Mark Garcia, VP of Remote Parking Services for SP+ walks through a room filled with busy employees surrounded by a wall of monitors displaying video feeds and data streams. The setting mirrors NORAD or an air traffic control tower, rather than what it is, 300+ remote-supported parking operations that SP+ manages on behalf of its clients.
From this state of the art command center, SP+ is leading an industry transformation.
“We’re applying analytics and tech-centric solutions that improve revenue for our clients and make the experience easier for people who park in our remote-managed facilities,” said Garcia. “We have a proven methodology that is repeatable across a variety of facilities that allows us to interact with every aspect of a facility’s revenue control system. And the results speak for themselves.”
Disrupting the Model
As parking facilities move to a more fully-automated environment that involves no human cashiers, the need for a system to manage operations remotely is essential.
SP+ offers its Remote Management Services (RMS) to respond to requests for assistance from those parking in the facility all from its Command Center, which is hundreds or thousands of miles from the parking facility. The Command Center provides a real time response for minor issues like lost tickets to major operational areas such as monitoring security cameras.
“Some clients are blown away by this idea and they can’t imagine a garage that’s nearly 100% automated,” continued Garcia. “But those who are open to the transformation are quickly impressed with how smoothly it all works.”
When operators implement RMS in conjunction with the automation, it drives efficiency and improved profitability for both the operator and client. Consumers feel the benefits of an independent, technology-driven transaction that satisfies their expectations.
Staffing & Revenue Solutions
Many facilities also enjoy the freedom to deploy their team members in different ways. Rather than utilizing employees to serve as cashiers, they can be used as additional security staff, assist in ensuring the facility remains clean, or to manage multiple facilities.
In addition, a remote-managed operation offers the benefit of revenue clarity.
“Our RMS tracks the dollars generated from each car that utilizes our facility in real time,” continued Garcia. “Seeing this data as the transactions occur is a ‘light-bulb’-like moment for our clients. It just simplifies the operation and illustrates why RMS support is the right move.”
Operational Experience
There are a variety of reasons why a client might select an RMS solution. From issues with revenue tracking or outdated equipment to supporting automation that can help minimize congestion within the facility, RMS offers a number of obvious advantages.
SP+ often finds facility owners who are motivated to move to RMS, but skittish about the work required to transform their operation.
“Our clients run nearly 20 different variables of parking-technology packages and we support all of them 24-7/365,” says Garcia. “Our breadth of experience and ability to manage the entire process is really what separates us from competitors. Plus we can tap into the entire SP+ Revenue Management ecosystem. It’s a a huge advantage.”
An Automated Future
Automation within the parking industry is still in its early stages. But SP+ continues to move toward cloud-based solutions that are less expensive to implement and maintain, while minimizing the hardware footprint locally.
The RMS team also has an eye towards using artificial intelligence to improve consumer response times, response duration and operating costs.
SP+ is at the forefront of these technologies, embracing the opportunity to build an even more seamless experience.
