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Your Workplace Has a Nervous System. Are You Listening?

What if your workplace had a nervous system that could tell you exactly how spaces are being used? Jordan Williamson, HubStar's Global Director of Support, explains how occupancy sensors create vital feedback loops for workplace optimization.

6 min read 5 September 2025

HubStar

nervous-system-occupancy-sensors-

Imagine navigating your day completely numb – no sense of pain, balance of fatigue. You’d be flying blind, making poor decisions and potentially causing serious damage. 

 

That’s exactly how many organizations are managing their workplace today: reactive, disconnected, and unaware of how their spaces are being used or underused. 

 

There’s a better path forward. 

 

Your workplace is a living, breathing organism, and occupancy data is its nervous system. All you need to do is tap into the data. 

 

Your corporate real estate portfolio is a living organism

 

A healthy body responds to feedback. A healthy workplace should do the same. 

Desks, meeting rooms, quiet zones, and collaborative hubs are the organs and muscles of your organization. But without occupancy feedback, they’re just static. 

 

Ignoring those signals leads to burnout, wasted space, and poor experiences. 

Listening lets you adapt, rebalance, and heal. 

Think Desk Booking is About Booking Desks? Think Again

Desk booking has evolved from simple seat assignments to a strategic tool. Here are the reasons why.

Our office occupancy sensors act like proprioceptors, the subtle sensory systems in your body that let you know where your limbs are in space. They help you detect: 

 

  • Overused zones (like congested breakout spaces) 
  • Dormant areas (like ghost-town desk banks) 
  • Imbalances between your space design and actual behavior 

 

The Healing Network Behind the Signals 

Just like the body has redundant systems to keep you functioning, HubStar’s occupancy sensors runs on Wirepas, a decentralized, self-healing mesh built for resilience. 

 

Each sensor is in constant communication with its neighbors. If one node fails, another steps in. If signal strength drops, the network reroutes data.

 

We call this a healing network, and it’s built to thrive in the chaos of real-world workplaces. 

 

And it doesn’t stop there. Depending on the space, environment, or security constraints, we can deploy sensors over Wi-Fi or cellular SIMs. That means we’re not locked into rigid infrastructure. The system adapts to its environment, just like the human body shifts between rest and activity, aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. 

 

Untitled-design-9

Zones = Internal Systems 

Just like your body has specialized organs like the heart, liver and lungs, your workplace has distinct zones that serve different functions.

But you wouldn’t treat your liver like your lungs, and you shouldn’t treat your breakout rooms like your boardrooms. 

 

We define zones to help your workplace understand itself more deeply. That way, you can track: 

  • Which departments need more space 
  • Which spaces are thriving versus underutilized 
  • How teams flow between focus and collaboration across the day 

 

Overlay booking data, badge scans, and Wi-Fi usage, and suddenly, you’re not just tracking space. You’re reading the pulse of your organization. 

 

It’s the difference between being numb and being self-aware. 

 

Listen, adapt, perform 

You don’t wait until you’re injured to drink water, stretch, or sleep. You act based on how your body feels and performs. 

 

Workplace leaders need to treat their real estate the same way. 

Expansion, downsizing, reconfiguration, all these are high-impact decisions. Why guess when you could diagnose? 

 

With the right sensor network, healing mesh, and integrated data, you’re not just reacting. You’re building resilience into the very structure of your organization. 

Essential Workplace Metrics: A Practical Toolkit

How do you tap into your workplace data and make the right decisions for your workplace? Download this tool kit for a deep dive.

Know Your Workplace Like You Know Your Body 

Occupancy sensors are more than numbers on a dashboard. They’re part of a living feedback loop, helping you design, optimize, and evolve spaces that support how people actually work. 

 

Your building has a heartbeat. It has patterns. It has tension and flow. 

 

Wouldn’t you want to know what it’s trying to tell you? 

Ready to give your workplace the sensory system it needs?

HubStar helps you start listening with occupancy sensors and H2O, our workplace management platform that adapts with your workplace.

HubStar

6 min read 5 September 2025

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occupancy sensors workplace analytics

"HubStar enabled us to save millions in operating costs while not only avoiding disruption, but improving employee experience."

Fortune 500

Global Real Estate Lead @ Fortune 500 Company

"We will not make any meaningful real estate and workplace decisions without HubStar data."

