Rooms and zones both report occupancy, but they count people in different ways. A room counts what its own sensors see. A zone counts the people inside the area you drew, whichever sensor saw them.
Rooms and zones are separate. Neither contains the other, and each has its own count. To see how they fit with sites, buildings and floors, see Data Model Hierarchy.
At a glance
| Topic | Room | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A space on the floor plan, usually a real room such as an office, meeting room or bedroom. | An area you draw to watch part of a floor in more detail, such as a desk group, seating area or entrance. |
| Sensors | Each sensor belongs to one room: the room it's placed in on the floor plan. | You don't assign sensors. When you save, Butlr links every sensor whose field of view overlaps the zone. |
| What counts | Everything the room's sensors detect. Room walls don't crop a sensor's view. | Only people detected inside the zone's boundary, by any sensor on the floor. |
| Traffic Mode | Supported | Not supported. Zones use Presence Mode data only. |
| Overlap | Avoid it. A sensor can only belong to one room. | Allowed. A person inside two zones counts in both. |
| No sensors | Shows “Not monitored”. | Shows “Not monitored” when no sensor's view overlaps it. |
What is a Room?
A room is a space on the floor plan, usually a real, enclosed room such as an office, meeting room or bedroom. It's the main place sensors are assigned and occupancy is counted.
Key behaviours
- Each sensor belongs to one room. That's the room the sensor is placed in on the floor plan. Studio works this out when you save.
- Room walls don't crop a sensor's view. Everything the sensor detects counts toward its room, even beyond the room's walls.
- A sensor only counts toward its own room. If its view reaches into a neighbouring room, it adds nothing there.
- If sensors in two rooms see the same person, Butlr counts that person once, in one of the rooms.
- A room with any Presence Mode sensor uses presence counts, and its Traffic Mode sensors don't add to them. A room with only Traffic Mode sensors uses their in and out counts.
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A sensor placed outside every room counts toward its floor and zones only.
What is a Zone?
A zone is an area you draw to watch part of a floor in more detail, such as a group of desks, a seating area or an entrance.
Key behaviours
- A zone counts people by where they are. Anyone detected inside its boundary counts, whichever sensor on the floor saw them.
- Zone boundaries crop sensor coverage. People detected outside the zone don't count toward it.
- Zones can overlap. A person inside two zones counts in both.
- Only Presence Mode data counts toward zones. Traffic Mode data is ignored.
- You don't assign sensors to a zone. When you save, Butlr links every sensor whose field of view overlaps it.
- If no sensor's view overlaps the zone, it shows “Not monitored”, unless it recorded occupancy in the last 7 days.
- A zone can only be archived once no sensor's view overlaps it. See Changing a deployed floor: archive, move or delete.
- A zone set to Exclude from occupancy metrics reports no data, and people inside it are also left out of room and floor counts.
Use zones when you want
- Detail within part of a sensor's view, such as a single desk or seating area.
- Overlapping areas to group or compare, such as department clusters or meeting areas.
How Zones Are Organized in the Sidebar
Rooms and zones are independent for occupancy and traffic data, but the dashboard's sidebar still has to list each zone somewhere.
- A zone is listed under a room, or directly under its floor. It goes under the room that contains the zone's centre point. If its centre isn't in any room, it goes under the floor.
- This is decided automatically when you save a change to the zone's shape or to a room's shape on that floor. You don't set it directly.
- It only organises the sidebar. It doesn't change any counts.
Why this matters: because placement is automatic, a zone that spans several rooms can end up under just one of them. It can also move after you resize a nearby room, even if the zone itself didn't change.
To keep a zone directly under its floor, turn on Show at floor level in the zone's settings. See How to Pin a Zone to Floor Level in the Sidebar.
Common Misconceptions
- “Zones must belong to a room.” No. You never assign a zone to a room, and zone counts are worked out separately. Butlr only links a zone to a room to organise the sidebar.
- “Room walls crop the sensor's view.” False. Everything the sensor detects counts toward its room.
- “A sensor counts toward every room it can see.” False. It only counts toward the room it belongs to.
- “Traffic Mode works with zones.” False. Zones ignore Traffic Mode data.
- “Zone data rolls up into room data.” False. Zone counts are never added into room counts.
- “I need to assign sensors to a zone.” No. Butlr links them from their field of view when you save.
Installer Tips
- Place each Traffic Mode sensor inside the room it should count. A sensor outside every room only counts toward its floor and zones.
- Keep Presence Mode sensors out of rooms that need in and out counts. A room with any Presence Mode sensor uses presence counts instead.
- Don't let rooms overlap. A sensor in the overlap can only belong to one of them.
- Label zones clearly to reflect how they're used, for example Desk_12_East or FocusArea_B.
- Turn on Show at floor level for a zone that spans several rooms, so it isn't listed under just one of them.
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