IPI Awash with Technology at Annual Event in Phoenix
By John Van Horn
The IPI Conference & Expo promised parking technology, and it met its promise. Nearly 225 companies presented their wares June 10-13 at the Phoenix Convention Center. There were two distinct themes that I felt this year. One had to do with hands-on technology that is available now; the other was an underlying feeling of slight discomfort coming from manufacturers. Let’s take the second one first.
Change is coming rapidly to the technology side of the parking industry. The use of personal handheld devices (smartphones, PDAs, tablets, iPads, etc.) and their ability to communicate information about money and identity is beginning to run roughshod over what we might consider “typical” access and revenue control equipment. The idea that garages can be run without pay-on-foot machines, gates, ticket dispensers, exit readers and complex central computers is beginning to be considered, mostly in hushed tones, in the labs and boardrooms of the major suppliers. As one senior executive put it to me: “If Google can sell you theater tickets, knows where you are going and how to get you there, knows where all the parking garages are, and has control over your pocketbook, then why can’t they provide access to garages, collect any monies due, and provide that money, for a small fee, to the garage owner? That technology is here today. What do they need us for?”
The other main theme had to do with available hands-on technology.
Digital Printing System’s CEO Peter Young, JVH, Digital’s Susan Cole and IPI Parking Professional of the year, Tim Haahs’ Rachael Yoka’
Whereas last year every company booth was jammed
with “sustainable” this and “green” that, it was not as apparent this year.
Automated License Plate
Recognition – A large number of companies had ALPR integrated into their systems. In some cases, it was used primarily in enforcement, but more and more, the extreme accuracy of the software enables it to be used as an access and fee collection device for garages. No gate or ticket necessary, just
capture the license number on entry – enter it at the POF – pay your fee and leave. “Clouds” – The revenue control booths were nearly filled with mist as cloud based systems were prevalent. The other revenue control companies paid homage to those white fluffy things in the sky, too. The change in the business model for central computer systems is here. It was in the tens of millions. This change in business model, the idea that you no longer own the equipment and software that run the processing portion of your facility, is here.
License plate recognition was evident in many booths.
Less ‘Green’-More Business Model – Whereas last year every company booth was jammed with “sustainable” this and “green” that, it was not as apparent this year. Of course, if you searched for it, you could find an EV charger hidden in the corner or a “green calculator” running to show how an AVI or parking guidance system would save the world. A recession-hammered market is concerned about savings and how a particular system or innovation is good business. Does it help your carbon footprint? Perhaps, but that’s not what’s on the minds of buyers and sellers. For them, it’s the bottom line, baby.
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