What are people counters and why are they important?
Learn about how people counting analytics are applied in retail stores, large corporations, and more.
Knowing how many people are in a certain space might seem like an easy task. In reality, getting up-to-date and accurate information can be challenging. This is especially true when trying to balance ensuring the safety of staff and visitors, and optimizing operations.
Having insights about the number of people or the estimated size of crowds can help you understand the flow of people within a building and across your entire organization.
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What are people counters?
People counters are electronic devices that count the number of individuals passing through a defined space. The technology used varies from simple solutions with light beams, to more complex dedicated sensors that employ stereo cameras or time-of-flight sensors. And then there are video analytics solutions that can perform this task using regular video surveillance cameras.
Why count people?
There are many reasons to count people, such as security considerations, to optimize operations, find efficiencies for profitability, and more that can be addressed with a broad range of different applications. And the insights gathered are valuable for addressing potential risks that can be avoided by setting up occupancy thresholds and having a reliable system in place to keep track of your data.
People counting for retail
In retail for example, one of the biggest challenges is measuring how many customers enter a store throughout the day. When an advertising campaign’s primary goal is to announce the opening of a new store, foot traffic becomes the key performance indicator to track the success of the campaign.
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How people counters help make business decisions
People counters can help to evaluate and compare the number of people visiting stores before and after any campaign execution. And while initial sales may not be very high, its marketing effectiveness is considered high.
When a decline in the number of sales is measured over time, simple tracking of the number of people who enter and buy something versus the number of people who don’t buy anything, can help to identify the source of the problem—also known as the conversion rate.
People counting for transportation
The transportation industry can also benefit from people counting technology. Here are some examples:
- Tracking the number of passengers throughout the day for operational scaling
- Measuring key indicators such as cost per passenger
- Obtaining information to support decisions related to the programming and forecasting services
Understanding the flow of passengers at service counters and the current number of occupants is important data for transportation industries.
Occupancy levels can be monitored with the intention of keeping track of rush hours so more staff can be dedicated during these periods to increase efficiency and avoid delays in services. It’s also helpful to know which entrances and exits have more traffic and at what times of the day.
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People counting in corporate buildings
A similar problem is that of corporations or government offices on university campuses with locations across sites. How is the space being utilized? How many working spaces are free in an open-plan office? How is the cafeteria being used? Is the boardroom for 20 people on the fifth floor used?
These seem like simple questions but space optimization is important for all industries, and understanding the flow of people provides invaluable data for decision making.
Gain insights about the flow of people with video analytics
Video analytics solutions give you the option to connect and combine information to increase security levels and optimize operations for your business. KiwiVision™ People Counter within Genetec Omnicast™ provides occupancy levels as well as information on the number of people entering and leaving your facilities. You can observe the flow and development of crowds in real-time and quickly take action with the crowd estimation Security Center scenario.
Security Center 5.11 and up come with People Counter and crowd estimation modules within the base package. That means you can take advantage of operational efficiencies and anticipate the availability of resources for your organization. Visualize entry and exit counts, track occupancy levels, and create daily activity reports by creating widgets in your Security Desk dashboards.
