Number Recognition Parking Payment System to be used for the First Time in Ireland
15 August 2007
ParkMagic, the Irish mobile payment and wireless technology company has developed a new parking payment system using number plate recognition technology. The new number recognition payment system will enable customers to park in barrier-controlled car parks as well as on the street, and represents the first ever application of this technology for parking payment in Ireland.
Limerick based ParkMagic has teamed up with Euro Car Parks to operate its new parking payment system in Steamboat Quay multi-storey car park in Limerick City. This will be followed by a rollout to other barrier controlled car parks around the country in the next year.
ParkMagic customers will no longer need to make that awkward manoeuvre to pull tickets at the barrier. As with the on-street service offered by ParkMagic, the new car park service will remove the need for cash and the inconvenience and time taken to queue to pay.
To use this service, customers will be asked to register their licence plate with ParkMagic. A camera on the entry and exit lanes of the car park will read a customer’s car registration plate, recognise them as a ParkMagic customer and lift the barriers automatically. The hourly charge will be deducted from the customer’s ParkMagic account. Customers can print off statements online which will allow them to track usage and business users will be able to bill the cost of their parking to their expense accounts.
Brian Geoghegan, chairman of ParkMagic said: "Initially, the new number plate recognition service will be available in the multi-storey car park in Steamboat Quay in Limerick. ParkMagic is aiming to operate in ten further barrier controlled car parks within a year, yielding a revenue of approximately €460,000 for the company."
According to Paul Fitzgerald, CEO of ParkMagic, "We are delighted to offer this new service to our customers and our joint venture with Euro Car Parks demonstrates the exciting new possibilities which our parking technology can bring to the market. We are committed to offering convenience and simplicity in terms of service to our customers and are continuously seeking new ways of doing this."
ABOUT PARKMAGIC
ParkMagic is an Irish registered private company that offers a range of integrated payment services for public and private parking operators. Solutions cover both on-street and off-street operations and seamlessly interoperate with each other.
ParkMagic was founded in Limerick in 2005 by Philip Hayes and Paul Fitzgerald. The company opened its US office in 2006 and a UK office earlier this year. ParkMagic recently won the contract to implement its mobile parking payment system in the commercial downtown area of Chicago.
The company employs 15 people and is now recruiting to double this number to 30 people. The company is in negotiations with a number of local authorities around the country to expand the availability of its service nationwide. This will provide Ireland with a standardised parking payment system where the customer can park in every city or town without the need to coin feed meters or waste time looking to buy parking discs.
Its Mobile Parking Service (MPS) is the world's first in-car parking permit display system controlled using a mobile phone. When the driver pulls into a parking spot on the street, they dial one number from their mobile phone and within seconds the in-car display unit indicates that parking has been paid.
ParkMagic services are fully managed and use the latest in proven parking technologies for the motorist and an easy to manage, revenue efficient, solution for parking operators. The design philosophy behind ParkMagic services revolves around simplicity, convenience of use and cost-effectiveness.
