Occupancy Monitoring
Overview
Occupancy monitoring tracks the occupany of different locations and supports automated decision-making to best utilize space. They are most commonly used in shared working spaces such as hot desks and meetings rooms but are also used for other defined spaces such as store aisles and restrooms. Passive proximity sensors detect the presence of people in the defined area and send information to the system. The sensors typically use infrared or beacon technologies. Imaging systems can also be used to gain more sophisticated data about the type of occupant, such as gender or age. This information can also be made available to management to help them better plan their capacity or to inform others of space availability.
Business Viewpoint
Using occupancy tracking allows organizations to find opportunities to improve the workplace and make data-driven decisions. A comprehensive space management strategy enables assessing the current needs of the workplace, forecasting future needs and exposing effects on profitability.
When an organization has insight into occupancy data, it can see which spaces are in high demand and which are rarely used. Knowing the location of underutilized space allows determining if the area should be utilized differently or if a new workspace design would make it more attractive to employees. At the same time, occupancy tracking prevents decreasing available workspace too much and potentially compromising employee productivity and comfort.