Fortune 500

Global Real Estate Lead @ Fortune 500 Company

"HubStar allows us to see how space is being used and occupied, and helps us predict the space we’ll need going forward."

donna-porter

Donna Porter

Senior Space Manager @ Sheffield Hallam University

"Team were very happy! Implementation was great. We were up and running in days."

gavel_88dp_FFFFFF

Law Practice

"Perfect fit. The application works very well, and the support given has been exceptional. This was originally required for desk booking, but the business quickly took to the system and have been requesting further functionality since."

oil_barrel_300dp_FFFFFF

Application Analyst @ Oil & Energy Company

"Brilliant solution for managing office space. We've been able to be proactive and intentional about making our office space work."

5-3

Commercial Director @ Technology & Services Company

"Would 100% recommended. Our account manager is by far the best and most approachable person I've met on any contract I've worked on. Nothings is too much. They always have the answer and help make the changes we need and want. Having this type of customer service really makes a difference."

groups_300dp_FFFFFF

Facilities Manager @ Civic & Social Organization

"Support response and attention to detail is exceptional. Highly recommend as very good value for the investment. Staff find it easy to use and integration to Microsoft Outlook is great. Support is excellent."

volunteer_activism_300dp_FFFFFF

ICT Manager @ Nonprofit Organization

"What we've found most useful is the ability to customise the system to suit our needs. The rules and policy engine have allowed us to build in desk and room booking processes to communicate well with our team, and manage the space in our building."

5-3

Commercial Director @ Technology & Services Company

"The standout features are it’s clean and simple interface, ability to integrate with Outlook and the simple way it can be deployed to the display screens outside our rooms, not to mention the high level of support that’s provided with the product."

AEU

Evan Henderson

IT Officer @ AEU Victoria

"User-friendly interface, real-time reservations, and effective resource management improve productivity and space use. I use it everyday."

engineering_300dp_FFFFFF

Civil Engineering Company

"Very adaptable, highly featured and easy to use. I like the ability to address our very detailed requirements in a quick implementation with a modern, attractive user interface."

diamond_300dp_FFFFFF

Luxury Goods & Jewellery Company

"My favourite feature is the Outlook integration, as it enables our staff to book meetings in a familiar way. The bookings are automatically transferred without any extra steps for the end user."

AEU

Evan Henderson

IT Officer @ AEU Victoria

"The system was so intuitive, we really didn’t need to give people a lot of training."

Russell-Group

Jeremy Wilson

Operations Manager @ Russell Group University

"The reporting has been brilliant."

Russell-Group

Jeremy Wilson

Operations Manager @ Russell Group University

"Employees need to be able to collaborate closely, working in one room. The office environment needs to align with this seamlessly. What that means for us is that we need to measure usage and occupancy rates and adjust the workspaces accordingly as needed."

Mark-van-Rijt

Mark van Rijt

Managing Director of Facility Management @ ABN AMRO Bank

"HubStar has removed so much admin from my daily to-do list. These days I only spend about an hour a week, covering six offices and 800 staff members. Before I was spending an hour a day messaging people back and forth! This means the system has cut the time I have to spend on managing bookings by 80%."

tristan-drinkwater

Tristan Drinkwater

Facilities & IT Services Manager @ Exertis

"There’s a tremendous range of reports that we use to measure capacity levels."

Russell-Group

Jeremy Wilson

Operations Manager @ Russell Group University

"HubStar allows us to see how space is being used and occupied, and helps us predict the space we’ll need going forward."

donna-porter

Donna Porter

Senior Space Manager @ Sheffield Hallam University

"The experience that users now have using HubStar is absolutely fantastic. The implementation went smoothly and our staff find the system really easy to use. The support I’ve had is phenomenal - incredibly knowledgeable about the product and so helpful. They’re second to none"

tristan-drinkwater

Tristan Drinkwater

Facilities & IT Services Manager @ Exertis

"With the single push of a button, my team gains insight into spaces that are consistently underutilised and how many ‘no-shows’ have taken place"

wur-350x350-1

Fred Jonker

Information Services Policy Officer @ Wageningen University & Research

"I’d absolutely recommend HubStar. If someone asked me why, I’d say it simply does everything you need it to do. The feature set is rich and covers all the requirements that most organisations are likely to have."

tristan-drinkwater

Tristan Drinkwater

Facilities & IT Services Manager @ Exertis

"HubStar enabled us to save millions in operating costs while not only avoiding disruption, but improving employee experience."

Fortune 500

Global Real Estate Lead @ Fortune 500 Company

"We will not make any meaningful real estate and workplace decisions without HubStar data."

