For companies and corporations, space optimization has gained importance as it can help reduce waste and inefficiencies. Especially amid new working patterns and behavior, for example hybrid/flexible working and hot desking, how space can be properly used becomes even more critical. In this regard, security systems can also play a key role.
In a corporate setting, space optimization results in cost reductions and improved employee experience. Today, instead of getting separate space optimization solutions, users can leverage their existing security systems, for example video security and access control, for better space management.
“Corporate real estate is one of the largest fixed costs a company carries, and having a clear understanding of how spaces are used day to day helps organizations get greater value from that investment. Instead of relying on employee surveys or periodic walkthroughs, the same security infrastructure organizations already rely on – cameras, access control, and sensors – provides them with a more complete, real-time view of how their spaces are being used,” said Oscar Popravka, AI, APIs, and Integrations Lead at Verkada.
Hybrid/flexible working
An emerging trend in today’s corporate environment is the adoption of a hybrid working model where employees work from home or go to the office on different days. A
Gallup poll finds that among remote-capable employees in the U.S., 52 percent work hybrid, while 26 percent work exclusively remote. This has made corporate space utilization less predictable.
Amid this trend, HR or facilities managers can still turn to their security systems, which look at access and occupancy trends over time and can help guide users on how space can be properly used.
“Hybrid and flexible working have broken most of the old assumptions about office occupancy. A building can sit quiet for much of the week, then hit hard peaks on particular days or around a single big meeting. Rules written for how buildings were previously used can’t keep up with that. Self-learning systems can, because they continuously relearn what normal looks like as the patterns shift,” said Callum Wilson, Co-Founder and CEO of Eluviant. “The data tells you when buildings are actually busiest, which entrances and shared areas carry the most activity, and which floors sit consistently underused.”
“Hybrid working models have made occupancy and access data even more important for operations and facilities teams, giving them an honest, ongoing read on how their spaces are actually being used versus how policy assumes they’re being used,” Popravka said. “That data is what allows a company to make evidence-based calls on things like which days require more desks, whether a satellite office is underutilized, or if certain perks are driving attendance.”
Hot desking
Increasingly, companies and corporations adopt a system where workers use any open desk on a first-come basis when they come to the office. This system, known as hot desking, also makes space usage harder to predict and optimize. Luckily, security systems can play a role here, too.
“Flexible seating requires organizations to understand how employees actually use the workplace throughout the day. Security systems can help organizations understand occupancy levels, traffic patterns, peak usage times, and how different areas of a building are being used,” said Greg Colaluca, CEO of Intellicene. “When combined with other operational data, that information helps organizations determine whether they have the right mix of workstations, collaboration areas, meeting rooms, and shared spaces.”
“In a flexible-seating environment, badge activity, visitor records, and occupancy data show when people arrive, which floors or zones they gravitate to, and how that shifts across the week. Set that alongside desk and room bookings and the patterns surface quickly – space that's booked but never used, the same rooms hitting capacity, whole areas that stay quiet,” said Kumar Sokka, CEO of Acre Security.
Latest innovations
As security gets smarter, the way security is used to optimize corporate space is also evolving. Below we take a look at some of the newest ways and innovations in which security is used to drive corporate space optimization.
Systems unification
A major trend is bringing different security technologies to one platform, which offers a single, unified view on security as well as office space usage.
“A lot of the latest innovation happening in this space is a result of bringing together data that has traditionally lived in separate systems. As organizations bring the tools their facilities teams already use together through APIs and other integrations, it is easier to put those insights to work without replacing existing systems,” Popravka said.
AI
According to Colaluca, AI is also helping organizations identify occupancy trends, recognize unusual activity, and surface meaningful information much faster than manual review alone.
“That gives facilities and security teams better insight into how buildings are being used and helps them make more informed decisions about both security and space utilization,” he said. “For example, a corporate campus may use occupancy and access data to determine whether one building is consistently underused while another is at capacity. That information can help guide decisions around workspace planning, staffing, and future facility investments.”
Natural language
Finally, natural language input, which is trending highly in video security, is catching up in corporate space optimization as well.
“Instead of pulling fixed reports from dashboards, security and facilities teams are starting to ask their estate direct questions (which entrances were busiest last month, how occupancy shifted after a layout change) and get structured answers drawn from the footage. To be honest about where AI is today: reporting and workflow are where it delivers real value, well ahead of the fully autonomous systems some vendors promise,” Wilson said.
“Looking ahead, natural language interfaces will make it even easier to act on occupancy data. For example, instead of building a custom report to pair room booking data and badge data, someone could simply ask which meeting rooms went unused last week and get an answer immediately, turning space utilization data into something teams across an organization can use to make faster, more informed decisions,” Popravka said.