Difficulty: expert
Content
Learning Objectives
After reading this article, you’ll be able to:
Understand the difference between Occupancy and Utilization concepts used in Workplace
Select which sensor solution is most adapted to your use case
What is the difference between the concepts Occupancy and Utilization?
Both concepts are based on occupancy sensor data.
occupancy (eg 50% occupied in 8h time) vs utilization (2 out of 4 chairs)
For example a room can be occupied 50% of a day (4 out of 8h) but when only 2 chairs are used out of 4,
it is utilized 50% against 50% occupation.
The real performance is then only 25% (half a day used for half the capacity).
As another example, we can take a meeting that went on for 8 hours, where 2 people were in a meeting room with capacity 10:
Occupancy = 100%
Utilization = 20%
Check Room capacity for more information on how to configure Room Capacity.
Direct Utilization & Occupancy
“Direct utilization” because the sensor will send information on “the number of people counted in a certain area” to the Workplace platform.
Sensor method | Installation method | other hardware needed | max installation height | Functioning method | max Detection area | Icon decay | Config | info available | advised for utilization? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pointgrab | wired | none | 2.15m (7ft) to 4.5m (14.8ft) | https://confluence.mcs.be/display/SUM/Headcount+%28Pointgrab%29+Sensor+way+of+measuring | 8m x 6m (26 x 20 ft) | 2min | CPMS + Studio | Live Floorplan+Dashboards | yes for utilization in meeting rooms or in open spaces |
Vergesense wired | wired | device manager | 3,66m (12 ft) | Every 1min, a snapshot is taken + data is updated every 1 min; intervall is so low that person in the room will be captured | 1 per room or ~ 6 desks (smaller detection area than Pointgrab) | 2min | Vergesense + Studio | Live Floorplan+Dashboards | yes for utilization in meeting rooms or in open spaces |
Vergesense wireless | wireless | gateway+wireless repeater | 3,66m (12 ft) | Every 15min, a snapshot is taken (no average of 15min!) and data is send to Cobundu Cloud every 15min. | 1 per room or ~ 6 desks (smaller detection area than Pointgrab) | 15min | Vergesense + Studio | Live Floorplan+Dashboards | yes for utilization in meeting rooms or in open spaces |
Indirect Utilization & Occupancy
“Indirect utilization” because the sensor will send information on occupancy to the Workplace platform, who will then calculate “the number of people counted in a certain area”.
Sensor method | Installation method | other hardware needed | max installation height | Functioning method | max Detection area | Icon decay | Config | info available | advised for utilization? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PIR (Tabs)* | wireless (tape) | hub+sensors per seat/chair | 2.15m (7ft) to 4m (13.12ft) | https://confluence.mcs.be/display/SUM/Tabs+%28Tracknet%29+PIR+Sensor+way+of+measuring | 4m x 10m (13,12 x 32,81 ft) | 15min | Studio | Live Floorplan+Dashboards | - possible for utilization in open spaces |
Footfall (Pointgrab) | wired | none | 2.15m (7ft) to 4.5m (14.8ft) | in/out-traffic | 8m x 1m (26 x 3 ft) | 2min | CPMS + Studio | Live Floorplan | other options are more reliable (footfall method very sensitive) |
Actuator LOGIClink (LOGICdata) | wired | drive/motor | NA | https://confluence.mcs.be/display/SUM/LOGIClink+%28LOGICDATA%29+installation+guide | NA | 15min | config tool | Live Floorplan+Dashboards | - possible for utilization in open spaces |
Airthings | wireless | hub | NA | estimate based on size of the room + CO2 => combination of parameters | 50m2 (538,2 sq ft) | 15min | Airthings + Studio | not yet integrated | other options are more reliable |
Utilization & Occupancy on Live Floorplan
Occupancy on live floorplan shows: location occupied or not (independent of how many people are in that location)
Utilization on live floorplan shows: how many people are detected in that location
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