The HALO smart sensor from IPVideo Corporation provides you with a three-in-one health, safety and vape detection device.
So, who can benefit from the HALO? The HALO can be beneficial for a range of sectors if all its features are used. For example, with its health and air quality detection features the healthcare and social care sectors could ensure their facilities are working efficiently to provide the best air quality which means vulnerable patients, as well as staff, are better protected. All of these features are also important across the education sector, for call centre and office workers, as well as hotel, leisure centre and restaurant staff, who predominantly work inside. Its other features can also help with security, as well as health and safety, across a range of sectors.
Health index means you can keep building users safe
The Health Index provides a real-time indication of the potential risk for the spread of airborne infectious disease in a building. While medical interventions and the development of vaccines can reduce risks for diseases like COVID and flu there are significant risks of transmission, especially if there is poor ventilation in a building.
To provide the information for the health index the HALO detects:
- Carbon Dioxide (CO₂): Higher levels of this gas can be an indication of an unhealthy indoor space as people naturally breathe out this gas and high concentrations will occur when areas are too crowded and there is poor ventilation. Research has found that concentrations as low as 1,000 parts per million (ppm) can affect people’s cognitive function and decision-making performance.
- Particulate Matter (1 μm, 2.5 μm, 10 μm): This is a mix of particles and droplets in the air. PM sized 10 micrometres or smaller can be considered to be a risk to health as they can be inhaled but additionally high concentrations can indicate the presence of infectious diseases as viruses are commonly transmitted attached to very fine particulates.
- Humidity (RH): if the humidity is high the air feels warmer than the official, recorded temperature and it can contribute to feelings of low energy and lethargy.
- Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC): These are gases emitted from a variety of materials that can have short- and long-term health effects and tend to be found in higher concentrations inside. Short-term exposure to low levels of VOCs can cause throat irritation, nausea, fatigue, and other minor complaints. Long-term exposure to high concentrations of VOCs has been linked to more severe respiratory irritation as well as liver and kidney damage.
- Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂): High levels of nitrogen oxide are associated with respiratory diseases and higher prevalence of asthma, which can result in hospital admissions.
By detecting these gases and other factors care home operators, healthcare managers, school leaders and facilities managers can keep more patients, residents, students and staff safe by taking simple measures such as opening windows or making changes to their heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. The HALO can also be connected to HVAC systems with a BACnet interface to notify the system to let more air into the room.
Air Quality Index enables facilities managers to make better decisions
The factors detected for the air quality index are:
- Particulate Matter (2.5 μm, 10 μm): Indoor PM levels can be influenced by outdoor sources like vehicle exhaust, wildfires, and power plant emissions. But many indoor activities produce PM as well: cooking, burning fireplaces, and smoking are just a few common sources.
- Carbon Monoxide (CO): This is an odourless, colourless gas which in high concentrations can be deadly. Exposure to lower levels sometimes given off by fuel-burning appliances can also cause adverse reactions, including confusion and memory loss.
- Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂): This is a gas that occurs naturally but can be increased by human activity, primarily through the combustion of fossil fuels.
By using the air quality index building facilities managers and others to take action to improve indoor air quality, within their building protecting those living, working and studying within it.
In sectors such as health and social care protecting staff particularly matters currently when there is such a shortage so retaining employees and ensuring they work in a safe environment so they feel happier and are kept healthier is important to prevent them having time off due to sickness.
Vape and THC detection allows management of potentially illegal behaviour
Meanwhile the HALO smart sensor vape detection feature is useful in schools and colleges if school leaders are trying to manage the growing numbers of young people vaping. However, this feature would also help in hotel guest rooms, holiday park accommodation as well as staff rooms, changing and wash rooms so managers can police bans on vaping indoors among guests and employees.
The added ability of the sensor to detect tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which is found in cannabis and could be an ingredient in e-cigarettes or be smoked means you can also decide on how to manage illegal behaviour.
As this kind of illicit behaviour is likely to take place in private spaces, where other forms of monitoring would not be appropriate the HALO smart sensor, which fits discreetly on the ceiling, is an effective tool to monitoring and managing these problems.
HALO allows staff to deal with emergencies more quickly
The pre-loaded keywords to allow people to call for help to indicate emergencies can give added peace of mind in health and care settings as you may not always be in a position to press a button if you are caring for vulnerable residents or patients. Within schools and colleges, they could help if there is aggressive or bullying behaviour between pupils, or similarly if there is violent behaviour between guests at hotels or at bars or restaurants or against staff, this will be picked up.
Similarly, if the keywords are not actually used, the HALO can also detect abnormal noise level, which can also indicate violence or aggression. Violence against staff in the retail sector also became a major issue, especially during the restrictions caused by the COVID pandemic but continuing since then, as shown by the recent Retail Crime Survey by the British Retail Consortium. Therefore, the HALO could be an effective, but discreet, monitoring device in addition to other crime prevention measures.
Install HALO Cloud to manage multiple devices more effectively
HALO is always monitoring each space 24/7, with no delay in event notifications and alerts. This gives you the peace of mind to know you can protect residents and patients at all times of day and will be notified in real-time if an incident occurs.
You can choose how you would like to receive your notifications whether this is via third party integrations such as with Avigilon Control Center if you have this CCTV software installed, SMS (text message) and/or email, or via an action message within the dashboard. You can also customise who is notified during different events and alerts as well as being about to adjust a subscriber’s notification schedule.
However, if you have a number of devices and you want to get the most out of the HALO smart sensor it could be worth investing in a subscription for HALO Cloud.
This will provide an online dashboard where you can manage multiple devices, receive real-time Health Index and air quality alerts and reporting, and see alerts and historical data, that allows you to document your building’s health status and trouble areas. The main features of HALO cloud are:
- The system dashboard
- Live View
- Device Health
- Analytics
- Reports
- Logging
- Maintenance
We can help you get the most out of the HALO smart sensor
Getting the most out of the powerful HALO smart sensor means using all of its features effectively so you can protect the users of your buildings and take measures to improve air quality within them that can also lead to less transmission of infectious diseases.
We will be happy to demonstrate all its features, in addition to vape and aggression detection, and show you the advantages of HALO cloud if you need multiple devices. We can also talk to you about integrating it with other security measures that you have or need. Please contact us for a free demonstration, we would be delighted to hear from you.