If you manage a building, there are many reasons why you might want to know the number of people that are in it. This could be to ensure in the event of a fire or other evacuation event that everyone has in fact left the building. Understanding the busiest times of day might be of use to plan extra security cover if required.
The Covid pandemic that started in 2020 and continues to impact on our daily lives raises some interesting and new questions for building managers. Understanding and analysing building occupancy levels has come to the forefront, and occupancy monitoring systems that provide this data are extremely useful. Staff returning to work are understandably worried about overcrowding and giving them the confidence to enter a building that is not overcrowded will improve their confidence coming into the office.
The technology that gives this information has improved significantly in recent years – with accuracy levels in the region of 99%. These systems require devices to be strategically placed at points at all entry and exit locations. These devices provide the raw data that we can then tailor to your requirements.
We can provide real-time information screens in reception areas that give levels of occupancy. Red and green ‘lights’ can be added to allow staff or visitors to know if it is OK to enter.
These screens can be situated in any location and monitor local areas if required. Small toilets for example could have a maximum occupancy level of 2 and a screen outside the door could limit the occupancy levels and ask people to wait safely outside until someone leaves.
Conversely, large sites with many egress points are also able to be monitored. The system can centrally monitor the people entering from any point and leave at any other point and working out the total number of people in the building. People can then be easily informed to wait in a safe space until enough people have left.
These systems are designed to count people and use a form of high definition CCTV camera in an arrangement that allows the onboard intelligence to understand the scene and classify objects almost instantly. These systems can distinguish between animals and humans and will ignore dogs for example. These cameras are not required to be recorded to carry out their people counting function and as such would not gather any personal data.
Systems can be developed to your needs. The AI that provides the people counting data can also, with additional cameras and devices provide even more real-time analysis of areas. Heat mapping of areas can help improve the development of your space – if potential customers linger in one area for longer than others the reason for this can be explored and a more focused promotion can be installed. The ability to see what promotions are holding people’s attention could be a real game-changer for your location. Being able to see in real-time what is working and what isn’t allows you to quickly make changes to promotions. If something is not drawing people’s attention, then it can be changed to something that might. This information can be fed back to manufactures and marketing companies to help them improve what they provide you. Or it might be in-house promotions that you can quickly modify to improve interest in. In these tough times improving your marketability and exposure could make all the difference and help grow your business.
Real-time queue management can provide insight into shopping habits and staffing levels can be refined to reduce the wait time for customers which would improve their experience. The data can be used in a real-time alert manor – for example ringing a bell to alert other staff that a queue has reached an unacceptable length and taking action by opening another till. The data can also be used over days, weeks and months to produce patterns of use and help plan staffing levels based on actual events.
Fall detection is another area where AI can help monitor the workplace and provide a real world benefit. Your stock room is a place where staff may not work all the time and lone workers might be vulnerable. If a member of staff has an accident in a stock room and is incapacitated on the floor it could be hours before anyone is aware that there is a problem. Smart CCTV can be installed to monitor these types of area and sound an audible alarm if someone falls over. The rest of the team will be made aware and someone can check on the member of staff extremely quickly – it could be the difference between life and death.
These systems can be also used to monitor vulnerable residents in care homes – providing staff with an early warning if a resident falls over. With proper deployment these AI cameras can provide valuable support to care workers.
The artificial intelligence integrated into the systems we provide can provide enhanced levels of security and functionality from the system we install.
We can also add useful options such as facial recognition and temperature monitoring. As people enter the building thermal cameras can accurately read the temperature of each person. It can flag if an individual has an elevated temperature and can indicate that the person should go to a safe space for further tests. This can help reduce the potential spread of a virus in the workplace.
Facial recognition terminals can remove the need to push buttons to enter or exit an area while maintaining security levels. It can also be used to improve the accessibility for people that mobility issues.
At ACCL we pride ourselves in taking the time to understand your situation and work with you to provide a solution to your problem. We work closely with tech companies that provide these solutions – we give them feedback and what customers are looking for in a product – helping them develop systems that provide a solution that is more focused on real-world problems that you might be facing.
Making your investment in CCTV smarter is what we do at ACCL.
Related topics: Hands-free access control Project management
