Option A: ShortChosen

Port code + office, type, number. Nothing else.

HOU1Port code (UN/LOCODE) + office number

LTDevice type

01Counts up, never reused

What it looks like for our machines

Machine	Name today	New name	Job name (Tailscale)	Name in print dialogs
Houston print laptop (new Dell 15)	CSS_Houtson_LT	HOU1-LT-01	`hou1-print`
Houston backup laptop (old Inspiron)	DESKTOP-2DT50PP	HOU1-LT-02
Houston Rollo label printer	Rollo X1038	HOU1-PR-01		HOU1 Rollo 4x6
Houston Zebra label printer	Zebra ZP450	HOU1-PR-02		HOU1 Zebra 4x6
Houston Brother laser	MFC-L2750DW	HOU1-PR-03		HOU1 Brother
Houston router (Beryl AX)	GL-MT3000	HOU1-RT-01
SF print server (revived mini PC)	PackingPC1	OAK1-PC-01	`oak1-print`
The other “packing pc1”	PackingPC1 (2nd)	OAK1-PC-02
SF office laptop	Alameda	OAK1-LT-01
SF team home laptop	(staff laptop)	OAK1-LT-02
SF Zebra 4x6	ZEBRA-4x6	OAK1-PR-01		OAK1 Zebra 4x6
SF Zebra 4x8	ZEBRA-4x8	OAK1-PR-02		OAK1 Zebra 4x8
SF Rollo	ROLLO	OAK1-PR-03		OAK1 Rollo 4x6
SF Brother laser	MFC-L2807DW	OAK1-PR-04		OAK1 Brother
NJ office laptop	DESKTOP-FNV6EKM	EWR1-LT-01

What a technician sees in the ReadySpaces router

Other tenants share the building network. Ours are highlighted.

iPhone192.168.8.20

HOU1-LT-01192.168.8.21

DESKTOP-8KQ2M1A192.168.8.22

HOU1-LT-02192.168.8.23

HP-LaserJet-M404192.168.8.24

HOU1-PR-01192.168.8.25

Galaxy-S24192.168.8.26

HOU1-PR-02192.168.8.27

LAPTOP-J3N7Q0192.168.8.28

HOU1-PR-03192.168.8.29

Ring-Doorbell192.168.8.30

MacBook-Pro192.168.8.31

Sticker on the machine

HOU1-LT-01Houston printer laptop

HOU1-PR-01HOU1 Rollo 4x6

When things change

New LA office

Gets LAX1-LT-01 and so on. Nothing existing changes.

Second SF-area office

Gets OAK2-LT-01. The Alameda office stays OAK1.

A laptop dies

HOU1-LT-01 dies. The replacement is HOU1-LT-03. The job name hou1-print moves to it in Tailscale, so every PC keeps printing. The old name stays retired.

Trade-offs

Works

Shortest: easy to say on the phone and type
Pattern alone marks it as ours: nobody else names devices XXX1-XX-01
Room to spare under the 15-character Windows limit
Plain to any technician: site, type, number

Doesn't

No country: a future office abroad could share a 3-letter port code with a US one (add the country to that office only)

Scorecard

Easy to say and type	●●●●●
Never collides	●●●●●
Stands out on a shared network	●●●●●
New offices need no renames	●●●●●
Replacing a box breaks nothing	●●●●●
Room under 15 chars	●●●●●