Business: The New "Normals"

​As lockdowns are set and lifted, and customers come and go, Potestiam remains constant and is able to cater to an industry’s individual crowd management needs to help maximize cost savings, profits, and compliance, whether we are in a pandemic or not.

The New, Next Normal

Regulations of PA

As of April 1st, 2021, Pennsylvania’s new mitigation measures allowed all businesses to reopen at 75% occupancy, with the exception of restaurants, indoor recreation facilities, and entertainment venues, among others, at 50% occupancy at most, and 75% with self-certification. The COVID-19 Guidance and Resources page has more details on the specific guidelines to follow, but it doesn’t all have to be a headache - let Potestiam lighten the workload for you.

Safe practices to maintain

• Regular COVID testing - also be aware and proactive of any symptoms, with daily wellness checks
• Training and education for employees on practices to stay safe and keep others safe
• Developing a staggered entry and exit schedule, as well as allowing buffers between shifts to limit physical interactions among workers
• Ongoing and visual reminders - put signs up and send regular updates
• Workspace redesign - whether it is desks or aisles or waiting lines, allowing enough room for 6-feet-apart social distancing at all times is crucial. Visual markers on floors for customers to know where to stand in line encourages these practices.
• Circulation of outdoor air - as the winter weather creeps along and wraps up, it’ll become easier to encourage proper ventilation of air
• Enhanced hygiene protocols, including sanitizing surfaces often and regularly, with having cleaning products and hand sanitizer widely accessible. Provide touch-free solutions, especially in common places like entrance/exits. 
• Communicate with your workers and customers often about reopening and other changes
• Enforcing proper face masks and implementing measures for touching and handling items, as well as providing cashless methods of payment.

What safe reopening looks like with Potestiam

Following CDC guidelines are good practices to maintain now as well as for any time. There is no one-size-fits-all rule, but Potestiam can offer what works effectively and for what you need most. In this way, your employees can feel safe while doing their job, and your customers can safely and freely visit your business. So what does reopening look like with Potestiam’s NEMO™ platform?

It’s fast, it’s affordable, and best of all, it’s easy.

NEMO ™  has autonomous analysis, relaying the information vital to crowd management in 4 ways: SMS notifications, display monitors, website integration, and mobile app integration. 

“No need to install expensive IP cameras. NEMO ™ works with the technology you have, analyzes live video feeds in the cloud and sends real-time information to help your guests and staff find their way quickly and safely.” - Nick Yarnall, CEO of Potestiam.

What can you expect with Potestiam?

After experiencing a pandemic, both businesses and consumers have understood the need to have crowd management - organizing and planning to give proper direction to large groups of people to ensure safety, efficiency, and control. This is essential to society and public health even once the Covid-19 pandemic has passed, as we will still experience cold and flu season. 

Potestiam helps businesses to more thoroughly follow all laws and regulations to be able to adapt and respond to the ever-changing needs of the crowd. It also allows consumers to have a more enjoyable experience to avoid dealing with potentially dangerous or uncomfortable situations. Having a company that is able to have proper crowd management allows the existence of a society where both businesses and consumers have an efficient interaction and service that provides safety, comfort, and satisfaction.

While no one knows what to expect in the future, we can prepare for it now by being fully equipped.

What would it look like in my industry (pandemic or not)?

There are a large range of businesses that benefit from proper crowd management, such as restaurants, stores, concert and sporting venues, amusement parks, airports, and parking lots, to name a few. But here are some real life scenarios where NEMO™ fits in:

• Concerts and Sporting Venues
  • Detecting PPE and body temperature, along with occupancy tracking and wait time information are a given - this allows less workers to be at risk and ensures updated information to keep the crowd accountable.
  • In stadiums with vendors, crowds can be dispersed and congestion decreased by signaling which vendors are open - shorter lines allow more customers during breaks.
  • In case of emergency, NEMO™ can be used to aid in proper crowd evacuation. Tracking information of locations of crowds, using congestion analysis and thermal tracing gives insight on where exit doors should be located, and what kind of plan to follow.
• Grocery Stores 
  • Let's take Trader Joe's as an example. They use a manual crowd management method of having a worker stand in the front of a store to allow a certain number of customers in at a time. The average pay is $14/hour - and with a normal work week, it costs them $4.7k a month to pay someone to headcount, while it only costs $150 to use NEMO™
• Races
  • The Boston Marathon, for example, employs 10,000 volunteers for each race. With NEMO™, this large number can be avoided, as the software recognizes running areas that are getting congested, and can keep track of those watching. In the case of injury or accident, these incidents can be identified without the need for employees to keep watch.

Post-Pandemic Solutions

Occupancy tracking and PPE detection are only the basic features of NEMO™ - your business can stay safe and efficient even after the pandemic. Don’t forget about:

• Congestion analysis - Wait times are automatically calculated, allowing shorter wait times to be displayed and giving your staff the opportunity to aid unique queues.
• Thermal tracing - Using a grid analysis, “hot spots” are located within your area to optimize stock accordingly.
• Reactive mapping - Your floor plan is used and populated digitally with vital crowd information to ensure that people are able to go through your business efficiently by displaying customer traffic, wait times, and more.
• Safety alerts - Before a liability becomes a lawsuit, the optimal floor conditions are compared with the current activity to know if something is out of place or if it poses a safety hazard.

Your options, your choice

Whether it’s the Basic, Pro, or Super package, only pay for what you need. Reopening your business doesn’t have to be expensive, extra, or difficult to manage. Check out Potestiam to learn more!

By Sharon Jo

by potestiam