   **Note:** Share a desk link is also beside **Open the desk** at the top of Accreditation and Meals, and it starts the link for that desk.

   ![The Make a desk link dialog for a staff gate, with the name, the zone it checks, the supervisor switch and when it stops working](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-desk-links--make-a-link.png)    
   *Make a desk link.*
3. ## Choose the desk

   Choose the desk in **Desk**.

   - **Hand-out desk**: Accreditation staff find people's passes and hand them over.
   - **Meal service point**: Caterers scan a pass and give a meal against the person's allowance for the day.
   - **Staff gate**: Gate staff scan passes in and out, checked against the zone, the day and the pass's hours.
   - **Registration desk**: Volunteers check ticket holders in and print their badges.
   - **Self-service kiosk**: Ticket holders check themselves in on a tablet and print their own badge once.
   - **Kitchen count**: The kitchen sees the day's meal counts and food needs, without names.
   - **Lead scanner**: Booth staff scan visitors' tickets or badges to capture leads for one exhibitor.
4. ## Name the link

   Enter who uses it or where in **Name**, such as Backstage gate phone.

   **Note:** Everything done through the link is recorded under this name, so every hand-over, meal and scan says where it happened.
5. ## Choose where it works

   If the link is for a staff gate, choose the zone in **Gate for**.

   **Note:** The site entrance checks only the day and hours, and a zone also checks that the pass opens it. A meal service point asks for **Where it is** instead, such as the crew catering tent.
6. ## Let a supervisor go past a refusal

   Optional: Turn on the switch under the name, such as **Can let a refused person through, with a reason (for a supervisor)**.

   **Note:** Leave it off for most staff, and we record each reason they enter with the scan, meal or hand-over. A kiosk, a kitchen count and a lead scanner link never have it.
7. ## Choose when it stops

   Optional: Choose a date and time in **Works until**.

   **Note:** If you leave it empty, the link stops working the day after the event ends. A link can work for up to 120 days.
8. ## Make the link

   Select **Make link**.
9. ## Open it on the desk's phone

   Scan the QR code with the phone or tablet at the desk, or select **Copy link** and send it to them.

   **Warning:** You only see the address once. If you lose it, select **Get a new link** in the list, and the old address stops working.

   ![Dialog with a new desk link for the crew catering tent, its QR code, the button that copies it and when it stops working](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-desk-links--link-address.png)    
   *The link, shown once.*

## The desk on their phone

Staff open the link without signing in. The page shows your event, the desk, its name and when the link stops, and it only does that desk's work. For example, a meal service point link can't hand out passes or open your dashboard.

![Meal desk for the crew catering tent opened from its desk link, ready to scan a pass](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-desk-links--desk-on-a-phone.png)

*A meal service point opened from its link.*

## A desk with no connection

The hand-out desk and meal desks keep working with no connection. Staff scan and act as usual, we keep each action on the device, and the bar shows how many are waiting until the connection is back and everything is sent. An action the server refuses, such as a meal for someone with none left, stays on the list with the reason until they dismiss it. A staff gate checks every pass with the server, so with no connection it asks staff to check passes by eye.

![Meal desk with no connection, three meals waiting to send and one meal the server did not record](https://www.ticketfairy.com/embeds/posters/marketing-event-desk-links--working-offline.png)

*A meal desk with no connection.*

10. ## Check the link is in use

    Look at the link in Desks and links.

    **Note:** It shows **Working** and how many times it was used, with the time of the last action.

## Or have it done for you

Fai, your AI teammate, can check sales, update your event or change a ticket when you ask.

Fai lists your event's desk links, and makes, changes or stops one after you confirm. Fai never gives out a link's address: to see it, open Desks and links and select **Get a new link**.

### In your dashboard, with Fai

```
Make a staff gate desk link called Backstage gate phone for the backstage zone at <EVENT NAME>
```

## Change a link

1. ### Change it

   Select **Change** beside the link, change the name, zone, switch or end date, then select **Save**.

   **Note:** The phone at the desk keeps the same address. You can't change the desk itself, so make a new link for another desk.

Fai changes a link's name, zone, supervisor switch or end date after you confirm.

### In your dashboard, with Fai

```
Let the Main desk tablet link at <EVENT NAME> work until Monday night
```

## Get a new address for a link

1. ### Get a new link

   Select **Get a new link** beside the link.

   **Note:** The old address stops working straight away, and you see the new one once, with its QR code.

Fai replaces a link's address after you confirm, so the old address stops working, for example when it was shared by mistake. Fai never gives out the new address: select **Get a new link** in Desks and links when you need to see one.

### In your dashboard, with Fai

```
The Main desk tablet link at <EVENT NAME> was shared by mistake, replace it so the old one stops working
```

## Stop a link

1. ### Stop it

   Select **Stop link** beside the link, then select **Stop link** again.

   **Note:** Anyone using it sees straight away that it no longer works. You can't turn a stopped link back on, so make a new one if you need the desk again.

Fai stops a desk link after you confirm, for example when a phone goes missing.

### In your dashboard, with Fai

```
Stop the Crew catering tent desk link at <EVENT NAME>, the phone went missing
```

## Questions you might have

**What can someone with a desk link see?**

 Only what that desk needs: the passes or ticket holders they scan or search for, with the names and photos the desk shows. They can't open your dashboard, other desks or the event's settings.

**What if a phone with a desk link is lost?**

 Select **Stop link** beside its link, then make a new link for the replacement phone. Everything done before you stopped it stays recorded under the link's name.

**How many desk links can one event have?**

 Up to 200, stopped ones included. The list shows the 200 newest.

**Can I bring back a link that has ended?**

 Yes. Select **Change**, choose a later date in **Works until**, then select **Save**. You can't bring back a stopped link.

**Can two phones use the same link?**

 Yes. Everything either phone does is recorded under the one link's name, so give each desk phone its own link when you want to tell them apart.

**What happens to meals given with no connection?**

 Each meal counts on the day it was given, as long as it is sent within 12 hours. Keep the page open until the bar says everything is sent.

**What other links can I make like this?**

 A **Session door** link scans tickets into one conference session, from its door in the Sessions view. A **Backstage screen** and a **Calendar link** are made from **Backstage screens** in Now and next.

## Still have a question?

Book a demo and we will answer it on a call, on your kind of event. Or create your account and see it for yourself.

   [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo) [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome)

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## Related guides

- [More ways to use Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/features)
- [Hand out accreditation passes at your event desk](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/hand-out-accreditation-passes-at-your-desk)
- [Give crew meals at your event meal desk](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/give-crew-meals-at-your-meal-desk)
- [Check accreditation passes in and out at your event staff gates](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/check-passes-in-and-out-at-your-staff-gates)
- [Scan delegates into event sessions at the door and see who came](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/scan-ticket-holders-into-sessions-and-see-who-came)
- [Show now and next on screens backstage and at the side of the stage](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/show-now-and-next-on-backstage-screens)
- [Issue accreditation passes for your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/issue-accreditation-passes-for-your-event)
- [Every Ticket Fairy guide](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides)

## Do this on your own event

Create your account, build your event and follow the steps in your own dashboard. You do not need to book a sales call.

  [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome) [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo)

## Sell tickets with Ticket Fairy

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- Fai, your AI teammate, is built in

 [Create a free account](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome)

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## See it on a call

Book a demo and we will show you how Ticket Fairy handles your kind of event.

 [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo) [More ways to use Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/features)

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