The customer and the challenge

Experts in smart parking

Park & Control is a German subsidiary of the APCOA Parking Group, Europe’s leading parking operator. The company is shaping the future of the industry through smart parking management. Their mission is to make parking services smooth and cost-efficient for their customers by optimising the utilisation of parking spaces and leasing unused parking lots. Their solutions allow retailers, property management companies, municipalities and public institutions to focus on their core business. They also manage employee parking lots for factory and office premises.

Struggling with constant violations

Using conventional parking management is often not enough to ensure efficient monitoring. Park & Control can only employ a certain number of inspectors which does not stop people working or living close to a parking lot from occupying spaces illegally and other drivers from exceeding parking time limits while they’re taking care of their business in the nearby area. If car owners are entitled to park at certain spaces but forget to place parking discs, they may be penalised. In addition, misuse of handicap parking spots or spaces equipped with e-charging stations can also lead to conflicts.

Revolutionising parking management

Persistent parking violations have raised the need to find a more efficient way of dealing with space utilisation issues and unauthorised users. Park & Control was aware that digital parking management would help them keep up with these challenges. They were committed to optimising their resources and making their services more efficient, transparent and user-friendly. We helped Park & Control develop a smart, sensor-based solution which relies on Vodafone Business IoT connectivity and cloud-based backend. Thanks to our long-standing partnership, they knew that our holistic approach, smooth project management and continuous support would help them provide best-in-class parking management services to their customers.

How we helped them

Sensor-based smart detection

To monitor parking spaces, we’ve provided Park & Control with two types of robust sensors which can be mounted on the ceiling or on the floor. They’re suitable for extreme weather conditions from -20 °C to +70 °C and are protected against water and dust. They can last for 3 to 5 years thanks to their integrated batteries, while their replacement is also included in our service package. Both sensors are easy-to-install, cost-efficient and offer a high detection rate. The ultrasonic ceiling sensor can display the occupancy and reservation status of the parking spaces through a LED signalling system. The magnetic field floor sensor is designed to be highly visible to prevent snow removal vehicles from tearing it off by accident during winter.

Staying up to date with IoT

Up to 30 sensors can be connected to a gateway which transmits the aggregated data to the cloud via our IoT network and make it accessible for Park & Control through a web platform. They can further process and analyse the data using their own tools and systems to provide their control staff with updates on parking space occupancy and other details essential to carry out their tasks. If the solution proves useful and results in improved parking behaviour at one of their customers’ parking lot, they can decide to transfer the sensors and the gateway to a different location thanks to easy-to-use installation.

Paving the way for data-driven parking

Gaining real-time insights into the utilisation of parking spaces and analysing aggregated data have made the company’s services more sustainable and customer-friendly. "In close cooperation with Vodafone, we have developed a truly smart, connected parking management solution which enables our customers to achieve their goals, such as ensuring transparency over their parking spaces," says Andreas Holzhauer, Managing Director at Park & Control. They already use more than 25,000 connected sensors to monitor parking lots, but it’s just the beginning of their digital journey. We’re working together to deploy number plate recognition and introduce the possibility for users to book parking spaces and pay in advance through an application.