Does back-to-school mean parking struggles and vehicle queues? It’s time for a TagMaster NA AVI solution.
School is back in session as we return to our new normal. Post COVID-19, it is predicted that campuses will continue to see an increased number of single-occupant vehicles continuing to return to campus. With new rules, lot closures, an emphasis on touch-free solutions and updates to parking permits, having a smart, cost-effective and efficient technology is more critical than ever. Investing in a smart solution like TMNA’s RFID and LPR ensures a truly tailored solution for your university parking with the highest ROI and lowest TCO.
An automatic vehicle identification (AVI) solution improves the parking experience for everyone on campus, from students and faculty to parking enforcement officers. Outdated parking systems like manual ticketing and proximity readers can create traffic congestion and lead to unsatisfied (and late) students, faculty and staff. Not only that, but it is not uncommon for unauthorized vehicles to fill a lot that’s meant to be reserved for a specific group of parkers, such as faculty, staff or student parking.
AVI solves these common parking problems by providing hands-free vehicle access to authorized vehicles, and automatically denying access to unauthorized vehicles. In this way, AVI ensures available parking for credentialed users, streamlines parking management, and allows you to maximize your ROI, while at the same time providing the comfort, safety and expediency of hands-free vehicle access.
AVI 101: How Can AVI Benefit Your University?
There are two main technologies to choose from when selecting your AVI solution: radiofrequency identification (RFID) and license plate recognition (LPR).
- RFID involves a transponder or tag mounted onto a vehicle, and an RFID reader with an antenna that detects the tag’s signal and forwards the tag’s ID information to an access or revenue system. TagMaster NA’s RFID solutions provide unparalleled accuracy, flexibility and performance. [Learn more]
- LPR uses a vehicle’s license plate as its access credential. LPR involves an intelligent camera that captures an image of a vehicle’s plate. The camera then uses the image to process the license plate characters, and forwards the license plate ID to an access or revenue system. TagMaster NA provides fixed-mount LPR solutions, with color and infrared cameras for reliable accuracy 24/7. [Learn more]
Gated and gateless applications are easily managed with LPR, RFID, or a combined solution. How can a TagMaster NA RFID or LPR solution improve your campus’s security, safety, and revenue? Here are 4 ways:
1) Efficient parking access
Ever leave home early just to spend forever waiting for a parking spot and end up arriving to your destination late? This is a common reality for people who study or work at college campuses – but an AVI solution makes parking faster and easier.
Increase parking space availability.
AVI with RFID or LPR alleviates the frustrations of on-campus parking in numerous ways. First, AVI allows you to reserve parking areas and restrict access to authorized parkers—and it enforces these parking restrictions automatically. This leads to improved availability of parking spaces, so students, faculty and staff can count on finding parking in their designated lots, without having to drive around endlessly looking for an open space.
Reduce congestion and increase throughput speed.
In addition to parking availability, AVI with RFID or LPR is a hands-free access solution; it verifies a vehicle’s credentials without requiring human intervention, meaning drivers don’t have to fumble for any identification cards or roll down their windows to interact with a guard. This means faster entrance times and reduced congestion, so parkers don’t have to line up in vehicle queues waiting to enter a parking garage. And because automatic vehicle identification and access control is far more reliable than a manual system, it streamlines operations and traffic flow.
2) Improve parking enforcement
Create restricted parking areas and validate credentials automatically.
A TagMaster NA AVI solution makes it possible to restrict designated parking areas to specific groups of parkers. Because the system grants or denies access automatically, credential validation is fast, efficient and reliable. Parking enforcement personnel don’t have to spend time manually granting access or validating parking credentials.
Simplified reporting streamlines enforcement and billing.
Additionally, a TagMaster NA AVI solution can allow you to access reports remotely, so it’s easy for parking officials to review the data collected for billing, enforcement and violations, improving parking enforcement and saving time and costs.
Customize the RFID tags.
As an added benefit, TagMaster NA offers customizable options for RFID tags. Ultra-high frequency (UHF) tags can be customized to include the colors and logo of a university. These can be used as an additional advantage for parking enforcement. Different parking areas can even be assigned their own easy-to-identify tag designs and colors with lot coding designations and validation dates, greatly enhancing the parking enforcement officer’s job with easy visual aids.
3) Maximize your ROI and minimize your TCO
A reliable solution enables data-driven decisions.
When it comes to parking revenue, a reliable parking identification system is a must. A TagMaster NA AVI system provides unparalleled performance and reliability for optimal parking visibility. This means you can count on your system to give you reliable data that allows you to make well-informed, data-driven decisions. Use the data collected by our systems for billing, revenue tracking, budget planning and accountability for parking enforcement, fees and violations.
Encourage and increase on-campus parking.
Additionally, an efficient and convenient parking system can encourage students to park on campus instead of seeking off-campus parking. RFID and LPR systems increase satisfaction when it comes to parking, so more people find it worth their while to invest in on-campus parking for easier, faster and more convenient access to campus resources.
Reduce the cost of parking enforcement.
AVI also reduces the time and cost of parking enforcement. Because credential validation happens automatically, campus security and parking officers can enforce parking regulations more efficiently and reliably.
Minimize your TCO.
An important aspect of TagMaster NA’s RFID and LPR solutions is that they offer the lowest possible total cost of ownership (TCO). Our solutions can seamlessly integrate with new or existing access or revenue systems, lowering installation time and costs. Our solutions are highly customizable, scalable to suit numerous applications with diverse requirements, and allow you to minimize your TCO and maximize your ROI.
4) Prioritize security and safety
Protect parkers, vehicles, equipment and valuables.
Security and safety are principal concerns for college campuses. A reliable RFID or LPR solution for vehicle access control can fulfill an important role in providing increased security and safety. With hands-free AVI, campuses can help protect students, vehicles, parking equipment, and valuable possessions such as books, tablets and computers.
Hands-free access means drivers can keep the windows rolled up.
Colleges often have “emergency buttons” and phones stationed all over campus for students to use when their safety is threatened, but parking lots and garages remain vulnerable areas. Students using the library late at night, heading to late evening classes, or athletes attending early morning practices at the gym shouldn’t need to roll down their windows or exit their vehicle when entering a lot. Because RFID and LPR solutions are hands-free, students don’t have to stop their vehicles or roll down their windows to gain access to parking areas, keeping students safer.
Decrease instances of collisions, and reduce damage and liability.
Additionally, hands-free access increases driver focus and decreases instances of collisions with other vehicles or equipment, reducing damage and liability. And when students leave valuables in their vehicles, those items are safer in a parking area that restricts access to vehicles with authorized credentials.
Check out some of our university case studies:
TagMaster North America, Inc. is a leading provider of identification solutions, offering dual platforms of long-range radio frequency identification (RFID) and automatic license plate recognition (LPR) along with stand-alone and customizable software solutions. Collective technologies provide convenient and reliable platforms for automatic vehicle identification (AVI) and rail-bound applications throughout the Americas. TagMaster North America’s breadth of identification solutions are able to increase security, decrease environmental impact and add value to actualize and simplify vehicle access control for a wide array of projects. For more information on TagMaster products, support and services, contact us at Info@TagMasterNA.com | P: 253.238.1421
