The Advantages of License Plate Reader (LPR) Technology for Real-Estate

The world is always changing. By and large, inventions and innovations have always been a driving force for the world’s prosperity. Today, technology and artificial intelligence have allowed us to push through boundaries and imagine greater possibilities than ever before. With these advancements, the parking industry has also drastically changed to facilitate parking, make safety a priority, and give property management a sense of security they didn’t know existed before. With technological strides in parking management and real estate technology, License Plate Reading (LPR) tech has reached a point where it’s being put to use in hundreds of cities nationwide. Real-estate owners and property managers, are you wondering what are the advantages of LPR? Keep on reading below!

What exactly is LPR?

 To put it simply, License Plate Reading (LPR) technology uses advanced cameras to read and validate the sequence of numbers and letters on a car’s license plate. With AI and advanced analytics, LPR provides consistent and accurate readings of license plates. Weather and other uncontrollable elements are now no longer an issue in the reading license plate sequence. Due to these advancements, LPR is not just a tool for law enforcement, it is also a tool for property managers in commercial settings. Without a doubt, LPR has been changing city parking for parkers and parking management for the better. LPR is also widely referred to as Automatic number-plate recognition.

Advantages of LPR for Parking Management

 LPR has managed to bring a much-needed update to an antiquated system for parking management. Gone are the days of unhappy customers and constant headaches. LPR has provided an increase in oversight and security, has simplified parking management, and provided an easier experience for parkers. Some benefits for parking management include:

- Increase in Security

 LPR has increased security across the board. With the use of LPR technology, the cameras only allow authorized vehicles to enter, collect all data and record every entry and exit of each vehicle, and serve as a fundamental crime deterrent. One of the biggest issues facing parking management is dealing with incidents caused by unauthorized parkers. With LPR, unauthorized vehicles can no longer park in the lot, and additionally, people are less likely to commit crimes on the property due to cameras. The security that LPR provides does not just benefit the property and parking management, it also benefits the parkers. This added sense of security will undoubtedly provide peace of mind for both management and vehicle owners. 

- Simplified Enforcement

 Constantly having to monitor which vehicles have paid and which have not is a continuous grievance for parking management. Have you ever accidentally towed the wrong vehicle and had to swallow those costs? Let’s leave those days behind us! LPR simplifies parking enforcement so much that parking management no longer has to patrol their lots for unauthorized vehicles. With LPR, not only does the system know which vehicles to allow in and out of the premises, but it also keeps track of each customer’s parking window. When the parking window is coming to a close, both the parker and parking management will receive a notification. ParqEx’s Enforcer App connects everything to the LPR product (Access + Premium with LPR), which gives parking management all the tools necessary to enforce their rules.

- Streamlines Management

 LPR technology has managed to save property managers time and also simplify communication between the property management team. The ParqEx Management Platform allows anyone (with authorized access) on the management team to access and control the parking facility through the parking management tools on their desktop or smartphones. Now, every authorized member of the management team can access information on which vehicles have entered and exited the property, add or remove parking tenants, and manage guest parking. 

- Eliminates Tickets/Passes Along With Ticket Swapping

 With LPR, as vehicles are admitted onto the premises based on their license plate, tickets and passes are no longer necessary. Not only does this save time but it also saves money for parking management. The expenses that add up for tickets, fobs, and passes are costly and are one of the most immediate benefits of LPR. In the same breath, LPR eliminates the nuisance of ticket swapping. Ticket swapping is hard to manage and can be extremely frustrating and costly for parking management. Additionally, pretending to have lost a ticket, some customers might have paid for a day’s worth at a cheaper rate than the number of hours they would have actually been in the structure. Thanks to LPR, ticket swapping and ticket loss is no longer a possibility.

- Increased Asset Utilization

 As LPR allows a seamless entry and exit, there is less time being wasted. With less idle time being spent upon entry and exit of the facility, customers can come and go while your parking facility processes a greater number of transactions and operates at a greater capacity.

