News - Magazine Article

Next Parking Chooses Customized Automation for 2 Chicago Properties

Next Parking, with a long-term goal of extending its reach in the parking industry, has a real incentive to find the best technology for its locations.With 10 parking operations in addition to its numerous retail development and residential holdings, there is no time to waste experimenting with parking systems.

“We have valet, self-park and airport locations – our needs are highly specific,” Executive Vice President Robert Caplin said. “We need technology that will help us provide excellent service and protect our revenue.”

The Chicago-based company recently installed fullyautomated technology by Automated Valet at two of its Chicago valet operations. The sites are geographically complex, with intense traffic factors and varied patterns of use. The rate tables also are complicated by the use of monthly contracts, validations, coupons, discounts, governmentissue passes and the city’s bracket-based tax system.

The need for attention to detail and Next Parking’s desire to keep staff numbers low required total automation without a hitch. After much research, Caplin chose the system with applications for monthly parker billing, remote monitoring and reporting, Biometric payroll, validation tracking, and much more.

The sites are fully automated and almost paperless. Valets have handheld scanning units that decode VINs, make, model, color and location of the vehicle. The scanning procedure also recognizes VIP customers, coupons, validations and customer’s special requests. This automation is designed to provide absolute revenue control and eliminates hundreds of man-hours.

The Garage Entry System, another feature Next Parking chose for its locations, provides security for guests and revenue by controlling entry and exit. Valets are identified by AVPM monitoring when they drop off and pick up vehicles. In turn, vehicles are not released to the customer if payment has not been made.

Also, Caplin said, the system has streamlined management of these sites by providing real-time reporting access. He can run a report on anything from revenue to payroll from anywhere he travels. Automated Valet also gives Caplin 24/7 tech support that has saved him money and keeps the facilities running without pause.

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