Integrapark Fills Operators’ Accounting Needs
Equipment vendors have software to provide information about parking activity, but few have software that fills the needs of the parking operator’s accounting department. The limited reporting available from revenue control systems, and the lack of an interface between the parking system and financial systems is a constant point of contention for parking operators. Traditional accounting systems do not provide management tools for parking operations, and traditional parking systems do not provide tools for financial analysis.
Property owners and managers have also raised their expectations for accurate and timely reporting. They are requiring more detailed reporting of operations, more historic trend analysis, and greater auditability. These requirements can be difficult and time consuming for operators to meet with spreadsheet reporting, especially as they may need to produce a different set of reports for each client, or comparable reports from different equipment systems.
The solution is to have software that is specific to the parking industry, designed by people who understand both parking and accounting, which interfaces with a variety of equipment manufacturers.
Integrapark has uniquely been able to bridge the gap between the operations and accounting worlds. Their applications, PARIS and Geneva, provide user-friendly interfaces and robust reporting, geared for both operations and financial users, as well as interfaces to both parking systems and financial reporting systems.
PARIS is the premier billing and accounts receivable system for monthly parking and billed validations. PARIS excels in the most complicated contract parker situations, ensuring compliance with lease terms, including renewal dates, minimum billings, and rate escalations over the life of the lease. PARIS is able to interface with most popular card access systems and General Ledgers. New monthly parkers are entered into PARIS, which both bills them and activates the card in the access system. PARIS can automatically block past-due parkers from the garage, and when a parker is terminated from billing, PARIS automatically shuts off the card.
Geneva gathers data from revenue control systems, provides unmatched reporting and analysis capabilities, posts results to the General Ledger, and enables operators to easily construct revenue budgets without redundant data entry. With Geneva, consistent reporting is available across all the operator’s locations, regardless of equipment manufacturer, and upper management gains insight into operational details previously available only at the garage level.
PARIS and Geneva were designed by people who have worked in parking for years, and who understand the perspectives of parking operators, equipment manufacturers, and financial accountants. Integrapark’s applications are continuously improved by feedback from a large customer base and the company’s commitment to produce the best possible products, using the latest technologies.
Modern Access Systems Offers Complete Line of PARCS Systems
Modern Access Systems Inc. (MASI) engineers and manufactures hardware and software designed specifically for the Parking Access & Revenue Control Industry. Systems begin with gate traffic controls, machine-readable Revenue Control and collection devices of all types, and card access systems. Comprehensive interactive software, in conjunction with the hardware, provides security and accountability for both the operator and the parking patron.
Modern manufactures Barrier Gates, Card systems using various types of readers such as standard Proximity to Long-Range Vehicle ID readers. Revenue systems include Entry Ticket machines, Automated Pay On Foot Stations, Cashier Stations, Pay At Exit Stations, Credit Card Express or Multiple payment Exit Stations. In addition, MASI offers a full line of Pay & Display and Pay By Space Meters utilizing Solar, Wireless and Battery operated units.
MASI offers several Management Software solutions tailored to the specific need and provides for full integration of all of its products. All systems are scalable and can be interfaced with many clients’ present systems. Modern Access Systems is located in the Metropolitan Toronto Area with over 100 dealers in North America. MASI is pleased to announce it will be opening a plant soon in Southern California, by FALL 2010. MASI brings over 100 years of combined experience to the industry.
For a complimentary review of your facility please contact MASI Toll-Free at 1-866-512-8374 (CANADA) or 1-800-663-5715 (USA).
Scheidt & Bachmann Offers New “Chip Coin” Technology
Scheidt & Bachmann is recognized globally as a leading provider of Parking and Revenue Control solutions. Implementing systems predominantly based on magnetic stripe and bar-code ticketing technology, solutions incorporating those methods of automated ticket processing have proven to be both reliable and operationally effective.
In today’s daunting economic climate, all of us are challenged to do more with less, and become more ecologically responsible. This requires all of us to examine how we do what we do. In consideration of this business paradigm, there is an alternative to consider.