- Reduced Vehicle Pollution

 With less idle time when entering and exiting the premises, there is a substantial decrease in vehicle pollution that negatively impacts the parking facility. As LPR helps save time, the vehicle pollution buildup that affects the ventilation of your parking structure is minimized. Less pollution is an additional benefit to your customers’ parking experience.

- Satisfied Customers

 LPR makes customers’ parking experience incredibly simple. The ease of entry and exit along with smart payment options offered by the LPR system promise a happy customer experience with hopes of their return to the parking facilities. In an age where we are used to immediate gratification, LPR provides that for parking.

Advantages of LPR for Parkers

 LPR is a new simplified way for parkers to enter and exit parking facilities. Overall, LPR provides a safe, secure, efficient, and easy parking experience for customers. Here are a few benefits for parkers that LPR provides:

- Security

 LPR manages to eliminate parking concerns for all parkers. As only authorized vehicles are allowed to come and go, it gives people peace of mind when they walk away from their car for the day. 

- Contactless Entry

 With the ever-present continued threat of COVID-19, people are rightfully concerned for their health and safety. Customers are looking for minimal contact with others along with minimal contact with public surfaces. One of the biggest benefits of smart parking for the overall health of customers and parking management is the fact that LPR is 100% contactless. Users and parking management no longer have to worry about potential exposure to the virus along with any other pandemic affected by a new virus in the future. Customers are able to come and go from the parking facility without touching anything more than their car. 

- Reduced Traffic and Wait Time

 LPR solutions have increased the efficiency of parking in that parkers no longer have to interact with a kiosk or a member of the parking management team. LPR allows authorized users to enter and exit immediately upon recognizing the license plate. Long lines upon entrance and exit are eliminated. Similarly, there is no longer a need to wait at pay stations or kiosks. Customers are now able to pay for parking via their smartphones before even leaving their parking spot. 

- Convenient Payment

 Have you ever found yourself ready to pay for your parking at the pay station only to realize you left your ticket on the dashboard of your car? Annoying instances such as these are eliminated with the LPR system as users now have the option to pay for their parking on their smartphones. To even further simplify the payment process, ParqEx connects their LPR technology (Access + Premium with LPR) with their payment platform (Marketplace). With LPR and ParqEx’s Marketplace, parking payment has evolved from the annoyance of finding a physical pay station to now being able to pay on their phone.

- No Paper Tickets

 With LPR, as users are tracked by their license plates, parkers no longer have to worry about tickets being lost or left somewhere.

- Automatic Entry

 Through the use of LPR, authorized parkers can enter and exit as soon as they pull up to the gate. Customers no longer have to worry about fobs, tickets, clickers, or even kiosks. Additionally, parkers don’t have to worry about their fobs or clickers being lost or not working. Lost fobs and clickers are expensive to replace. LPR eliminates all these additional problems. 

Advantages of LPR In Use - CASE STUDIES

 ParqEx has experienced success in installing LPR parking solutions as part of their Access + Premium package. A recent example of ParqEx’s success with LPR parking technology is at Lacuna Lofts in Chicago’s Lower West Side. Lacuna Lofts is a shared workspace and also serves as a venue for events. Before installing ParqEx’s solutions, Lacuna Lofts experienced a lot of unauthorized users parking in their lot. After the successful installation of LPR and Access + Premium, Lacuna Lofts has experienced newfound security along with an increase in revenue.

 Want to learn more and see “The Advantages of LPR”? Download our Lacuna Lofts case study.

Inquire about ParqEx Access+ Premium with LPR solution

 LPR technology solves current operational challenges faced by parking real-estate while also preparing for the future! It solves countless problems while providing several benefits. It also increases revenue and reduces costs. ParqEx’s Access + Premium with License Plate Recognition technology has proven to be successful and is available. If you think that your parking facility is in need of LPR, reach out to ParqEx for more information on how we can help transform your parking facility.