A system and process for determining a communication status of an environment is disclosed. Sensors in the environment acquire data about the environment, and a first subset of the data is used to compute a first penalty about the environment, which is computed using a first algorithm that includes a maximum penalty and a decay rate at which the penalty decays over time. Further, a second subset of the data is used to compute a second penalty about the environment. The second penalty is computed using a second algorithm that also includes a maximum penalty and a decay rate at which the penalty decays over time. The first and second penalties are compiled to create an overall environmental penalty that represents a current status of the environment, which is compared to a threshold. If the overall environmental penalty exceeds the threshold, then an action, including issuing an alarm, is performed.