Getting Started
A quick run-through of how to get started with Occuspace
Occuspace provides space behavior insights to our customers from raw data gathered by our proprietary hardware sensors that are installed in the spaces being measured. Getting these sensors properly configured and installed is a very simple and quick process which is briefly summarized in the three steps below.
Step 1 - Configuration (Understanding & Defining Your Space)
The first step is for Occuspace to understand the various spaces that you wish to measure with our platform. This can be done during an introductory call with our customer service team. Typically you send us floor plans of the relevant areas so that we can understand your goals, identify how many of our sensors are needed to adequately cover the space, and in which specific locations they should be placed.
Occuspace uses a variety of different terminology to describe the service and the setup and installation process. A helpful glossary of these terms and their descriptions is available here.
After understanding your coverage needs and reviewing the floor plans we determine the total number of sensors needed and the optimal placement locations. The main considerations are power availability and network connectivity. Our sensors can be easily plugged into wall AC power receptacles and also can be powered by Ethernet (PoE). The floor plan is typically marked up with the sensor placement information and provided back to you for review and approval.
The marked-up floor plan is meant to guide the total number of sensors needed and the optimal locations for installation, but our sensors do not need to be installed exactly as shown. Sensors have some flexibility if they need to be moved for a number of reasons that might come up during installation (e.g. non-working power receptacle). Our team works with you through this process to find replacement locations and ensure that Occuspace has adequate coverage to provide high quality data.
Once the floor plans are approved and the contract paperwork is signed we are ready to move onto the setup and installation phase. You can decide to move forward with a self-installation where we ship you the sensors and you plug them in yourself (it's easy and fast to do it yourself), or with a professional installation done by the Occuspace team.
Step 2 - Setup & Installation
During the setup and installation phase we work with you to get your sensors properly configured and installed in your space. Whether you install them yourself using our self-service Occuspace Portal, or you chose to have us do a professional installation, the general steps are the same:
Network Connectivity Setup - Our sensors need to transmit data regularly to our cloud infrastructure and need to be connected to the Internet. We support connectivity via WiFi and Ethernet. If you are using WiFi our support team will work with you to understand how best to securely connect our sensors to your network, obtain the proper credentials and configuration, etc. (we support a wide range of WiFi encryption standards to handle nearly any situation).
Sensors Provisioned & Shipped - The next step is to ship you the required number of sensors for the space you are measuring. If you are using WiFi for connectivity the sensors will come provisioned to automatically connect to your network when they are powered up with the credentials you provided during the network setup step above.
Sensor Installation - Once the sensors are received at your location the final step in this phase is to walk around your space and install the sensors in the locations defined by the marked up floor plan. Installation is as simple as plugging a sensor into a standard power wall receptacle (or power can be provided by PoE), waiting for it to power up, and then associating the sensor ID with the specific location of the floor plan. This can be done in seconds using the Occuspace Portal, or will be handled by our staff if you are doing a professional installation.
Setup is very easy and simple, and requires no custom electrical work that would involve an electrician or other general contractor.
Step 3 - Space Calibration
The final phase of the process is to tune the Occuspace software platform to your specific space and occupancy behaviors. This is done by providing a few "head counts" where the number of people in your space is counted at different occupancy levels and those counts are provided to Occuspace. This data acts as a truth set that is used to calibrate the machine learning models that provide your final space utilization data.
We typically ask for 7-10 counts be made over the week after installation of the sensors. These counts should occur at different levels of occupancy (i.e when the space is busy, when it is not busy, etc.) and typically take no more than 45 - 60 mins of time to provide. They can be easily submitted via the Customer Portal.
Once these head counts have been provided and our sensors have monitored your space for a week, Occuspace finalizes the calibration and your occupancy data is unlocked in the Customer Portal and any other delivery mechanisms that you need (API, digital signage Web pages, mobile app, etc).
Occuspace uses machine learning (ML) algorithms to generate accurate occupancy data for your spaces. We need to calibrate, or "train", our ML models with a truth set that ensures high quality data. The head counts you submit are used in our training systems.
This page is a very quick summary of the steps to get started measuring your spaces with Occuspace. The rest of the documentation on this site goes into much more detail about both the installation and regular usage of our service.
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