8 questions occupancy sensors help you answer

6 min read
Real-time occupancy sensors are quickly becoming the standard for office measurements. As opposed to third-party advisory services that rely on human observers, sensors objectively capture the utilization of rooms, desks, and other workspaces from day to day and month to month. This means they can answer a wide range of burning questions with a fine level of detail.

What workplace occupancy monitoring sensors reveal 

Occupancy sensors designed for the workplace are a privacy-friendly alternative to measuring key office metrics. They can be installed underneath desks, in meeting rooms, or in any other workspace. Quite simply, they monitor whether the workspace is being used, or if it is free. And with a real-time sensor—which not every occupancy sensor is—this happens within seconds of the change in occupancy state. This high level of granularity makes several workplace questions easy to answer.

1. Is the room in use currently?

When you arrive to the office just in time for your next meeting, you need quick answers. Real-time occupancy monitoring software allows you to quickly see which rooms are free at the very moment you need availability at the office, even remotely, ensuring meetings start on time without wasted space. 

2. Is the desk in use currently?

Nobody wants to wander around a large workplace searching for an empty desk. Real-time desk occupancy prevents employees from wandering in search of free desks, letting everyone find a spot immediately. 

3. How occupied is your office on average?

With real-time occupancy monitoring software, you get accurate insights into your office’s usage over days, weeks, or months. You might be surprised—your office may be busier or emptier than expected, guiding smarter decisions on space planning. 

4. Which exact seats and meeting rooms are used the most?

By tracking your most-used workspaces, you can spot patterns and encourage a more balanced distribution. Understanding why certain areas are popular lets you adjust layouts and optimize your office to better match employee behavior. 

5. What facility areas and floors are used the most?

Occupancy monitoring sensors reveal high- and low-traffic areas, helping you optimize the design and layout of your workplace, determine whether the workplace square footage is truly the right size for your company, and providing more of the types of areas and spaces that are actually used.

6. Where and when does your company prefer to work?

With trends on used desks and meeting rooms, you’ll see how your workforce prefers to work. This means you can optimize the space for their patterns—creating areas where people want to work and avoiding unused spaces.

7. When do people show up? When is the office emptier during the day?

In a flexible office, people may arrive and leave at different times. While there are many advantages to this approach, it can put pressure on facilities during peak times of the day. With real-time occupancy data, you can identify peak and off-peak times and handle them appropriately.

8. How does occupancy change from week to week, month to month?

Seasonal fluctuations are easy to spot with long-term data from occupancy sensors. In many cases, offices are underutilized certain times of the year. Rightsizing might only require temporary solutions to ensure a better use of your spaces.

Turn your answers into a better workplace

When your office occupancy data is presented in a way that is easy to interpret, it can supercharge workplace decision-makers and let them create a more optimal workplace. Real-time occupancy monitoring software like Nimway from Sony gives companies true real-time sensors to capture their data, along with an intuitive web interface to understand the answers – and act on the insights.
 

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