This is what lands in your inbox.
One alert per detection, sent to the people you choose: deans, a pastoral lead, a deputy principal. It tells you which toilet and exactly when, which is all you need to find the right minute of camera footage.
Alerts only go out during the hours you set, and a cooldown stops one cloud of vapour from sending ten emails.
FromAerowatch alerts
ToDeans, Pastoral team
Vape detected: Block C boys' toilets, upstairs
- When
- Tuesday 14 October, 10:42 am
- Where
- Sensor C-2, between fan and cubicles
- Nearest camera
- C-Corridor 2 (set at install)
- Earlier today
- None at this sensor
- Footage kept until
- Matches your CCTV retention
From a cloud of vapour to the right minute of footage.
Most vaping happens in the toilets because there are no cameras there. Aerowatch doesn't put cameras in either. It tells you when and where, and your corridor cameras show who came and went.
- 01
The sensor notices
It measures fine particles, humidity and volatile compounds in the air heading for the fan. Vape aerosol shows up as a sharp spike that ordinary toilet use doesn't produce.
- 02
Your staff are told
An alert goes to your vape-alert list with the room, the sensor and the time, within seconds of the spike.
- 03
You check the camera
Go to the corridor footage for that minute. Every detection is kept for 60 days, so you can still look it up weeks later, as long as your footage is.
Installed in the ceiling, behind a standard wall plate.
Each sensor fits behind a 2-gang plate, so from the floor it looks like any other ceiling fitting. There's nothing for students to reach, cover or pull off.
- Faceplate
- PDL 600 Series 2-gang grid plate
- Particulates
- Bosch BMV080 · PM1 / PM2.5 / PM10
- Humidity
- Sensirion SHT40
- VOC index
- Sensirion SGP40
- Power
- Fan circuit (LoRa) or PoE
- Network
- LoRaWAN receiver per block, or Ethernet
Fitted by your electrician. Runs itself after that.
Sensors run off the extraction fan's own circuit, so no new power runs through the building. They talk to a small receiver in each block, not your school Wi-Fi. Got data cabling to the toilets? The PoE model runs on one Ethernet cable instead.
- 01
Walk-around with your property manager
We go toilet by toilet to see how each fan is controlled and where a sensor will catch the airflow.
- 02
Your electrician fits the sensors
A power point is taken off the fan circuit above the ceiling. The installer scans each sensor's QR code to link it to its room.
- 03
You choose who hears what
Detection alerts go to pastoral staff. If sensors go quiet, your IT contact hears about it instead.
- 04
It runs itself
Offline sensors are flagged once, not every few minutes. Fans off after hours or in the holidays? Nobody gets paged.
Your school's data stays your school's.
Aerowatch never records images or sound. All it keeps is air readings and the alerts they triggered, and it keeps them apart from every other school.
- 01
Kept in New Zealand
Your school's data, and every backup of it, is stored in New Zealand. It never sits on an overseas server.
- 02
A database of your own
Each school's readings live in a separate database, not a shared table. Another school's login can't reach yours.
- 03
Deleted after 60 days
Detections are cleared after 60 days, roughly how long schools keep CCTV. We can match your own retention period.
- 04
Gone when you leave
End your contract and your database is removed entirely. Ask first and we'll hand you a full copy as one file.
- 05
Locked to your network
Every sensor has its own encrypted login and only connects from your school's internet address.
- 06
Built in Hamilton
Designed, built and supported in Hamilton for New Zealand secondary schools.
Questions schools ask.
Something else on your mind? Email info@aerowatch.net and a real person in Hamilton will answer.
Is there a camera or microphone in the sensor?
No. It only measures the air: fine particles, humidity and volatile compounds. Nothing it collects can identify a student.
Will deodorant or shower steam set it off?
The sensor also measures humidity and other organic compounds, which cuts down false alarms from steam and sprays.
Does it need our IT team to set up?
No Wi-Fi is used. Each block gets a small receiver that connects to your network; your IT team just needs to know it's there. We'll ask for your school's external IP address so the sensors can reach us.
What happens if there's a power cut?
Your IT contact gets one email saying the sensors are offline, and another when they come back. If they're still down a day later, we follow it up with you.
How much does it cost?
PoE sensors are $299 + GST each, plus $1 + GST per sensor per year for alerts, the portal and storage in New Zealand. Installation is by your own electrician. See pricing to work out a total.
No obligation · About an hour
Start with a walk around your toilets.
An hour with your property manager tells us which rooms suit a sensor and what it would cost.
