Air quality monitoring for the conditions nobody can see
Air quality monitoring is how residences, schools, hospitals and laboratories catch a failing environment before it becomes a health incident. Camera-free sensors track smoke, vape aerosol, CO2, CO, NO2, VOCs, ammonia and particulates in the rooms people actually occupy. Sirix links every alarm to your cameras, so a live operator sees the cause, intervenes and responds on your protocol, 24/7, across the US and Canada.
Air quality monitoring, also called indoor air quality (IAQ) monitoring, is the continuous measurement of gases, particulates, temperature and humidity in occupied buildings, with alerts raised when a reading crosses a set threshold. With Sirix, a live operator receives every alarm 24/7 and responds on the site’s procedure.
20+ environmental metrics from a single air quality monitoring device, manufacturer reported
360-degree room coverage from one ceiling-mounted unit
Particulates measured from PM1.0 to PM10, the fractions that reach deep into the lungs
Air quality index readings aligned to EPA standards
Up to 518,400 readings per device per day, manufacturer reported
Instant text, email, app and VMS alerts the moment a threshold is crossed
Detect. Alert. Automate.
How does air quality monitoring work?
Camera-free sensing that installs fast, alerts instantly and acts on your rules.
360-degree room coverage.
The sensor installs on ceilings or in walls and samples the air continuously across the whole room. No blind spots, no walking around with a handheld meter once a quarter.
Real-time alerts.
With real-time air quality monitoring, the moment a reading crosses the threshold you set, instant notifications reach the people who need to act,Software and automations.
Sirix software sends instant text, email, app and VMS notifications, and lets you build automations that act the second a threshold is crossed, including ventilation and exhaust responses through your building automation system.
What an air quality sensor detects?
Gases
- Carbon dioxide (CO2)
- Carbon monoxide (CO)
- Nitrogen dioxide and nitrogen oxides (NO2, NOx)
- Total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs)
- Ammonia (NH3)
Particulates
- PM1.0
- PM2.5
- PM4.0
- PM10
Conditions
- Temperature in Celsius and Fahrenheit
- Relative humidity
- Sound level in decibels
Composite indexes
- Air quality index calculated on EPA-aligned standards over long measurement cycles
- Health index, a fast-cycle composite of six to seven contaminants including CO2, particulates, VOCs and NO2
Manufacturer reported: 20+ metrics from a single ceiling-mounted unit, up to 518,400 readings per device per day, particulate measurement from 1 to 10 micrometers (µm), and building automation integration over BACnet and API. Readings vary by sensor model and are confirmed during your site assessment.
The Sirix layer
The sensor reads the air. Your cameras show who changed it.
Behind most air quality alarms there is a person: someone smoking a cigarette or vaping in a stairwell, a hallway, a loading dock or a mechanical room, a driver idling by an intake, a vent someone blocked. Sirix links every air quality sensor to your cameras through remote video monitoring, so a live operator sees the cause on video, intervenes on the spot and follows your site’s standard operating procedure to the letter. Receiving and acting on alarms never lands on your team.
What the linked camera shows the operator the moment the sensor alarms.
The sensor detects a change in the air
Smoke or vape aerosol in a stairwell or hallway, carbon monoxide rising in a parking level, particulates spiking in a loading dock, CO2 climbing in a packed room. The sensor raises an alarm to our command center within seconds.
An operator picks it up and runs your SOP
A live Sirix operator responds immediately on your protocol. Every site writes its own procedure and our operators follow it exactly: who gets called first, at what reading, in what order, and what happens if nobody answers. Nothing is improvised.
The linked camera shows the cause
The operator pulls up the camera covering that area and sees what a reading cannot: the person lighting up under the no smoking sign, the truck idling by the intake, the blocked vent. If it is a person, the operator speaks to them through a linked speaker and watches them comply on video.
The operator escalates and documents
The operator escalates to whoever your SOP names: facility manager, building engineer, nurse, guards or emergency services. The alarm, the video, the intervention and the outcome are documented, and the operator stays with the event until readings return to normal or the right people take it over.
A reading tells you something happened. Video tells you who and why.
Operators are pulled to the event by the alarm, act on your SOP right away, then confirm on the linked camera that the cause is real, the person has stopped and the situation is resolved.
No camera nearby? Operators still respond.
Video is proof, never a precondition. Every alarm gets a live response.
