SCP15 PARKING
APT Skidata upgrades at the Bullring
Birmingham’s Bullring is harnessing the latest IT and hardware to offer an enhanced parking experience for shoppers at one of the UK’s most-visited shopping centres
he APT 450 parking technology had been in operation since the opening of Bullring in 2003 following the redevelopment of the 40-acre site by the Birmingham Alliance. “In that time countless vehicles have passed successfully through our barriers,” says Ian Crumpton, accounts and administration manager at Bullring. “Now, with the developments in the IT and network infrastructure that supports the parking system, there are clearly good grounds for an upgrade.” Over the years Crumpton and his team have built up considerable experience and knowledge of what shoppers want from parking and had a good idea of what they wanted to achieve with a new parking system. “It has to offer a stable platform and has to be future-proof,” he says.
T Bullring has three car parks – the centre’s own car park, Selfridges
Moor Street car park and the Debenhams Edgbaston Street car park. Some might opt to carry out an upgrade in phases, but Bullring saw the benefits of completing work in one go. “It was important to keep the disruption to a minimum so that visitors were not inconvenienced, and the best way to protect future revenue was to have the system operating as quickly as possible,” Crumpton says. In a project lasting three months, a new secure Ethernet network
has been installed, which offers improved network management and allows future system upgrades to be completed. All 22 pay stations have been replaced with a combination of APT Skidata’s PowerCash and CreditCash stations with Chip & PIN payment. A new communications system has also been installed with a
digital voiceover IP intercom from APT Skidata’s partner Commend UK. Help points with a built-in loudspeaker and microphone at the pay stations and barriers at key locations within the car parks have been replaced. The advanced intercom technology monitors ambient noise levels and automatically adjusts the microphone signal to suppress
background noise. This provides enhanced clarity so that both the shopper and the operator can hear one another clearly. The rationale behind all of the new technology installed is to
give visitors the facilities they want – and often expect. For example, Crumpton had been seeing a slight but continual increase in the proportion of payments being made via credit card, which is why the smaller EasyCredit stations have been installed alongside the new robust PowerCash units. They offer the same proven technology but only accept tickets for visitors opting for card payment – in turn accelerating the payment process and avoiding long queues. “Since the upgrade, we have seen the queues reduced at peak times due to the speed of cashless payment handling,” Crumpton says. “And shoppers have commented on the improved environment since the lobby areas have been completely redecorated.” APT Skidata’s latest Windows-based parking system has extended
Crumpton’s insight into the car park operation and provides Bullring’s management team with maximum flexibility for validations, season ticket parker controls and third party loyalty card integrations. “The reporting offers a great deal more detail with a full audit trail
of cash transactions,” he says. “There are of course functionalities within the software that I have not yet explored but we know that it has the potential to ease things going forward. “For our operators monitoring the car park there was a slight
learning curve, as you find with all new technology. However, with good training from APT Skidata - and as we have become more familiar with the system - the general feeling is that it is now much easier to operate and manage.”
Find out more: For more information, please contact the author:
mia.hunt@
jldmedia.com
www.shopping-centre.co.uk June 2011 SHOPPING CENTRE
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