Last week, I had the opportunity to attend Training Camp, T2's annual User Group Conference, in Indianapolis! In attendance at Training Camp this year were players from across the United States. I had the pleasure of meeting customers from California to Vermont, Wisconsin to Texas, and just about everywhere else in between. We even had a customer or two attend from as far away as Alaska.
All of these players came to Training Camp to learn more about T2 Flex, network with their peers in the industry and have plenty of fun along the way.
As I sat in on the different training sessions each day, I was astounded by the knowledge transfer that was taking place in front of me. The T2 employees provided all kinds of useful information about the different functionality inside T2 Flex. Topics ranged from Parking Citation Collections to Campus Parking Solutions, Handheld Ticket Writers, and Parking Permit Management. Customers would often make comments like, "Wow! I did not know you could do that in Flex!" or "I can't wait to get back to show my employees these new tricks in Flex!"
In the sessions, I also noticed how customers would take the time to help each other. Many times, a customer would present a problem they had at their specific college, municipality, university, city etc., and another customer in the room would have an answer to their problem. Questions were resolved, best practices were shared, and connections were made in a matter of seconds. I can't count how many times I saw things like this happen at User Group.
Finally, after spending long days learning about T2 Flex and networking with their peers, our customers got to have some fun. At the customer party, they got to try out their passing skills, shooting abilities, and bowling prowess while supporting the Special Olympics of Indiana and hanging out with T2 staff and customers. Oh, and there were a few thirst-quenching beverages for all of our hard work throughout the week, of course!
Facilitating the Asset Management class at T2's User Group always proves to be a learning experience - even for the instructor. This year I was happy to see the turn out was as good as it was a few years ago when I taught the class. In those few years, T2's Asset Management module, which is part of of the
T2 Flex parking system software, has evolved quite a bit. It now includes automatic assigned work order responsibilities and scheduling for reoccuring work orders.
We discussed ways to become more unified in how we use T2's advanced parking solution during the session. Many customers also take advantage of T2's Parking Access and Revenue Control solution, Handheld Ticket Writers, and Event Parking Management solution. With the Asset Management module, users can now track the hardware and other assets used for those solutions!
Tracking regular maintenance of parking garage equipment, handheld ticket writers, customer self service kiosks, even elevators and vehicles with T2 Flex's Asset Management makes our customers live's easier, and nothing feels better than that. Asset Management in T2 Flex conveniently maintains the scheduling for an asset to be used with an event or scheduling regular maintenance or a repair as it prompts the user when a schedule conflict occurs.
Many of T2's customers were also excited about taking another approach at being unified in that they could use the T2 Flex Report Scheduler to send automatic notifcations to workers about assets they manage that require maintenance. Even better is the fact that parking enforcement officers can enter, maintain, and close work orders (including attaching photos!) right on the handheld ticket writer!
Becoming unified means becoming more efficient with your parking system software.
After 7 years of working in a major retailer's IT department, I decided I needed a change of pace. While I built up some great relationships with my coworkers, the work itself was monotonous. I needed to work on something bigger and more creative. So when I got a call from one my friends who worked at T2 Systems, I was curious. Two of my friends had left my current company to work there, so I'd heard a lot about the awesome T2 culture. But how would it benefit my career as an Application Developer? How complicated could software that lets you in and out of garages be? I mean, you drive up, press a button, and get a ticket, right? Turns out, there is a whole lot more involved than just that! This week has been eye-opening as I've learned about everything our main product, T2 Flex, does. It is a single unified parking solution covering everything from parking access and revenue control to parking permit management to even handheld ticket writers. It is all highly advanced and fascinating to learn about.
So how will this move benefit my career? T2 has taken pains to stay ahead of the curb--I mean curve--in the industry, and the technology that makes all of those things possible is innovative and interesting. I'm now able to develop and code with experts in the field using software and technology that is industry-leading, be challenged by my work, and have opportunities to be creative!
So now I'm shifting gears and looking forward to the future with T2!
I was the lucky T2 Systems representative today at a ribbon-cutting ceremony that marked the launch of new pay-by-phone services in the City of Houston, Texas. And by lucky - I do mean that! It was a pleasure to meet so many great people - our great customers at the city, our great Parkmobile partners, and Houston Mayor Annise Parker.
For those cities and municipalities out there that may be looking to upgrade and improve your parking solution and your parking management, Houston is an excellent example to look to. A T2 customer for a little over two years, Houston uses the T2 parking enforcement (parking citation) and parking permit management solution. However, the city understands that in order to get more people to its thriving - and beautfiul - downtown area, they need to make parking easy and convenient.
