NHS boosts workspace efficiencies through UMA and Pressac smart partnership

Background

UMA’s intelligent workplace software allows its clients to monitor workplace resource utilisation and capture actionable insight to create an efficient and healthy workplace, with the potential to reduce operational costs and carbon footprint.

UMA’s unique approach to workspace optimisation combines years of experience in workplace technology; an open software platform delivering business intelligence pulled from data points; and a human-centered application design. This enables buildings to digitally transform and adapt to the changing needs of the workplace.

The challenge

With the NHS struggling under the pressures of a growing demand for its services, NHS Mid Yorkshire Trust wanted to explore how it could help make its workspaces more efficient and use workplace occupancy data to assist with real estate optimisation.

What IoT offers – the ability to obtain true data, increase efficiency and reduce the amount of time spent – is exactly what the NHS needs.

UMA needed to combine real-time desk occupancy data with the UMA software platform to show utilisation patterns and historical datasets.

But the sensitivity of the data on NHS network demanded an architecture that kept IoT sensors off their corporate network.

UMA required an IoT sensor partner that could offer flexible, secure and scalable sensor technology.

The solution

Pressac ticked all the boxes in the hardware partner wish list: manufacturing in the UK, high-quality products, competitive prices, and high interoperability.

The Pressac solution combined with UMA provided the ability to connect occupancy sensors via sonic frequency to gateways that used cellular connectivity to connect to the UMA platform in the Cloud. This provided the flexibility and security that the NHS demanded and significantly increased the speed of the deployment of the solution.

“Retrofitting these sensors to existing assets takes seconds, so set-up for full buildings and hospitals can occur very quickly and without the need to sit on existing corporate networks.” Gavin Fletcher, CMO at UMA.

“Pressac’s wireless smart sensors match the simplicity of the UMA system, resulting in powerful data and alerts that are up and running in minutes.” Steve Milner, CEO at UMA

The results

The combination of Pressac’s smart sensors with UMA’s leading-edge software has allowed the NHS Trust to easily monitor workplace utilisation and create a more efficient working environment.

With a clear and continuous picture of where, how and when a space is being used, NHS Mid Yorkshire Trust can move away from responsive and reactive management into a future of informed decision making guided by the data.

In addition, the NHS trust is now looking to pilot indoor environment monitoring by integrating Pressac’s CO₂ sensors into UMA’s NetZero solution, to improve wellness, productivity and infection transmission.

For the NHS, smart technology could present big benefits for workspaces by enabling hospitals to track and monitor occupancy, air quality and explore how connecting workplace technology can reduce their environmental impact in line with their goal to become the first carbon net-zero healthcare provider.

Based on positive feedback from initial deployments, Pressac and UMA are actively looking at expanding the occupancy monitoring system to new sites and use cases.

Want to learn more?

Read more about Uma’s innovative solutions, visit askuma.ai

Find out more about Pressac’s wireless occupancy monitoring sensors