Mechanical rooms, crawl spaces, storage areas and labs rarely have camera coverage, and the air in them still fails.
Restrooms and locker rooms cannot legally have one at all. The camera-free sensor still watches the air inside them, and the nearest hallway camera shows who walks out.
A live operator runs your SOP without video: calling the site contact, dispatching guards, intervening by voice through a linked speaker, notifying staff or escalating. The task leaves your team’s hands.
Competitors hand you a dashboard. Sirix takes it from here.
What an air quality sensor does, and what monitored air quality adds
An air quality sensor alone
Monitored air quality with Sirix
Measures the air and raises an alert
Measures the air and raises an alert
Sends the alert to your platform
Sends the alarm to a 24/7 command center
Your team has to notice it
A live operator picks it up, day or night
Your team decides what to do
Operators follow your written SOP exactly
No visual confirmation of the cause
Operators see the cause and the person behind it on a linked camera, when available
No escalation unless someone acts
Escalation, voice intervention or dispatch on your protocol
A reading in a log
A documented alarm, action and outcome
Nobody knows if the sensor goes offline
Device health monitored, an offline sensor is caught
Simple to deploy and support
Easy to set up. Easier to live with.
The sensor connects over a single ethernet cable, and Sirix oversees the rollout, handling the configuration and every connection to our command center. Choose monitoring and the extra steps are ours too.
Air quality sensor
Mounts on the ceiling or wall, one cable for power and data
Your network
Connects over a PoE switch, readings and alerts arrive on your own platform
Secure link to Sirix
Encrypted connection from your site to our command center
Sirix command center
Live operators verify and respond, 24/7
Self-monitored
The sensor, our configuration and threshold tuning, and alarms delivered to your own platform.
Professionally monitored
The secure link to our command center, video verification on your linked cameras, audio intervention and operator response on your SOP.
We configure everything
Every sensor, threshold and alert rule is set up by Sirix and tuned to your spaces, your occupancy patterns and your seasons. Nothing for your team to program.
Cameras and speakers, handled
If a linked camera or a talk-down speaker is needed, Sirix connects it to the command center and confirms it works.
We guide every step
From assessment to go live, a Sirix team leads the rollout, so you are never left figuring it out alone.
24/7 support team
If anything goes wrong at any point, our team is on it around the clock to fix it fast and keep your coverage live.
Sirix integrates with all major cameras, video management systems and air quality sensor brands, including HALO and Triton, and connects to building automation over BACnet and API where your site supports it, so your air quality monitoring system plugs into the infrastructure you already run. Compatibility is confirmed during your site assessment.
What it costs
How much does air quality monitoring cost?
Air quality monitoring services in North America generally fall between $10.00 and $75.00 per device per month, depending on the services required.
per device, per month, in most cases
Low end of the range
Self-monitored
Alarms delivered to your own platform by text, email or app. Your team reviews each one and responds. Sensor sourcing, configuration and threshold tuning included.
High end of the range
Professionally monitored. This is what Sirix does.
Every alarm is video verified and acted on by a live operator, 24/7.
- Alarm monitoring by live operators at a 24/7 command center
- Video verification on your linked cameras, to see the cause and the person behind it
- Audio intervention through a linked speaker
- Escalation and dispatch on your site’s standard operating procedure
- Device health monitoring and incident reporting
Typical market rates for air quality monitoring subscriptions, shown for orientation, not a Sirix price list. Where a site lands depends on the services chosen: notification only, video verification, audio intervention, dispatch. Your assessment confirms your rate.
Our operator promise
Every alarm reaches a real person
Bilingual Sirix operators answer every alarm the moment it comes in, around the clock. No alarm waits for business hours, and no alarm is handled by a machine.
of alarms answered by a live Sirix operator
every day of the year, alarms never wait for office hours
AI, a robot or an answering machine, always a trained operator
Sirix never discloses the sites it protects. Confidentiality is part of the service, so you will not find site names or the organizations we protect listed here. What we can show you is the operation behind the promise: the command center behind this service already monitors 25,000+ devices across 230+ cities in the USA and Canada.
Privacy by design
Protection without surveillance
The sensor uses no camera and records no audio or video. You get air quality monitoring in occupied and sensitive spaces without surveilling the people in them.
- No camera and no recordings. It senses conditions, it does not watch people or record what they say.