Now drivers can pay for parking through their cell phone. During my very short comments at the event today, I mentioned how our mobile phones are so much a part of our lives; we surf the net, we check e-mail, and we make purchases. Why not use them to pay for parking? The City of Houston - and many other cities - have embraced this technology whole-heartedly, and their constituents are better off for it.
But this solution doesn't just make life easy for customers - it makes life a little easier for the enforcement officers, too! Information about the status of the parking meters is sent to their T2 handheld ticket writers in real-time, making enforcement officers more efficient and reducing errors. It's a great, integrated parking enforcement system that benefits the parking operation and the city's constituents.
Occasionally I still find it funny that I work in parking. The parking industry is something we sometimes take for granted, but it was great to see that my colleagues and my great customers in Houston - as well as city officials - understand the importance of how parking, when managed properly, can make a night out, a shopping visit, or a walk downtown not only hassle-free, but super convenient, too.
Great job Houston and Parkmobile!
Let's face it: when you think parking, the first thing that jumps to mind is not great service. Very rarely is parking a great experience for us. We rarely score the perfect spot by the exit or by the stairwell. When you need to go back and feed the meter, you often find the ticket writer lurking nearby waiting for your meter to expire. And we are never ready for the cost when the cashier tells us the total when we exit the garage.
What if we encountered a smile on our parking adventures? How would that change your outlook? What if that ticket writer said hello and talked about the weather without circling waiting for your meter to expire. What if the cashier at the exit was engaged and not annoyed that you interrupted their perusal of the National Enquirer? You just might seek out that parking lot the next time you were in the area, and perhaps the experience would be an enjoyable one.
I'm happy to say that working at T2 puts a smile on my face, and as VP of Support Services, I hope my work does the same for you.
If your parking lot is full of ghosts, then you've got a problem. But you've got a bigger problem on your hands if your lot isn't full at all.
Luckily, T2 Flex has the hutzpah to deliver quality solutions for all your parking woes. From handheld ticket writers and access and revenue control systems to online payment systems, collections services, and parking permit software, the
T2 Flex unified platform equips users with the power to fill their lots with real cars, not ghosts. And, thanks to the powerful reporting capabilities our data wharehouse enables, users can better understand their opperation, optimizing the resources they have and identifying oportunities for growth down the line.
So, if you have a friend with ghosts in their lot, don't tell them to call the ghostbusters. Tell them to Call T2 (317.524.5500).
I just passed my four-year mark working in parking. After nearly nineteen years in banking, it took me a while to really understand. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a long, long way from being prepared to sit for the CAPP test, but I think I can honestly say "I get it" when taking about Parking Access and Revenue Control, Parking Garage Software, Handheld Ticket Writers, and a lot of what goes into managing them.
For me, all that complexity translates back to computing systems that talk to all of those advanced parking solutions that are out there in the world dealing with all of the parkers. Even in the summer when many of T2's customers that use our software as a campus parking solution are at a relatively low volume of parkers, we're seeing around 20,000 transactions a day amounting to around a million dollars and that's just for our customers that use our hosted parking system software. A similar number run their own computer systems running T2's parking software.
Each of those transactions generated has a "footprint" on the servers that we use to host. They translate to memory usage, CPU usage, and disk reads/writes. As a geek and a numbers guy, it is absolutely fascinating to watch the metrics as the complex transactions are processed and completed. The main reason we monitor everything that goes on in our Hosting Environment so that we can make sure there's enough hardware to support all of our customers efficiently and well, but I still think all of those metrics are just plain cool.
Happy Parking.
So I was one of those folks that stood in line to buy an iPad 2. I've never been one to do that kind of thing, but this thing just looked cool to me. It is cooler than I ever expected. It has changed the way I access the online world. That got me thinking...
How many of the consumers that are accessing the parker side of T2's enterprise parking management software are using mobile devices? We took a quick and informal look at our the logs from the parker portion of our parking enforcement system and saw that a whopping 17% of our activity was coming from mobile browsers like iPhones, iPads, and Android devices. That's a lot of people buying permits, paying parking citations, and generally doing business far, far away from a desk.
If parkers can pay citations before they even pull out of the parking space where they were cited, that's a lot less Parking Citation Collections to worry about. In some cases, it means that citations are going from Handheld Ticket Writers to completed payments in a matter of minutes.
I'm going to keep watching the logs. I want to see how this changes over time. Happy parking.
