Pandemic Prevention: Access Control and Flow Control

New rules for partial lockdown

The good news for wholesalers and retailers: almost all stores are allowed to stay open this time. The current nationwide regulation for Germany stipulates that one customer per 10 square meters may be in the store. Even if this regulation only applies to stores, it is also a good guideline for canteens, conference areas, etc. within the framework of social distancing rules.

Many stores solve the problem of limiting visitor numbers organizationally - e.g. by using staff at the entrance. Apart from the fact that this approach is naturally prone to errors, the question of costs can now be answered relatively clearly after the second phase (and possibly not the last): the technical solution is to be preferred.

Technical solution for restricting access

The technical implementation is not complex - the following is required:

Sensor technology that can measure flows of people and count how many people have entered or left a store. This also works if there are several entrances/exits.

A visualization that tells visitors whether they can enter or have to wait.

Evaluation options for the operator to monitor the current status and to be informed if the permitted number of people is exceeded, e.g. by a push message on the smartphone.

The permanent monitoring of the current status also enables operators to seamlessly document the number of people in the store, as the data is permanently available and stored with a time stamp. Naturally anonymized and without personal data.

The solution described has further advantages:

The companies are prepared for potential further coronavirus measures.

The technical solution allows staff to be deployed more efficiently in other relevant areas.

Visitor flows can also be controlled and restricted after Corona.

Particularly exciting (also after Corona): You get reliable data on the distribution and number of visitors to the store over months, days of the week and times.

Future-proof technology for after the pandemic

Based on statistical evaluations and correlation with other data (weather data, etc.), this last point also enables better personnel planning, for example, or correlation with economic data (e.g. sales figures). A possible evaluation from use in one of our offices shows the current number of people in the room, the number of people entering and leaving the room and the progression of these visitor flows over time: