When a parking system fails, revenue losses silently pile up in the background. A defective device, an overdue update, a confusing user interface: all these factors cost time, money and nerves. What's most often overlooked: even the best software is only as good as the hardware it runs on.
In this article you will learn about 4 requirements that modern parking hardware has to fulfill and why the right hardware is decisive for stable operations.
Contents
Why Should We Talk About Parking Hardware?
Criterion 1: Easy And Stable Updates
Criterion 2: Easily Servicable
Criterion 3: Easily Usable For Parkers
Criterion 4: Easy Implementation For The Control Center
Why Should We Talk About Parking Hardware?
Software often gets talked about in the parking business and for good reason. It's at the heart of every modern parking system. But good software also needs good hardware it can run on.
In the end, the hardware decides, if the facility runs smoothly or comes to a standstill, whether a device is back up and running within a few minutes or only after an hourlong wait for a service technician.
Good parking hardware is no longer an isolated piece of tech today. It is an integral part of a software-ecosystem. It recieves updates, points out errors, communicates with the control center and reacts to changes. The best case scenario: all of this happens, while no employee has to be around to monitor it.
Hence the main question is: What does parking hardware have to be able to do, in order to not only work well today, but also in a few years? These 4 requirements make the difference.
Criterion 1: Easy And Stable Updates
The requirements in terms of security and functionality increase continuously. Parking systems which only recieve updates every other year, are no longer seasonable. Staying behind here risks system-errors and missing out on new features that can significantly facilitate day-to-day operations.
The big issue for many operators: Updates still require on-site technicians, manual labour and the risk of errors after completion. In the worst case this means a complete standstill and revenue loss.
To combat this, updates by Arivo are carried out remotely and step-by-step. Every device automatically installs updates when it's not currently in use and automatically reboots into the new version. If anything went amiss, an automated fallback mechanism kicks in: The device simply restarts into the last working version. This way there are never any non-functioning devices on the lot and all Arivo systems are brought to the newest version one after another.
The result for operators: The facility is always up-to-date - all without having to manually make changes or have technicians come by.
Criterion 2: Easily Servicable
Even the most reliable piece of hardware is not unbreakable. Sooner or later something will become defective and exactly this decides, how good a system truly is. A broken component generally means revenue losses for operators.
Thus it's important that problems get solved quickly, without having to wait for service partners for hours or even days. Ideally operators can solve the errors simply and on their own.
Want to make your parking lot future-proof? We'll gladly help you find the right solution for your facility. Contact Arivo now
Criterion 3: Easily Usable For Parkers
Good usability is not just nice to have, it has a direct impact on daily operations. The easier and intuitive a parking system functions, the fewer questions reach the support team and operations become more efficient.
What separates a good user experience from a not so good one? Oftentimes it's not the big things that make a difference but the little ones. Details that are often overlooked at first glance, because everything works smoothly. Predictive text for license plate inputs that save half the time. A system that recognizes typos instead of just outputting an error message. A table of parking rates directly visible on the screen even before going to the register.
Criterion 4: Easy Implementation For The Control Center
Good parking hardware doesn't end at the customer. It also has to work seamlessly for the control center and support team. If a parker has an issue, the support team needs quick access: what is currently happening on the device? Where does the problem lie?
Conclusion
What does hardware need to do, to be able to function well not just today but also in a few years? The answer lies in these 4 requirements: updateability, servicability, usability and intergrability. These are the gold standard for a system that functions well today and tomorrow.
The baseline is the cooperation between hardware and software: software that constantly evolves and hardware that cooperates thanks to remote updates. Both have to work for a system to be performative in the long run.
The result: operators profit from new features regularly without having to replace devices. Because the best technology is that, which works without anyone having to worry about it.
