The demand is structural rather than a fashion. Open-plan floors were designed on the assumption that meetings happen in meeting rooms and desks are for quiet work. Video reversed it: the desk became the noisiest thing on the floor, and a four-person meeting room gets taken by one person on a call because it is the only door that closes.
The practical fix is more small enclosed spaces and a booking system that covers them, so a booth is findable rather than a matter of walking the floor. Booth demand is also a useful diagnostic: if booths are saturated and large rooms are half empty, the room mix is wrong, not the room count. See meeting room utilisation.
Booths can be set up as bookable resources in HybridHero alongside rooms and desks, with the same booking windows and auto-release rules. See meeting room management.
Common questions
How many phone booths does an office need?+
Far more than pre-2020 layouts assumed. Rather than a ratio, watch the booking data: booths saturated while large rooms sit half empty is the signal to convert space, not add it.
Should phone booths be bookable or first-come?+
Short bookings work better than open access once demand is high, because unbooked booths get held by whoever is nearest. Keep the maximum booking short so they turn over.
Why are meeting rooms used for one-person calls?+
Because there is nowhere else with a door. It is usually a sign the estate is short of small enclosed space rather than short of rooms.