SKIDATA: Service Released
28 November 2005
Pushing the frontiers of system development for parking management and revenue control, access specialist SKIDATA™ has packed the latest software release for its APT 450 system with a host of features that harness the most advanced technologies for the benefit of the parking customer.
With the introduction of release 17 for its parking system APT 450, SKIDATA demonstrates a clear focus and dedication to the principle of customer satisfaction as the key to success in professional off-street parking. "Professional parking is moving closer to the parking customer," says SKIDATA Business Segment Manager Dirk Fox. "Clearly, the future of the industry is in providing additional services that go beyond the mere renting of parking space, whether that's vehicle servicing or check-in support at the airport garage or valet services at the hotel car park." The latest SKIDATA software release offers many advantages in this respect:
INTEGRATED HOTEL PARKING
The SKIDATA parking system interfaces with the hotel management software, allowing payment of the parking charges with the hotel bill. As an added benefit, the captured transaction details can be used for CRM purposes, helping hotel management in fostering guest relationships. Also, the SKIDATA parking permits are issued in the form of contactless cards and can therefore double as electronic hotel door keys for even greater convenience.
"SHOP & GO"
With this release SKIDATA introduces a new set of "Shop & Go" features designed to meet the specific parking requirements of shopping centres. Shop & Go functions provide integration with the shops' cashiering systems to allow convenient payment of the parking charges at the checkout. The system also supports validation for free or discounted parking, including features such as multiple validation at different shops and combination with customer loyalty cards.
VALET SERVICE PARKING
Enhanced consumer service is also the idea behind the newly introduced integrated valet parking support. This ensures seamless integration of valet systems into APT 450, allowing both valet charges and parking fees to be paid through the SKIDATA system. As a result, operators can offer additional services such as valet parking, car washing, vehicle maintenance or similar services for parking customers while maintaining full revenue transparancy.
Additional features include a technical interface offering full support of the latest EMV (Eurocard, Mastercard, VISA) credit card standards for integration of EMV terminals with PIN pads, and many useful functions such as refund management for cancelled credit card transactions and extended data archiving for long-term statistics.