As you know T2 Systems develops parking solutions. We offer software like permit management and access control, we offer equipment like revenue control equipment and handheld ticket writers and we also offer parking ticket collection services through CCS. Who do we offer those products to? Glad you asked, last year at our annual User Group conference we put together a short video concentrating on our customer successes. We did this because we wouldn't be here without our customers and we wanted to highlight a few facts and figures from them. Feel free to watch the T2 Customer Success video:
Oh, how I remember the day you came into my life. It was exciting and scary at the same time. As a staff member in the parking office, I wondered – Were we ready to take such a great step? Would we be able to handle this? Were we doing the right thing?
Before you, we had Terminator. What a cool name! It did what we needed. Didn’t always do everything we wanted, but it earned its keep. But, the day came when we had to say goodbye and welcome PowerPark with open arms.
I remember asking, “Can we just go back?!?” I was ready to hang up PowerPark and bring back the ole familiar Terminator. But, I discovered all the new cool things we could do and realized that going back was not an option. The learning curve and extra time we put into this new product was worth the effort!
PowerPark evolved. Lots of new features were added as it grew. We used it…sometimes abused it, but it treated us well. How glad I was that we as a parking organization adapted and changed to take full advantage of the new technology. We got new handheld ticket writers and implemented new processes that not only made our jobs easier, but allowed the organization to be more efficient overall.
PowerPark grew to be an adult and was very much a contributor to the success of the parking business. However, like all good things, it must come to an end.
Our new friend, T2 Flex, was born about 5 years ago and is allowing us to do things I never thought were possible. Even though I am now a T2 staff member, I hear the same familiar words from users, “…can we just go back…?” Change is sometimes hard for all of us. But, change is necessary and good. It pushes us to reinvent ourselves and our processes and to reach new heights. So now that PowerPark has taken its last breathe, it is time to say good bye old friend. You were good to me and I will remember you fondly. I look forward to the future with T2 Flex….to T2 Flex and beyond!
Michelle Pritchett
Manager, Product Support
Okay, so lately I have been spending a rather high percentage of my time at the amusement parks of central Florida. The weather has been beautiful and I just like to get out and about...people watch so to speak. What amazes me though, is the parking operations at the different parks. For example, the Disney parks use manned lots to control parking. You pay your $14 fee to gain entrance to the attendant and follow the cones until you get to the designated parking row where several additional parking attendants guide you into your space for the day - ones even on a Segway (which I think is really cool, but...I digress). The same work flow happens over at Universal Studios with one exception, you get to park in a parking garage instead of having the sun beat down on your car in a lot. Other than that, everything is the same - okay no Segway here but everything else is the same.
So I guess what I am getting at is, aren't they even the least bit worried about having that much cash exchange hands without some kind of control? I mean, yeah most times I go through the gates, the parking attendant rings up the money in the cash register so there is no question. But I am sure there are times when it is busy that the cashier doesn't ring up a transaction, for the sake of saving time. I think this would be a perfect location to have a parking management system. Maybe something like
T2's PermitNOW (shameless plug inserted here!) I mean, in order for the parking permits to be printed, a transaction has to take place. So whether the customer is paying by cash or credit card, the parking attendant runs it through the handheld ticket writer and out comes a parking permit for the day. The beauty of this is, since payment has to be made in order to generate a parking permit, everything is trackable through the
parking management software on the back end.
Well, seeing as Disney has been in business for a few decades, I guess they probably have this parking thing down, but I say, there is always room for improvement:)
Working with Advanced Parking Solutions every day can change your perspective. I've been with T2 Systems for almost four years now and the time has just flown by. This week we were having a technical discussion about some possible enhancements to the features in the eBusiness (parker-facing) portion of T2's suite of Parking System Software and it reminded me of my first day at T2.
On my first day at T2, I got the first and only parking ticket of my life. Yeah, that's what I said. I'd never gotten a parking ticket before being hired at T2 and I haven't gotten one since. That's probably a combination of me being a conformist detail-oriented rule-follower, and living in the suburbs where there just isn't a lot of parking enforcement going on. There aren't exactly a lot of parking garages in my neighborhood.
For the record, I totally deserved the parking ticket. I parked in a two-hour zone and got stuck for a lot longer than I expected. I didn't make it back to my car for almost four hours. The parking ticket was a whopping $10. Thinking back on that now, I'm surprised how old-school the ticket was. It wasn't produced using an electronic handheld ticket writer. It was pen on two-part-carbonless paper. No parking ticket computer for them. Pure no-tech.
