Valet SystemaHit at JAXOff AirportOperation


BY MELISSA BEAN STERZICK A 32


IRPORTS ARE UNIQUE AND challenging environments with heavy traffic, intense security requirements, complicated scheduling factors and thousands of customers under high


pressure. Officials at King OffAirport Parking in Jacksonville, FL,


had some specific factors to consider when they chose a valet operating system for their recent upgrade. Geography, finances, customer service and technologywere just a fewof the issues the company hoped to address. Besides all the expected functions of valet service,KingAir-


port Parking’s valet staff also must accommodate the challenges inherent to air travel. King selectedAutomatedValet to provide its valet technolo-


gy and installedAVPMMobile early this year. The system’s rev- enue control features cover every aspect of the operation from ticket inventory to employees’ schedules. Alex Sivar, King’s President and CEO, said his company


chose the system because of its user-friendly features and ability to reduce processing time. Since the installation, Sivar has seen positive changes at his facility. “A great deal of payroll hours have been saved, and our total


revenue and customer satisfaction have increased considerably over last year,” Sivar said. In addition, valetmanagement can oversee the site fromany-


where in the world over the Internet. Supervisors can prepare reports, complete payroll, and monitor employees and revenue from their offices miles away from the site. They also can read


APRIL 2009 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com


real-time reports fromthe valet facility’s operation board. The operation board is designed to track every transaction at


the facility, including employee entry and exit, receiving and delivery of cars, and,most important, the security and tracking of customers’ keys. Each vehicle and its keys are monitored from themoment they enter the valet system. Misplaced keys are reported, through audio and visual sig-


nals, to onsite and offsite staff if they are not delivered to the dis- patch area within 12 minutes of receipt. Lost keys had been a major cause of customer dissatisfaction, and the operation board technology is a successful preventivemeasure. KingAirport Parking staff use an offsite server, located at


AutomatedValet’s headquarters, to manage the operation. This mobile connection frees up space, easesmaintenance and simpli- fies geographical logistics at the airport’s receiving and delivery areas, but still allows the staff to process reservations, cars, keys, bills, and other work on-site. They use a POS system to initiate remote access and hand-


held devices to scan customer information, including vehicle identification number (VIN) decoding and recognition, automat- ed recording of previous damages, reservation details, flight information, service fees such as carwash and detail, tip amounts andmore. To speed the reservations and check-in processes and help


customers arrive on time for flights, there is an online reservation page connected to King’smain database. Credit card and flight information are recorded and available


when the customer arrives.At check-in, each online customer presents the valet with a customized “Parking boarding pass” with complete information about their flight and services requested, and the valet is able to insert this information by scan-


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