Table of Contents
Maintaining public, office and other types of restroom facilities at your business is a task that is often taken for granted. Many businesses have no janitorial staff specifically assigned to keep the restrooms clean and instead rely on customers to notify them when the bathrooms run out of toilet paper or when there is a problem with one of the fixtures. While this may seem like an effective way to keep labor costs down, poorly maintained restrooms can be a turn off to customers.
One way to effectively monitor the status of the restrooms at your business is to install people counters that track the number of individuals who go in and out of the bathrooms throughout the day. After a certain number of people have passed through a restroom, a member of your team can head in to freshen it up, restocking supplies, cleaning fixtures and making repairs.
People counting technology also allows you to monitor the number of occupants in a public restroom at any time. Public restroom capacity limits allow for social distancing and minimize the risk of disease transmission. Installing occupancy counters in restrooms eliminates the need for your company to hire an individual to serve as a bathroom monitor.
Read the full article or jump to a specific section:
Recent studies on the relationship between public restroom cleanliness and shoppers’ responses reveal that:
With statistics like these, it’s no wonder that businesses need a cost-effective way to keep up with restroom maintenance. Hiring more cleaning staff isn’t always an affordable or effective solution when large venues can have multiple restrooms with varying levels of usage.
Plus, for smaller independent businesses, the loss of even one patron can have a negative effect on their bottom line — especially when you consider the impact even one negative review online can have on other potential customers. The solution is to have fast, accurate access to reliable people counting data, so you and your staff are automatically informed when restroom usage reaches a benchmark that indicates cleaning and maintenance are in order.
When you accurately measure bathroom facility usage, you’re better able to allocate maintenance staff to act quickly and proactively — instead of running around looking for restroom cleaning help after an incident has occurred.
Keeping track of who is coming into and going out of your establishment’s restrooms also allows you to monitor the number of people in the facility. When an occupancy counter signals that the room is full, customers can be directed to another nearby facility or asked to line up outside of the room until the occupancy sensor says that it is safe to enter.
For well over a decade, Traf-Sys Inc. has been helping retailers, malls, casinos and other businesses determine how to save on bathroom cleaning costs without sacrificing the overall quality of their restroom facilities by better tracking their restroom foot traffic.
People counters can help you offer a better bathroom experience to your customers. Here are some of the benefits of using occupancy sensors in public bathrooms:
People counting technology will generate reports of how many people have gone in and out of the restroom. After a predetermined number of people have gone into and come out of a restroom, it is time to check to see if the bathroom needs to be stocked with toilet paper, soap, and paper towels. This can be especially helpful for large venues such as amusement parks and event centers where multiple bathroom facilities are spread across a large area with limited cleaning staff on hand.
Setting benchmarks with people counting technology can also help you set up a cleaning schedule for your establishment’s restrooms. For example, after 100 people have entered and exited a specific restroom, it might be time to send in a staff member to empty the trashcans and clean the fixtures. The goal is to have someone freshen up the restroom and empty the trashcans before the room starts to look dirty or before the trashcans reach capacity. The more people using the facilities, the more likely the bathroom needs cleaning and servicing.
You are better able to manage and assign tasks to your cleaning staff when you use restroom people counters. Now, instead of having staff clean restrooms on a set schedule no matter how frequently the facility gets used, you can focus the efforts of your cleaning staff on the facilities that receive the greatest amount of foot traffic.
You are also more likely to discover acts of vandalism before customers do when you monitor the number of people who go in and out. You can then attempt to ameliorate the situation before customers see it and narrow the window of time to determine when it occurred. You can then check security footage outside of the bathroom to narrow down possible suspects. If the vandalism is done with ink or paint, it will be easier to scrub off when it is fresh rather than allowing it to dry.
Using people counting technology to set maintenance benchmarks also allows you to keep the sinks, commodes, and hand dryers working properly.
Restrooms with poorly-functioning hardware can give customers the impression that the business is doing poorly because it cannot afford to replace or repair their bathrooms. As soon as the target number is reached, you will know to do a maintenance check in the bathrooms. These routine maintenance checks help you be proactive about fixing issues, such as a clogged toilet or a sink sensor that isn’t responding.
Clogged or dysfunctional bathroom fixtures could lead to overflows, which can cause problems such as floor damage, product damage, business closure and poor customer service. Taking steps to prevent or repair issues immediately can save you a considerable amount of hassle and headache.
An occupancy counter lets you set occupancy limits for a restroom, so people inside the facility can easily maintain social distancing. You install the occupancy sensor at the entrance to each restroom, and it anonymously counts people as they go in and out. A screen installed by the entrance of the facility will tell customers who are waiting to enter how many people are in the restroom at the moment and the maximum number allowed. If the number of people in the bathroom is less than the maximum allowed, the customer will be told that it is “safe to enter.” If the number of people in the room is equal to the maximum capacity, the customer will be asked to wait until another person has left the facility.
Following your state’s rules for public restroom capacity limits helps to protect your customers, employees and others who might need to use your company’s facilities. It also sends a message to people that you take safety concerns and considerations seriously. Demonstrating that your business cares about the safety and well-being of others can help you win new customers and retain existing ones.
Clean and safe restrooms are a business must-have if you want to boost your bottom line and keep customers coming back to shop, dine or otherwise engage with your company’s services. Traf-Sys’ SafeEntry Occupancy Counting software makes it easy to monitor the number of people in a restroom at any time, so your company can promote safe social distancing. Our people counting software also allows you to track the comings and goings of individuals in and out of restrooms, so you can provide cleaning and maintenance as needed.
SafeEntry is easy to install and will work with your existing hardware, such as a tablet or smartphone. You can install the program at the entrances of restrooms as well as at the entrance and exits of your establishment, ensuring that you never exceed occupancy limits.
Traf-Sys wants to help you keep your customers safe. To learn more about our people counters and occupancy counters, download our product catalog. You can also contact us for more information or to get answers to questions you might have.
