Sep 10, 2023
Why you should care about parking management
In short: it could save time, and money, be a source of revenue, and majorly
In short: it could save time, and money, be a source of revenue, and majorly improve the security of fleet vehicles and facilities.
Many corporations provide parking for employees, visitors, and fleet vehicles on facilities adjacent to their offices. The use of this land is sometimes shared with other companies. Management of it could be the responsibility of the building landlord, a lead corporation in the facility, or a facilities management company. Whichever way, car parking is a contentious issue and one that fleet managers may need to be involved in, particularly as the world moves towards electrification of transport, and facilities must now offer charging points.
The global pandemic lockdowns of 2020/21 were probably the first time in a long time that corporate car parking real estate stood empty for long periods. The COVID chapter has since heralded new ways of operating, working from home, for example, or hybrid working (partly at home and partly in the office). During COVID, although road traffic decreased significantly across Europe, parking moved from offices to residential areas as more people worked from home.
If car parking space is not managed smartly, all sorts of problems can ensue:
The financial cost to corporations should not be overlooked. Employees driving around looking for a parking space are not being productive. Compounded over time, this could equate to a significant amount of lost productivity. It could also come in the form of lost business. A surefire way to damage the relationship with a potential client in the early days is to annoy or cause frustration. This will happen if you invite them to your premises and they can't find a parking space.
So, a parking management system is the answer. This allows corporations, landlords, or facility management companies to organise, manage and control parking activities. This is a software and app-based system that helps to streamline the entire parking process and uses automated and contactless technology to enable employees to book and assign designated parking spaces for themselves and visitors. It integrates with video surveillance and image capture systems to monitor the comings and goings of all vehicles visiting the facility.
Using the software, parking system administrators can set and enforce parking rules: who gets assigned a parking spot, which car registrations are recognised as authorised, and issuing passes for frequent visitors. In terms of security, the system also allows you to log all registrations of vehicles that have entered and exited the site.
There are other advantages of parking management systems for fleets, which include:
For fleet managers, parking management systems can be integrated with fleet equipment management systems, like Fleetio, to help track and monitor the use and whereabouts of small fleet equipment and power tools. This is all about controlling and managing assets, whether fleet vehicles, tools, or facilities.
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