Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa December / Jan 2016 | Page 48

TECHNOLOGY Commercial Parking Technology A World of Benefits for Landlords BY PHOEBE WILSON R ealising that the parking management industry in Southern Africa requires a new impetus, executives from Interpark and Excellerate Property Services undertook a fact finding visit to major cities which included Brussels, Rome and Frankfurt to view first-hand some of Europe’s most sophisticated parking facilities Centralised Technology ‘The emerging international trend for parking management operators is to invest in centralized technology’ says Kate Wolfaardt, MD of Interpark. ‘During our visit we focused on suppliers who are at the forefront of building centralized infrastructure, which offers significant advantage to both the parking manager and the property owner, including the reduction of operating costs’ Typically in South Africa, a car park is ring fenced from a technology point of view and the onsite parking control solution is installed and managed on the premises, operated by a parking management company. ‘By investigating across suppliers and our international parking management colleagues we were able to design a solution for Interpark which includes a centralized data warehouse consolidating all systems data, and a centralized control room allowing remote monitoring and control of car parks. All the parking facilities managed by Interpark can be connected via the web to the centralized service s irrespective of the brand of equipment or supplier and even if located countrywide or across borders’ she says. Benefits for Landlords and Parkers There are numerous benefits of this concept, not only in terms of better control management and reporting, but 46 DEC/JAN 2016 SA Real Estate Investor also in facilitating a significant reduction in monthly operating cost for owners. While the onsite parking equipment will still be installed and cash handling logistics will be local, by incorporating a centralized control room and utilizing world-class technology, a centralized service is provided 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The centralized control room can duplicate the onsite management teams operation of the Pay on Foot site and assist with any issues. It can also take over the full operation of the site by being able to talk to parkers via digital intercom and view parkers via digital CCTV system at each and every device (entry, exit and pay station). It can also integrate every incident into the centralized system and remote control equipment when no staff members are on site. Increased Parking Revenue As a result of the centralized control room a reduction in staff can be achieved at the side, depending on the circumstances. This translates into lower monthly operating costs, while providing a far better quality service. The landlord can also obtain real time statistics from the centralized system at any time, enabling key business decisions and quick actions. A further benefit of the centralized system is it will also be able to help parkers to find parking availability before they leave on their journey, and 24/7 operated controllers can assist with pre-booking parking bays online. Landlords will also be able to offer loyalty products such as VIP Cards to key customers. RESOURCES Interpark, Excellerate Property Services www.reimag.co.za