This alternative method of transient parker control is the reusable ChipCoin. This solution is effective and reliable, and provides significant advantages on three (3) distinct fronts.
First: In using ChipCoins in lieu of traditional parking tickets, there is an overall reduction in the use of paper products for the processing of transient patrons. Production of a million parking tickets translates into 8 pulp bearing trees, 2100 gallons of water, and 1230 KW of electricity. The elimination of parking tickets in this respect has a profound ecological impact.
Second: The ChipCoin system uses gravity to feed the ChipCoin to the customer. In comparison to the traditional ticket production equipment (both mag-stripe and bar-code) incorporating feeder units, encoding units, and printing units, the mechanism is elegant in its simplicity. The result is a decrease in on-going maintenance practices, a decrease in parts replacement, and an overall increase in system “up-time’.
Third: The ChipCoin is a plastic reusable coin with an embedded chip. The system reads and writes electronically directly to the chip with the same processing data encoded in a traditional mag-stripe ticketing system. However, unlike a mag-stripe or bar-code ticket, the embedded chip within the ChipCoin can accept additional information: addressing validation and specialty use applications.
When a ChipCoin is used at the time of facility exit: either at a cashier lane or at an exit verifier, the ChipCoin is electronically-erased. The ChipCoin can then be recovered from the exit device and placed back into the entry lane device for reuse by the next transaction.
The ChipCoin system is not a solution for every operation. Those situations in which the parking gates are routinely raised and/or those situations in which auditing practices must include the counting of each and every ticket would not be good candidates for ChipCoin.
However, if your situation is operationally progressive and you are interested in the “green’ impact of your business mode, consider contacting Scheidt & Bachmann to discuss the ChipCoin option.
T2 Systems Delivers a Complete Unified PARCS Solution
T2 Systems Inc. is pleased to announce that it has expanded its T2 Flex PARCS solution to include T2 brand revenue control equipment. This means that the complete T2 Flex PARCS system, both software and hardware, will now come from T2.
The complete solution will be provided by T2 and installed and supported by T2, together with local distributor partners. Ultimately, this means that both current and future T2 customers now will have one system provided by one vendor.
“This is exciting news for T2 Systems and we hope the parking industry in general,” said Mike Simmons, T2 Systems co-founder and CEO. “Working closely with our distributor partners, T2 offers parking operations a new way of doing business as it relates to the purchase, installation and maintenance of their PARCS solution.”
The T2 Flex PARCS system incorporates web-based software and state-of the art hardware components including retail industry standard POS devices, custom-manufactured Pay-on-Foot devices, as well as vehicle barriers and many other key components.
T2 Flex is a web-based solution, enabling parking managers and facility owners to access all information about their parking operations from any computer with Internet access. T2 Flex provides revenue control functionality and reporting through an online system that monitors equipment and performs tasks at multiple locations from one central, remote command center. And the fact that T2 can host the entire application for you is what makes it different than other PARCS solutions available today.
“We offer our customers a completely hosted, unified parking management solution that enables parking operations to create a command center that runs multiple facilities located close by or as far as another state,” said Simmons.
Because T2 Flex is modular and comprised of different product packs that work together, T2 also offers a unique “credit card in, free out” solution. Ideal for areas that are difficult to enforce, premium parking (or retail areas), event parking areas, visitor or commuter lots, this option is an unattended solution that gives you the ability to collect more revenue without having to add cashiers or enforcement personnel.
This revenue control application uses credit card pay-on-entry for unattended, access controlled areas so parkers MUST pay to get in; this means you’re ensured 100% revenue and no “insufficient funds” or other payment problems.
And because T2 can host the solution for you, the result is an easy-to-deploy revenue control application that supports multiple locations with no on-site cashier staff, IT staff or other IT-associated resources and costs.
A first in the industry, the T2 Flex unified parking management system is a single system for all aspects of parking management including permits, citations, event parking areas and gated facilities. The system allows users to manage any and all parking-related data, providing centralized control, management, reporting and operation of all subsystems from one portal, eliminating the needs for multiple systems and various interfaces.
