Realising the short- and long-term benefits of real time occupancy level management

Retailers and other outlets handling customers and visitors need to monitor the occupancy level to ensure the threshold of people allowed in is not exceeded.

In our May newsletter we covered how several social distancing solutions have been developed using our real time people counter, the Akribos VC-1020E, and more details on these solutions can be found on our integration pages.

Counting people and sending the count data in real time to the management software enables an immediate update on the occupancy level. When relying on technology and automated processes, it is important to understand how the system works and if more complex scenarios need to be taken into consideration to guarantee the right level of accuracy.

For instance, does the counting system ignore trolleys? Would it be affected by light and shadows? Would a person already in a shop walking near the entrance be counted twice? OPTEX’s people counter provides a multi-directional counting algorithm which analyses the scene and tracks the movement, delivering a very accurate count data. The video below explains how it works.

Many businesses have suffered financially during the last few months and some may be reluctant to invest in new technology. However, an investment in a people counting solution now to enforce social distancing will also have benefits beyond the pandemic.

People counting in a retail environment gives insights on the peak times and visitors trends. When combined with Point of Sales data it allows business owners to calculate the conversion rate. This helps them to analyse the impact of sales/promotional activities and plan their staff efficiently.

In an office environment, people counting and occupancy level management helps businesses to plan their working space efficiently – number of hot desks needed, occupancy of shared spaces like meeting rooms etc. When connected to the building management system, it helps decrease the carbon footprint. The air conditioning, heating and appliances can be adjusted to the number of people present in the building.

The current circumstances are forcing businesses to rethink the way they operate and look at increasing efficiency and productivity in a difficult and still relatively unpredictable environment. An intelligent and highly accurate people counting and occupancy monitoring solution could help in this endeavour.