- Vandal-resistant, tamper-aware build, ceiling-mounted and powered over a single ethernet cable.
- Compliance signals you can show a board: the sensor models we monitor are HIPAA and GDPR-aligned, carry UL, CE, FCC and RoHS certifications and meet the California IoT security law. Certifications vary by model, confirmed during your site assessment.
- No camera
- No audio or video
- HIPAA- and GDPR-aligned
- Vandal-resistant
- UL · CE · FCC · RoHS
Where it works
Built for the rooms where bad air costs the most
Air quality monitoring goes where the risk is invisible and the occupants are vulnerable, and Sirix operators verify and respond for every vertical.
Multifamily and condos
Cover parking levels, mechanical rooms, corridors, amenity spaces and shared laundry, the places where carbon monoxide, humidity and particulates build up unnoticed between residential units. In enclosed parking levels, carbon monoxide monitoring puts a live operator behind every alarm. Operators act on the building’s response plan and notify management and residents on your protocol. You protect residents around the clock and give the board a defensible record of every event.
Related: multifamily residential security and parking lot security
Schools and education
Use CO2 monitoring in classrooms, where a full room stops learning long before anyone opens a window, and watch particulates, humidity and VOCs in gyms, shops, art rooms and science labs. Operators verify each alarm and follow the school’s protocol. You protect students and staff, support ventilation decisions with data and reduce liability.
Hospitals and healthcare
Hospital air quality monitoring covers patient rooms, waiting areas, behavioral units, sterile processing and mechanical spaces, where air quality is a clinical issue and not only a comfort issue. Operators confirm alarms and notify clinical or facilities staff fast, and every event is documented for compliance and accreditation.
Laboratories and research
Monitor ammonia, VOCs, carbon dioxide, temperature and humidity in labs, animal facilities, storage and fume hood areas, where a small leak becomes a serious exposure and a failed environment ruins the work. Operators run the lab’s escalation plan the moment a threshold is crossed, day or night, including when the building is empty.
Industrial, warehouse and manufacturing
Watch carbon monoxide from forklifts and idling vehicles, particulates from process and dust, VOCs from coatings and solvents, and heat and humidity in areas where workers are exposed for full shifts. Operators verify on camera where available and escalate on your safety plan.
Commercial offices and hospitality
Cover open floors, meeting rooms, kitchens, back of house, garages and guest areas. Operators verify each event and escalate to facilities or security on your plan. You lower staff workload, protect the people in the building and cut wasted energy by ventilating on real data instead of on a fixed schedule.
Related: commercial building security and retail security
What is at stake
An alarm nobody acts on is a risk nobody owns
Detection alone does not protect anyone. The US Environmental Protection Agency reports that people spend about 90% of their time indoors, where concentrations of some pollutants are often two to five times higher than typical outdoor levels, and that people spend the large majority of their time indoors. The gap between an alarm and a response is where liability, harm and cost accumulate.
Liability
When an exposure was foreseeable and went unaddressed, the exposure lands on you. Verified response and a timestamped record change that story.
Residents, students, patients, lab staff and workers are counting on someone to act. A dashboard does not act. A live operator does.
Documented, verified events support audits, claims, accreditation and policy requirements, instead of leaving gaps you cannot explain.
Your team cannot watch a screen around the clock. Sirix operators carry that load so your people stay on their real work.
What CO2 levels mean for the people in the room
CO2 concentration
What it means for the people in the room
400 to 1,000 ppm
Normal range. Air feels fresh, focus and comfort are unaffected.
1,000 to 1,500 ppm
Elevated. Stale air building up. Mild drowsiness and reduced alertness.
1,500 to 2,500 ppm
Poor air quality. Fatigue, headaches, complaints about stuffiness, measurable drop in cognitive performance.
Above 2,500 ppm
Very poor and potentially unsafe. Dizziness and nausea. Ventilation should be corrected immediately.
General guidance on occupant effects. Thresholds for your spaces are set during your site assessment.
One sensor, many possibilities
More than air quality
The same sensor behind your air quality monitoring catches much more. Explore the monitored services Sirix offers.
Vape detection monitoring
Vape aerosol, THC oil and masking sprays in the spaces cameras cannot watch, verified and acted on by operators.
Cigarette and cannabis smoke, nicotine and the sprays used to mask them, verified and acted on by operators.
