Occupancy Echo

Feature Guide & Setup

XY Sense Displays

01.  Overview

Occupancy Echo is a feature available on XY Sense Displays that introduces an additional space status — Away — to complement the existing Occupied and Vacant states.

Displays provide an up-to-the-minute view of a floor, showing which spaces are occupied and which are vacant. With Occupancy Echo enabled, a space can also appear as Away, giving teams greater visibility into whether a temporarily vacated space is likely to be returned to shortly. For more information on Displays and the setup and configuration options, you can find it in the Displays setup guide page.
 

IMPORTANT: To enable Occupancy Echo, you will need to email [e-mail] to request that the feature be turned on for your site. 
 

02.  The Away Status — How It Works

A space will transition to Away status when all three of the following conditions are met:

• The space has been continuously occupied for at least the configured minimum in-use time period (default: 5 minutes).
• The person occupying the space moves away and presence is no longer detected.
• The configured Away time period (default: 15 minutes) has not yet elapsed since the person left.

Once the Away time period expires, the space will revert to Vacant. If the occupant returns during the Away period, the space will return to Occupied.

Status	Trigger	Description
Occupied	Presence detected	Someone is actively using the space.
Away	Presence stops after min. in-use time met	Occupant has likely stepped away briefly. Space is held during the Away period.
Vacant	No presence detected / Away period expired	The space is free to be used.

03.  Requirements & Access

Before setting up Occupancy Echo, confirm the following:

Requirement	Detail
Feature activation	Occupancy Echo must be enabled for your account. Contact XY Sense support to request activation.
User permission	The user configuring Occupancy Echo must have Admin or Manage Displays permission within your XY Sense account.
Supported space types	Occupancy Echo rules can be configured per space type (e.g. Workpoints, Meeting Rooms). Each rule applies to a single space type.
Building scope	Rules are applied per building. You can configure different rules for different buildings.

04.  Configuration Settings

When creating an Occupancy Echo rule, you can configure the following time-based settings:

Setting	Default	Maximum	Description
Minimum In-Use Time	5 minutes	30 minutes	How long a space must be continuously occupied before the Away rule becomes active.
Away Duration	30 minutes	120 minutes	How long the space will display as Away after the occupant leaves. After this period, it reverts to Vacant.
Away Colour	Grey	-	The colour used to represent Away status on the Display.

05.  Step-by-Step Setup Guide

Follow the steps below to configure Occupancy Echo and apply it to a Display.

Part A — Create an Occupancy Echo Rule

Step 1: Navigate to Organisation Settings

From anywhere in the XY Sense platform, go to Admin and select Organisation Settings from the menu.

Step 2: Open Occupancy Echo

Within Organisation Settings, locate and click on Occupancy Echo.

Step 3: Add a New Rule

Click Add Occupancy Echo Rule. Each rule applies to a single space type within a building.

Step 4: Name your Rule

Enter a descriptive name for the rule (e.g. "Workpoint Echo — Level 4"). This helps distinguish rules if you set up multiple.

Step 5: Select a Building

Choose the building this rule will apply to. Rules are scoped to individual buildings — you can create separate rules for different buildings if required.

Step 6: Set the Minimum In-Use Time

Configure how long a space must be continuously occupied before the Away status can be triggered. The default is 5 minutes.

Step 7: Set the Away Duration

Configure how long a space will display as Away once the occupant leaves. The default is 30 minutes and can be extended up to 120 minutes (2 hours).

Step 8: Enable the Rule and Save

Toggle the rule to Enabled, then click Save to apply your changes.

Choose an Away Colour

On the Occupancy Echo setup page, click on the Colour Settings button.

Select a colour to represent the Away status on your Display. The default is grey. Choose a colour that is visually distinct from your Occupied and Vacant colours for clarity.

Part B — Show or hide the Rule to a Display

Step 10: Navigate to Displays

From the main navigation, go to Displays.

Step 11: Select a Display to Edit

Choose the Display you want to enable Occupancy Echo for and click Edit. This can be an existing Display or a new one.

Step 12: Locate the Occupancy Echo Visibility Setting

Scroll down within the Display settings to find the Occupancy Echo Visibility option. This will only appear if an Occupancy Echo rule has been saved for the relevant building.

Step 13: Configure Legend Visibility

Choose whether to show the Away status in the Display legend:— Show in Legend: The Away status and its colour will appear in the legend at the bottom of the Display.— Hide from Legend: Away spaces will still show on the Display but will not be called out in the legend (and can optionally be set to match the Occupied colour so they are visually indistinct).

Any Display for the building associated with the rule that uses the space type the rule applies to will include Occupancy Echo functionality.
 

Step 14: Save the Display

Click Save. The Display will now reflect Occupancy Echo, showing Away spaces according to the rule you configured.

06.  Tips & Considerations

• You can configure different Occupancy Echo rules for different buildings and space types — useful if your organisation uses different sensor setups or workspace norms across locations.
• The Away status is designed to signal that a space is likely still in use. Adjust the Away Duration to match typical break or away-from-desk patterns in your workplace.
• If the Away colour is set to match the Occupied colour and hidden from the legend, the status change will be invisible to Display viewers — useful in environments where you want internal data capture without changing the visual experience.
• Only users with Admin or Manage Displays permissions can create or edit Occupancy Echo rules and Display settings.

For more information about Displays, access the setup and configuration guide here: https://xysense.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/11882526067343-Displays-Set-up-and-configuration