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Ensuring crowd safety is critical within public venues, retail shops, restaurants, and other commercial spaces. Doing so effectively helps avert suspicious and unlawful activities, and protect employers, employees, customers, and guests.
Advanced smart technologies such as Alarm.com Business Activity Analytics (BAA) deploys virtual ground zones for real-time capacity tracking and people counting. Experienced and reputable service providers such as General Security specialize in implementing the most effective systems to maximize the benefits of this essential safety component.
Here’s a helpful outline of crowd gathering risks, best practices, technologies, and more.
How Can You Ensure Crowd Safety?
Did you know? There aren’t any federal laws stipulating crowd safety standards.
However, the National Fire Protection Fire Association (NFPA) outlines building safety recommendations via its 101 Life Safety Code. Such strategies include one crowd manager for every 250 occupants, and crowd density limitations for larger spaces.
The NFPA code advises installation of clearly marked and illuminated quick exits, and evacuation route maps within common areas, stairwells, and elevators. Employees must also be familiar with emergency protocols.
In accordance with the federal “ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and Local Governments,” pre-emergency planning should be inclusive of disabled employees.
Integrating smart technologies can also help improve crowd control management and safety. Such advancements include security cameras with video analytics, motion detection, and virtual tripwires for occupancy and people-counting, heat mapping, crowd gathering, and queue monitoring. These aid with identifying and possibly apprehending suspects.
Crowd Management Technologies & Tools
Risk assessment and planning should be conducted for daily operations and special events. This includes expected occupancy, venue size, type, potential hazards, and other historical data to identify potential hazards.
Such insights are accessible through Alarm.com BAA, detailed below.
Occupancy & People Counting
Multi-directional counting technology calculates how many people cross virtual tripwires at building entrances/exits. Real-time mobile alerts warn of overcapacity thresholds surpassed.
Heat Mapping
This technology monitors and records crowd movements and patterns—translating such data into colors based upon intensities to help gauge customer behaviors, interests, and navigation. It also helps identify areas requiring additional investigation.
Queue Monitoring
This technology utilizes virtual zones to help determine wait times within hospitals and other settings.
Access Control Systems
Combining commercial access control systems with BAA helps regulate and manage entrance/exit access and authorization levels. These can also be utilized for hallways, parking areas, shop floors, and more.
Most systems include keycards, key readers, and keypads, and can be enhanced to include intercom systems and security cameras.
Crowd Management Use Cases
Learn how various industries benefit from Alarm.com BAA crowd-control technologies.
Event Venues
Occupancy and people counting technologies provide important insights about audience sizes and behaviors to event organizers and management—enhancing crowd control, improving safety, and ensuring adherence to critical fire and safety codes.
Hospitals & Medical Facilities
Real-time analytics regarding wait times at hospital emergency rooms or other walk-in clinics help ensure patient safety, triage, and compliance with regulations and other requirements.
Retail Shops & Supermarkets
Heat mapping calculates how much time customers spend at specific locations, help thwart suspicious and unlawful activities, and assist in detecting theft and identifying perpetrators.
Effective Crowd Management
Integrating smart technologies with crowd management strategies provides protection and invaluable data analytics. When considering doing so for your commercial property, it’s best to work with a reputable service provider, such as General Security.
General Security provides business analytics and security solutions for all commercial property types. Request a free quote today!
