The NC State University Wellness and Recreation team became aware of Occuspace’s occupancy monitoring technology after hearing positive feedback from students who saw it in the university’s libraries.
The Wellness and Recreation team realized the occupancy technology would allow students to have real-time data on the business of the recently renovated fitness facility at any time. Previous attempts to relay occupancy on the Wellness and Recreation Center website did not work, and they relied on anecdotal data and manual headcounts to understand facility usage.
The NC State Wellness and Recreation team installed the company’s privacy-friendly sensors throughout all four floors of the 82,000 square foot facility, a centerpiece of the campus.
The envisioned using occupancy data to enhance the student experience by sharing real-time crowd levels with visitors through the NC State Wellness and Recreation website, app, and on digital screens throughout the gym.
They plan to use the historical foot traffic data to monitor crowd flows in various workout spaces,including cardio and popular strength training areas, to ensure efficient equipment allocation.
The foot traffic data will also be used to schedule and train staff for gym supervision and cleaning.
“What I appreciate most about the Occuspace product is you set it, you configure it, and it just works. It is a tool in our toolkit that allows us to make it easier for students to see when the gym is busy or not and feel comfortable coming in.”
Eric Hawkes
Exec. Dir. Wellness and Recreation
Occuspace delivered actionable insights for NC State in two critical ways. First, it gave them actual data to understand that their strength equipment is in higher demand than cardio. This insight prompted a strategic shift in their equipment replacement plan.
Additionally, Occuspace empowered them to optimize resource allocation by identifying areas where staffing could be reduced during slower times, freeing up resources for other recreation center needs.
Given their positive experience, the Wellness and Recreation team has helped refer Occuspace to other academic recreation center leaders, as well as sharing their experience in multiple Campus Rec magazine articles here and here.
Contact Us to learn more about how Occuspace is helping university leaders optimize their physical spaces to better serve student and administrator needs.
