Workplace Management Vendors Push for New Ways to Track Workers

Understanding building occupancy is difficult for companies and the vendors they rely on. People enter and leave buildings. They may move around within a space and not constantly remain in one place where they can be counted.

The information goes well beyond the need for insight into how much real estate space a company needs. Knowing where people are in any commercial real estate building, not just offices, opens the opportunity for more flexible and efficient energy management, improved security, and optimized space design

There are different techniques companies have used in trying to understand occupancy. They include sensors in seats, Internet of Things devices to measure proximity, and badge data. Each has its pros and cons. Sensors must be added and integrated into a building management scheme. Badge data often won’t be precise enough.

Workplace management system vendor Tango announced a new product, Tango Occupancy, with an unusual twist. In addition to typical occupancy measurement data, it also gathers information from computer networking technology, including Wi-Fi and Ethernet cabling. In theory, such an approach would allow an almost ubiquitous set of data sources.

People working with desktop or mobile devices would connect to the network with varying degrees of physical resolution. An IP address at the desktop level would mean a specific device with a known connection. Wi-Fi data wouldn’t offer the same degree of specification, but it would approximately place people by way of the wireless access points they were using. The advantage of the combination is that it likely offers as complete a mapping to the entire building as is available.

The vendor says that its new systems can provide “the preferences and behaviors of your teams or groups of individuals,” superimposing such attributes as team, seniority, commuting time, and family status to analyze space usage while complying with data privacy policies and regulations.

The occupancy aspect works with other of Tango’s software in various ways, as the company claims. That includes combining utilization data and lease terms to determine whether to renew, renegotiate, or exit a space. Combining occupancy with portfolio strategy can show “the impact of various hybrid work policies on predicted occupancy and costs.” Companies can “calibrate their flex ratio quickly and easily to accommodate increased or reduced demand for space.” And, they can measure occupancy trends and adjust energy use accordingly.