Temperature, humidity and energy conditions tracked in real time, so unsafe rooms surface early and you cut wasted energy.
360-degree gunshot detection with dual authentication, so a confirmed shot reaches operators in seconds.
Raised voices, fighting, glass break and screams, so a conflict gets a response before it becomes an injury.
Keywords in English, Spanish and French, with no audio recorded, so a call for help reaches an operator fast.
Spoken safewords act as a hands-free panic button, so anyone in distress can summon help without reaching a device.
Overcrowding and after-hours presence flagged automatically, so you stay ahead of capacity and access limits.
Flags when someone stays too long, so a medical emergency, drug use or class cutting gets a response in time.
Detects phone use in restricted areas, even burner phones, so policy holds where supervision is hardest.
Alerts the moment the sensor is covered, moved or interfered with, so your coverage cannot be quietly switched off.
Detects movement in spaces that should be empty, so after-hours activity and trespassing reach an operator right away.
Get started
Put a live operator behind your alarms
Tell us about your spaces and the areas where air quality is a concern. We design the monitored air quality plan around your real risks.
A specialist follows up within one business day to scope coverage, pricing and response for your environment, including a site assessment when it helps.
Answered by a real person, 24/7
By submitting this form you agree that Sirix may contact you about air quality monitoring. See our privacy policy.
Frequently asked questions
Air quality monitoring, answered
What is air quality monitoring?
Air quality monitoring is the continuous measurement of gases, particulates, temperature and humidity in occupied buildings, with an alarm raised when a reading crosses a set threshold. It is also called indoor air quality (IAQ) monitoring. With Sirix, every alarm goes to a live operator at a 24/7 command center, who verifies the cause and responds on the site’s procedure, across the US and Canada.
Does an air quality sensor use a camera or record audio?
No. The air quality sensors Sirix monitors have no camera and record no audio or video. Models that measure sound levels or listen for spoken keywords analyze sound on the device in real time without recording or storing it. That is why they can be placed in occupied and sensitive spaces, including restrooms, patient rooms and residential common areas, without surveilling the people in them. Exact capabilities vary by sensor model and are confirmed during your site assessment.
How does air quality monitoring work?
An air quality sensor mounted on the ceiling samples the air continuously and measures gases, particulates, temperature and humidity. When a reading crosses the threshold set for that space, it sends an alarm to the Sirix command center. A live operator picks it up, pulls a nearby camera where one is linked to confirm the cause, and responds on the site’s SOP. The result is a verified action, not just a reading.
What does an air quality sensor measure?
An air quality sensor measures carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and nitrogen oxides, total volatile organic compounds, ammonia, and particulate matter from PM1.0 to PM10, along with temperature, humidity and sound level. Many models also calculate an air quality index on EPA-aligned standards and a health index combining several contaminants into one airborne risk reading. Exact readings vary by sensor model.
How is an air quality sensor installed?
Each air quality sensor mounts on the ceiling or in a wall and connects with a single ethernet cable through a PoE switch. Sirix configures every sensor, sets thresholds for each space and connects any linked cameras or speakers. There is nothing for your team to program, and Sirix oversees the rollout from site assessment through go live.
Can air quality sensors be monitored in areas without cameras?
Yes. Mechanical rooms, crawl spaces, storage areas and laboratories rarely have camera coverage. Sirix links the sensor directly to its command center, and operators respond on your SOP without video: calling the site contact, notifying staff, dispatching guards or escalating to emergency services. The task leaves your team either way.
How much does air quality monitoring cost?
Air quality monitoring services in North America generally fall between $10.00 and $75.00 per device per month, depending on the services required. These are typical market rates, not a Sirix price list. Self-monitored service sits at the low end, with alarms delivered to the customer’s own platform. Professionally monitored service sits at the high end, with alarm monitoring by live operators, video verification on linked cameras, audio intervention, escalation on the site SOP and device health monitoring. A site assessment confirms the exact rate.
How fast do operators respond to an air quality alarm?
An air quality alarm reaches the Sirix command center within seconds of a threshold being crossed. Operators are pulled to the event by the alarm rather than watching readings continuously, and they act in real time on the site’s escalation plan. Sirix operators answer alarms 24/7, every day of the year, including nights, weekends and holidays.
What is the difference between an air quality sensor and air quality monitoring?