Fortune 500

Global Real Estate Lead @ Fortune 500 Company

"HubStar allows us to see how space is being used and occupied, and helps us predict the space we’ll need going forward."

donna-porter

Donna Porter

Senior Space Manager @ Sheffield Hallam University

"Team were very happy! Implementation was great. We were up and running in days."

gavel_88dp_FFFFFF

Law Practice

"Perfect fit. The application works very well, and the support given has been exceptional. This was originally required for desk booking, but the business quickly took to the system and have been requesting further functionality since."

oil_barrel_300dp_FFFFFF

Application Analyst @ Oil & Energy Company

"Brilliant solution for managing office space. We've been able to be proactive and intentional about making our office space work."

5-3

Commercial Director @ Technology & Services Company

"Would 100% recommended. Our account manager is by far the best and most approachable person I've met on any contract I've worked on. Nothings is too much. They always have the answer and help make the changes we need and want. Having this type of customer service really makes a difference."

groups_300dp_FFFFFF

Facilities Manager @ Civic & Social Organization

"Support response and attention to detail is exceptional. Highly recommend as very good value for the investment. Staff find it easy to use and integration to Microsoft Outlook is great. Support is excellent."

volunteer_activism_300dp_FFFFFF

ICT Manager @ Nonprofit Organization

"What we've found most useful is the ability to customise the system to suit our needs. The rules and policy engine have allowed us to build in desk and room booking processes to communicate well with our team, and manage the space in our building."

5-3

Commercial Director @ Technology & Services Company

"The standout features are it’s clean and simple interface, ability to integrate with Outlook and the simple way it can be deployed to the display screens outside our rooms, not to mention the high level of support that’s provided with the product."

AEU

Evan Henderson

IT Officer @ AEU Victoria

"User-friendly interface, real-time reservations, and effective resource management improve productivity and space use. I use it everyday."

engineering_300dp_FFFFFF

Civil Engineering Company

"Very adaptable, highly featured and easy to use. I like the ability to address our very detailed requirements in a quick implementation with a modern, attractive user interface."

diamond_300dp_FFFFFF

Luxury Goods & Jewellery Company

"My favourite feature is the Outlook integration, as it enables our staff to book meetings in a familiar way. The bookings are automatically transferred without any extra steps for the end user."

AEU

Evan Henderson

IT Officer @ AEU Victoria

"The system was so intuitive, we really didn’t need to give people a lot of training."

Russell-Group

Jeremy Wilson

Operations Manager @ Russell Group University

"The reporting has been brilliant."

Russell-Group

Jeremy Wilson

Operations Manager @ Russell Group University

"Employees need to be able to collaborate closely, working in one room. The office environment needs to align with this seamlessly. What that means for us is that we need to measure usage and occupancy rates and adjust the workspaces accordingly as needed."

Mark-van-Rijt

Mark van Rijt

Managing Director of Facility Management @ ABN AMRO Bank

"HubStar has removed so much admin from my daily to-do list. These days I only spend about an hour a week, covering six offices and 800 staff members. Before I was spending an hour a day messaging people back and forth! This means the system has cut the time I have to spend on managing bookings by 80%."

tristan-drinkwater

Tristan Drinkwater

Facilities & IT Services Manager @ Exertis

"There’s a tremendous range of reports that we use to measure capacity levels."

Russell-Group

Jeremy Wilson

Operations Manager @ Russell Group University

"HubStar allows us to see how space is being used and occupied, and helps us predict the space we’ll need going forward."

donna-porter

Donna Porter

Senior Space Manager @ Sheffield Hallam University

"The experience that users now have using HubStar is absolutely fantastic. The implementation went smoothly and our staff find the system really easy to use. The support I’ve had is phenomenal - incredibly knowledgeable about the product and so helpful. They’re second to none"

tristan-drinkwater

Tristan Drinkwater

Facilities & IT Services Manager @ Exertis

"With the single push of a button, my team gains insight into spaces that are consistently underutilised and how many ‘no-shows’ have taken place"

wur-350x350-1

Fred Jonker

Information Services Policy Officer @ Wageningen University & Research

"I’d absolutely recommend HubStar. If someone asked me why, I’d say it simply does everything you need it to do. The feature set is rich and covers all the requirements that most organisations are likely to have."

tristan-drinkwater

Tristan Drinkwater

Facilities & IT Services Manager @ Exertis