Maximising efficiency and utilisation for your asset
Installing a carpark management system (also known as Parking Access and Revenue Control or PARC system) in your carpark offers many potential advantages.
These advantages include a solution for revenue collection, increased entry and exit speeds, and the controls to allow the right users to park in your carpark. In addition, users experience less frustration thanks to reduced traffic congestion and more available car spaces, whilst benefiting the environment with decreased emissions.
And with the latest carpark management systems available in touchless and contactless formats, they allow your facility to provide the safe and health-conscious car parking that today’s consumers look for.
There are essentially two parts to a carpark management system; the equipment hardware, and the management system software that brings it all together. Let’s take a look at each of these in turn.
Equipment hardware
In terms of access hardware, your carpark can utilise either controlled entry (using boom gates) or uncontrolled entry (with LPR or licence plate recognition). Clearly, an uncontrolled carpark can lead to some revenue leakage, which means you’ll need to ensure you have the correct system for your site to minimise this.
Remote operation of the system can help to reduce costs, by handling customer problems or enquiries via intercom.
Carpark management systems can make use of Licence Plate Recognition (or LPR) hardware to restrict access to your carpark during certain hours. For example, you may wish to allow only tenants to enter your carpark and not the public.
Management system software
The management system software looks after all the configuration and database from the equipment. It can set parking fees, establish different user groups, generate reports, and configure other settings. The equipment hardware, based in the carpark, will send data directly to the system for response.
The management system is the platform from which the owner or operator can manually manage the carpark as well. The systems are generally presented as a dashboard from which the operator has the ability to remotely operate the gates, view real-time data, and gain a general understanding of the carpark situation.
Carpark management software can also be used to set up nested parking (eg. for early bird parking) or a restricted section of the carpark which is reserved for tenants. Software can allow online bookings, and even be used to offer discounts in competitive markets.
How a carpark management system provides critical reporting data
Without a carpark management system, it is very difficult to understand exactly who is using your carpark; when they are parking; and how they are using it.
Occupancy data can help you make informed decisions to generate the best ROI from your asset.
For example, data on carpark utilisation can help you determine when your low demand times are. This data helps you plan to carry out critical maintenance or upgrades to your carpark with the least disruption to paying customers.
On the flip side of this coin, knowing when your high demand times are can allow you to better calibrate your pricing rates. For example, you may decide to increase parking charges during high occupancy times, or lower your rates with initiatives such as early bird parking to stimulate demand in currently quiet times.
Data from a carpark management system can help you make decisions around payment types, such as credit card, cash, by account, via scanning a QR code or through an app. It also provides you with a platform to manage alerts, such as when the carpark is full, a boom gate is damaged, or a cash machine needs change.
Licence plate recognition (LPR) technology can give you even finer detail, right down to the frequency of particular users. For example, if you discover that around 90% of your customers are regular users, you can be confident that your carpark’s income is virtually guaranteed. This can add value to your carpark if you decide to sell the asset.
Get more information about car park management systems
When you’re installing a carpark management system solution in your carpark, it’s critical to look for a system that will meet your business’s overall long-term goals and entire carpark design.
Parcsafe’s expert consultants consider the way everything works together to come up with a “turn-key” solution to suit your requirements – from concept through to installation and beyond to service and maintenance.
If you’d like to know more about how a carpark management system can improve your car park, call the Parcsafe team today on 1300 987 645 or contact us online.
