Using Advanced Technology Solutions for Occupancy Control

Are you a user of Google Photos? Or the Photos App on your iPhone or other Apple device? Did you know you could search for pictures of your dog in your photo library? Or that you can search for people? Chances are you already do this regularly or know about it. Today's consumer security cameras also have varying levels of facial and pet recognition.

That capability has taken many years of software development to perfect and make available in a way that works consistently. It is a combination of powerful hardware, sophisticated software algorithms, and cloud computing. All the sharing that we do of photos and videos has accelerated the development of these technologies, as analyzing petabytes of data helps perfect the software algorithms.

That same advanced technology may hold the key to helping combat the spread of COVID-19. One of the challenges in maintaining social distancing is keeping tabs on the number of people in a given location. It can and has been done manually, but for large venues and facilities with multiple entrances, it becomes a daunting challenge. Fortunately, some forthcoming occupancy control system solutions may help respond to the problem.

Read on to learn how video analytics technology for occupancy control can help curb the spread in Houston and major locations throughout Texas.

SEE MORE: Why Trust ASAP Security for Your Temperature Screening Solution?

Using Video Analytics

The same type of technology that can detect faces, dogs, cats, and cars can be employed to build occupancy control solutions. Avigilon, part of Motorola Solutions, is extending its intelligent video products to do just that. There are two ways to do video analytics; one is to do the processing on the camera itself, and the other is to send the data to the cloud for processing in a data center. For speed, local processing is best, and that's what Avigilon does with its cameras.

Occupancy Counting

The solution is essentially a software upgrade to an Avigilon camera system, one of the advantages of having a powerful video analytics platform. For best results, cameras should be mounted at a minimum height of 9 feet and tilted no more than 30% from horizontal for the most accurate detection.

The software does the counting based on detecting a person crossing an entry point where a camera is deployed. In real-time, a dashboard can indicate how many people are in a facility, and if any measures need to be taken to control further entry. For convenience, the dashboard is a web page viewable on any browser, which can be on a mobile phone or tablet.

Advantages of Technology vs. People

It’s costly to staff entries with people purely focused on occupancy counts. Humans can make mistakes and lose count, or might get otherwise engaged. Surveillance cameras don’t get distracted by other people, and software maintains accuracy and detailed data that can help analyze trends over time. Understanding hot spots and high traffic entries help an organization maintain social distancing requirements with real-time support of how many people can safely occupy the facility.

Over time, the ROI of video analytics for occupancy detection is compelling. Not only are they useful for this application, but the same cameras can also be redeployed later for other security applications if occupancy detection is no longer needed.

ASAP Security Services stands ready to be your security partner, with solutions to get through this pandemic as well as for the health, safety and security needs of your organization. To learn more, set up a consultation with our team by calling (877) 418-ASAP, filling out our contact form, or start a live chat with us below. We look forward to working with you!