Enabling Smart Parking

How did the new system work?

Many parking contractors began comparing this new system with the embedded systems or the POS machines. We had to convince them that there was a huge difference between an embedded system and the cloud based android mobile parking management system. We gave free trials for 10 to 15 days to make them understand the difference.

These days, one can take a picture, scan the barcode from the mobile camera and also print the barcodes. It is cloud-based so there is already a sim-card inside it. Hence, the data continuously syncs with a cloud and gives real-time reports on the dash board. These systems start connecting with each other.

In our reports, the user can see the filter. One has to set the date, time and operator systems by setting the filters. For example, the users can choose whether they want to see only the entry and exit collection points or only a specific parking lot like entire Delhi or all the ten parking lots across India or even across the world. Our system is connected to cloud. Whether it is one parking lot or hundred parking lots in the US, UK and India, they are all connected to cloud. The users can see all the reports sitting at home and also select these filters. They can also see bar graphs, pie-charts, and the breakup of the car & bike parking revenue. They can receive smart alerts and compare the number of entries as well as exits of 24 hours in the parking lot and see how many vehicles at the parking lot are stationary.

If there is a surge in the number of parked cars, it appears on the report. The contractors were surprised as they had never had such control over their business.

What are the other highlights of the system?

Our system takes the picture of the person, the car, driving license and the RC copy and saves them in the cloud system. In future, if someone claims other person’s car, the contact details of the person who stole the car are automatically displayed. The user/ complainant can collect all the evidence from the contractor to submit to the authority.

The best part of this system is that the data syncs and is saved in the cloud. The scenario may not be the same in case of a centralized data. For example, Gandhi Maidan Parking in Chandni Chowk is the third largest parking area in Delhi NCR with a capacity of holding 3000 cars and 2000 bikes. A vehicle enters the area every three to five seconds. It is a big parking lot with three different entry and exit points; so there are six cashiers at six points using the computerised systems. A driver can come from any entry point and go from any exit point within 30 seconds. The data automatically syncs, so every exit point, out of those six points, gets the information about the happening at the other point like which car/ bike came through which point. So now the contractor sitting in his office gets to see the vehicle numbers at every entry point.

What is the process of getting the car number in the system?

The car number is entered manually because ANPR has not been very successful. With 85% average accuracy, you cannot have a system giving you tickets because 85% accuracy means that out of 1000 vehicles 150 will be given wrong tickets; and those 150 are not even sequential. In our country, number plates do not have standard description. You have different languages, fonts, colours, and sometimes, no number plates. However, we have the ANPR feature in our mobile system. For accuracy with ANPR, the cameras have to be at the very right position. It works well off-street.

But we know that majority of the parking is on-street and not off-street. Our PMS works on-street — at Sarojinibai market area, Karol Bagh market area and at on-street parking in Delhi NCR. So the person who runs behind the cars with hand written tickets now runs behind the cars with mobile phone. People are loving the way the technology has been adopted on street parking. The biggest win is that our technology does not differentiate between the type of parking lot. Whether it is a hospital, mall, road, off-street, or on-street — it works everywhere.

We are fascinated with Smart Card as it is the future. In countries like Hong- Kong, Singapore and Seoul, they have mandatory RFID card in every car. We have already built the product and are in talks with the government authorities to roll out the system. We are also talking with the authorities at FASTag, which is a central government initiative.