What should you use to count people entering and leaving a building?

Density Entry measures entrances and exits used to calculate occupancy across a defined building or floor. These counts let a workplace team examine how busy a building becomes, when occupancy peaks and how use changes over time.

Start with the boundary you want to measure. A building, a floor and a room have different entrances. Your counting plan should account for every route across the chosen boundary.

Entrances, exits and occupancy answer different questions

An entrance is a crossing into the measured space. An exit is a crossing out. Occupancy is a running count of people present, calculated from a starting count plus entrances minus exits. Density explains this relationship in its Entry occupancy documentation.

In this hypothetical example, a floor starts with 12 people. During the next hour, 70 people enter and 45 leave:

12 + 70 − 45 = 37 people remaining.

The 70 entrances describe incoming traffic. The resulting 37 describes occupancy at the end of that interval. Neither number alone tells you the busiest moment within the hour. Preserve the timing of observations when evaluating peak demand.

Use entrance totals to examine arrival patterns; use occupancy over time to examine concurrent demand for space.

How do people-counting sensors compare with badge data and Wi-Fi analytics?

Density Entry supplies directional counts across a covered boundary. Badge and network records can add context, but first establish what each record measures.

A badge record describes a credential event at a reader. If your system records entrances without corresponding departures, an access total cannot supply the running occupancy calculation by itself. Density's badge-data guide explains why access records and space-use decisions need different evidence. Review the actual access configuration, visitor treatment and coverage before comparing its totals with counts.

Wi-Fi analytics starts from observations of devices. Cisco Meraki's Location Analytics documentation defines its visitors as wireless devices and describes version-specific handling of randomized identifiers. Ask how the proposed system turns device observations into a people estimate; that rule is part of the comparison.

Extend the hypothetical example above. A report of 70 incoming credential events still needs a starting count and departures before it can support an occupancy estimate. A network report of 40 devices does not automatically establish 40 people in the space. These are illustrative reporting units, not results from a matched product test.

Reconcile the records against the same boundary and time window. Use Entry's directional counts for the people-counting question, access events for credential-use questions and network observations for the device-related questions they support. Preserve each definition beside the chart.

Prepare the doorway plan before installation

Density's Entry installation guide calls for sensor coverage above every entryway to the measured space and specifies indoor use. Build the deployment around that coverage requirement:

• Define the space. Mark the building, floor or other boundary on a floor plan.
• Map every crossing. Include staff entrances and connecting routes, not just the main lobby.
• Document each threshold. Record doorway width, mounting conditions and objects that could obstruct the sensing area.
• Review the placement. Use the applicable installation guidance and have Density confirm the arrangement for your entryways.

Density's pre-installation assessment provides the next level of planning detail. A complete doorway plan makes the resulting space count easier to interpret.

Agree on reset and drift handling

Entry-based occupancy accumulates crossings. A difference between recorded entrances and exits can carry into the running count; Density calls that offset drift.

The March 2026 support guidance describes an overnight reset selected during implementation. Choose a reset window when the measured space is empty, accounting for cleaners and night staff. For historical reporting, Density’s drift-correction guidance describes correction at query time, applied after the daily reset. Use the live running total for current occupancy and the appropriate historical result for a retrospective planning review.

Connect the count to workplace analytics

Give each count a clear space, timestamp and health context. Density's API reference documents occupancy updates through a WebSocket endpoint. Its health guidance distinguishes a valid space reading from unavailable data; an offline reading should not become an empty-building assumption.

For a planning review, keep the space boundary, reporting hours and comparison period consistent. Compare busy periods as well as averages. Then connect the observed pattern to a decision, such as whether the building can accommodate another team's attendance.

Bring Density the boundary you want to understand and the decision you need to make. Book a demo or email sales@density.io to plan your Entry deployment.

Browse occupancy guides and sensor comparisons · Read the plain-text version