An air quality sensor is hardware: it measures the air and raises an alert. Air quality monitoring is a service that adds what happens next. A live Sirix operator receives the alarm 24/7, follows the site’s written procedure exactly, confirms the cause on a linked camera where one exists, escalates to the right person and documents the outcome. The sensor detects. The monitoring service responds.
Which air quality sensor brands can Sirix monitor?
Sirix is sensor agnostic and connects commercial air quality monitors from any major manufacturer, including HALO and Triton, to its 24/7 command center. Through its dealer partners, Sirix can also recommend and source the right air quality monitoring equipment for a given space and budget, so you get a complete solution from hardware through live operator response.
Can an air quality monitor detect mold?
Air quality sensors do not detect mold directly. They measure humidity, particulate matter and VOCs, which identify the conditions in which mold grows. With Sirix monitoring, a humidity reading that stays high in a space where it should not gets escalated to the facilities team on the site’s SOP, before those conditions turn into a remediation project.
Why is air quality monitoring important for multifamily buildings and schools?
Both are full of occupied rooms with nobody assigned to watch the air in them. In a residential building, carbon monoxide in a parking level or mechanical room reaches units before anyone notices. In a school, CO2 in a full classroom degrades concentration long before anyone opens a window. Monitoring puts a live operator behind every threshold, 24/7, including when nobody is on site.
Can air quality monitoring trigger ventilation automatically?
Yes, where the building automation system supports it. Air quality sensors integrate over BACnet and API, so a crossed threshold can trigger an exhaust or purge response automatically while a Sirix operator confirms the cause and escalates in parallel. Automation and live operator response run together, not one instead of the other.
Do air quality monitors actually work?
Yes, for what they are built to do. Commercial air quality monitors show when CO2, particulates, VOCs, carbon monoxide or humidity rise above normal for a room, and how fast. They are not laboratory instruments: readings depend on the model, placement and calibration, and a reading alone cannot tell you why the air changed. Monitoring closes that gap. A live Sirix operator checks the linked camera or contacts the site, confirms the cause and acts on the alarm.
Does air quality monitoring replace smoke or carbon monoxide alarms?
No. Air quality sensors add to the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms that fire and building codes require; they do not replace them. Code-required alarms sound on site so people can get out. Air quality monitoring watches conditions continuously, flags problems that build up below alarm levels, and puts a live Sirix operator on the response.
What are the signs of poor indoor air quality?
Common signs are stale or stuffy air, lingering odors, condensation on windows, visible dust or mold, and occupants who report headaches, fatigue, eye or throat irritation or trouble concentrating that ease after they leave the building. Some of the most serious problems, such as carbon monoxide, give no sign at all. Continuous sensor monitoring catches the changes people cannot see or smell, and with Sirix a live operator acts on them 24/7.
What is the difference between air quality testing and air quality monitoring?
Indoor air quality testing is a one-time snapshot, usually taken by a consultant to investigate a complaint or document conditions on a given day. Air quality monitoring measures the air continuously and raises an alarm the moment a reading crosses a threshold. Testing tells you what the air was like during the visit. Monitoring tells you when it changes, and with Sirix a live operator responds on your protocol. Many sites use both: testing to investigate, monitoring to keep watch.
What CO2 level is too high indoors?
Outdoor air is about 425 to 430 ppm of carbon dioxide. Indoors, readings that stay above about 1,000 ppm usually mean a room is not getting enough fresh air for the number of people in it. Health Canada sets a long-term exposure limit of 1,000 ppm, averaged over 24 hours, for carbon dioxide in homes. As levels climb toward 1,500 to 2,500 ppm, occupants commonly report drowsiness, headaches and poorer concentration. Sirix sets CO2 thresholds for each space during your site assessment.
Can air quality monitoring help during wildfire smoke events?
Yes. Wildfire smoke raises fine particulate matter (PM2.5) outdoors, and it gets inside through ventilation, doors and leaks. The US EPA advises buildings to monitor indoor PM2.5 with air sensors during smoke events. Sensors show the rise room by room, and Sirix operators notify facilities staff on the site’s protocol so they can start the building’s smoke plan, such as MERV 13 or better filtration and portable air cleaners. The readings then show when the air has recovered.
Last updated August 26, 2026
Turn every alarm into peace of mind
The sensor detects. Sirix verifies and acts. Let’s design the monitored air quality plan for your spaces.
