5, 4, 3, T2 Won!

As a suburbaner, I rarely frequent downtown Indy or areas with paid parking and public transportation. Working for a parking management software and technology company, my recent experience helped me understand the pains of our customers and their customers a little more intimately.

This week, I was downtown and decided to park in a garage because on-street parking is a recipe for a citation if you underestimate your time.

After my appointment, I was confused on how to pay for my parking. The signage was sparse and less than obvious.  By accident, I saw the pay on foot machine. And...of course, I lost my ticket! I pressed the Lost Ticket button...didn't work. I pressed the Help button...didn't work. A fellow next to me said, 'Go to the building next door and see Ray--he'll help you."

Ray said, "Go to the building two doors down and see Pam--she'll help you."

Pam said, "Press the Lost Ticket or Help button."

Fantastic.

Keep in mind I had been sick with a GI virus and desperately needed to use the restroom! Was there no way out of here? Could no one help me?! Why doesn't the equipment work? Where are the people?!! I was beginning to hate unattended parking.

I tried every trick short of tail-gating, including getting another ticket while on foot (of course that didn't work because I wasn't in a car). I just wanted out of this garage! My stomach was hurting, I needed to use the restroom and no one could help me!

Finally, after walking across multiple parking floor levels and from one end to the other, I gave it one more try, and the Help button worked. As it turned out, someone was not responding to the calls prior. The Lost Ticket button worked again, and I paid for a full day of parking rather than just 2 hours.

The point of this blog post is that parking can be a real nightmare for customers and employees if not managed properly. In this case, my experience could have been a lot better with:

1) Visible signage/clear communication

2) Functional equipment (i.e. Lost Ticket and Help buttons functioning)

3) Backups for when equipment didn't work (i.e. where do I go/what do I do?)

And....

After all the rigamorole, I found my barcode ticket two days later. Sigh....

Like many industries, parking should be the last thing your customers (patients, guests and staff) worry about.

With the escalated costs associated with developing and maintaining parking lots and garages, the need to control costs is more imperative than ever. 

Implementing a sophisticated parking system: When and Why
Healthcare facilities, particularly those in urban areas, should be proactive in their approach to parking cost containment. 

Moving toward centralized reporting and unified parking management is ideal for those medical facilties that:

• Need to control access to parking lots and garages
• Want to provide permitted and/or paid parking
• Monitor parking turnover and review historical trends for future expansion and construction planning, or
• Want to evaluate utilization or return on their parking investment

How does parking in the cloud control costs?
By allowing a vendor to host your parking solutions, you are able to take full advantage of economy of scale by eliminating the need for additional network hardware, monitoring and maintenance costs, or future technology investments. In addition, staff time required for IT administration is dramatically reduced or eliminated. 

PCI DSS compliance—why is it important?
Finding a vendor to host your solutions in a PCI DSS compliant hosting environment is crucial in giving your patients and guests peace of mind that their credit card data is secure. Just like HIPPA breaches, customer credit card data breaches are quite costly and detrimental to the organization's reputation. 

PCI DSS compliance is a lengthy and costly investment to undergo, and using a vendor who has achieved Level I compliance will allow you to sleep at night without the high dollar investment attached. 

The Baby Boomers
In previous decades, the aging population was a minority. With the Baby Boomers living longer and sustaining at more than 78+ million people, the need for hospital and medical center expansion is only going to rise in future years—and sooner rather than later. Hospitals are able to offset some of these expansion costs by using parking revenues to fund the investments, and monitoring how your facilities are used will enable accurate projections for future development.

Use robust reporting to monitor costs associated with cost centers and departments
When looking for ways to improve efficiencies and control costs in medical parking operations, look for a parking system vendor that is fully scalable for future growth and focuses on meeting your growing needs. Sophisticated data aggregation will be key in aligning costs with cost centers and departments.

So, I've been with T2 Systems for 12 days now. I've jumped in feet first, and the water is great, folks!

I spent my second week at the 2011 T2 Systems User Group 'Training Camp' Conference. The event registration and information desk was, at times, the social hot spot. There was no better place to be to hear what people had to say about this conference.

As attendees went to their sessions, I took some notes on what people were sharing with me. I wanted to know, "What's all the buzz about this conference?".  After 4 long days of informative sessions, social gatherings, celebrations, training, and networking, it finally "clicked".

The Top 5 Reasons to attend a T2 User Group Conference:

5. Impress your boss. After the conference, return home with cost saving or revenue generating solutions. Most people told me that they learned functionality and solutions that they didn't know prior to the conference.  

4. Join the T2 Community. Find out what other organizations are doing and how they use Flex. One of the most amazing things I witnessed as a newcomer to the conference was the camaraderie among all of the T2 customers and staff. [PS- T2 throws a great party!]

3. You don't know what you don't know about parking management software. I must have had over 100 people cross the registration desk telling me "Wow! I had no idea I could do that with Flex [or other services]".

2. Build relationships. Get face-to-face time with account managers, T2 thought leaders and most importantly--industry peers. [also see #4]

1. I overheard a long-term customer say, "You really can't afford not to go".