The really frustrating part was that the city parking solution was entirely manual. Not just the ticket writing. The whole darn thing. I had to pay $10 in cash ONLY and I had to pay it in person within 7 days. Oh, and the parking office was already closed for the day. If only they had given me a way to pay online, I'd have done it right then and there. I'd even have paid a few extra bucks to save the extra trip back to pay the fine.
At the end of the day, it just goes to show that there are a lot more places than need good parking enforcement systems and that following the rules works well for me.
I just returned from my first on-site customer consulting engagement since joining T2 Systems. I met with Jennifer, Dianne, Dennis, Kevin and many of the staff members at Western Kentucky University to discuss how they are using T2 Flex, what we could streamline and what current functionality is available but not being used. It was an enlightening experience for all involved, including me. Before my arrival they provided me with a list of processes they wanted to review prioritized by “It’s broken and we need to fix it”, “It works but can we make it better”, a “wish list” of things they were not doing in Flex but would like to be, and “Best Practices” – how is everyone else doing it.
I was extremely impressed by the integrity of their database. They run daily queries and reports to connect permits, vehicles, citations and customer records. No stone is left unturned when it comes to matching responsible customers to charges and they use all resources available to them including RoVR, student records, payroll records and appeals filed.
During my two day visit I was able to observe the day-to-day activities and challenges and talk with staff who had carved time out specifically to review business practices. We found ways to prioritize wait lists using custom fields which will allow them to more fully take advantage of this feature in T2 Flex. We identified the difference between a pre-paid citation and a pre-entered citation which will allow WKU to accomplish the intent of getting the boot information in Flex without causing errors when the handheld ticket writer downloads the same citation but also without attaching a financial transaction when no payments have been collected. We also identified records that could be marked historical to save on screen real estate and processing resources which in turn save time. And what trip to a Parking Office is complete without the sharing of Appeals? Just as I remember – you can’t impound my car, I’m tenured faculty; I had to park close to the door because I had to go to the bathroom (yes, I cleaned it up a little for this blog); and I’m doing my part by riding a bike, you shouldn’t charge me for chaining it to the handrail.
While I was able to use my 12 years experience in the parking business and with the T2 products to offer suggestions, they challenged me with “How can we do this better?” at every turn. A lot has changed in the product since they implemented in 2005 and like most of you; business as usual has prohibited WKU from reassessing the capabilities provided by Flex.
If your department is interested in an in-depth review of your current business practices incorporating any changes since your implementation and suggestions to improve efficiency, contact your Account Manager or the Training Department at T2 Systems. So…on to my report for WKU.
LaDonna Sloan
Training Specialist
T2 Systems, Inc.
We did it! We made it through another User Group conference. And what a User Group it was! We held it at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa in Phoenix, AZ which was an absolutely awesome location. Beautiful, serene mountains to look out on after a hard day of informative sessions.
Speaking of sessions, our instructors really knocked it out of the park this year. We covered T2 Flex, T2 Flex access and revenue control, handhelds and Crystal Reports to name a few. We also had a special "Customer Says" track where our customer presenters spoke on some of their solutions and how they are used in everyday situations. This track proved invaluable to the attendees and was a huge success.
We also had our vendor partners demonstrating everything from handheld ticket writers to access control gate arms. There was even a paystation in the "See it Live" area. Pretty impressive and the customers loved being able to check out the new options and speak with the representatives.
All in all, we had a fantastic time and can't wait till next year when we come home to Indy. No, it won't be as warm as Phoenix, but it will be a guaranteed great time since we are on our home turf!
See you all November 8-10, 2011!!
So, you are a parking organization that is stuck in the 1960's handwriting parking tickets. There's no budget for
handheld ticket writers for all of your parking enforcement officers, so some of them use the old ticket book to write up parking violations. Well, as you and I both know, there are often challenges with writing those parking citations; it can be difficult reading the officers' handwriting (especially if it is like mine) and the time and effort required to locate and manually input the data into the parking management system can be significant.
T2's new
eTicketBook software eliminates the hassles associated with the handwritten tickets by enabling officers to issue parking citations from their in-vehicle computers and automatically upload the citation data into the T2 Flex parking management system.
Cool alert!! The new eTicketBook software also integrates with AutoVu a mobile license plate recognition (LPR) system developed by
Genetec.
Wow...I have no idea what Bob Dylan was trying to say with those words of wisdom(it's a little before my time). However, I think it is pretty cool that someone like Bob Dylan would even reference a parking meter in a song. That being said, let's get to the meat of this blog...
HAPPY 75th BIRTHDAY PARKING METER! Yes, three quarters of a century ago, on July 16, 1935, the parking meter was born in Oklahoma-as was an entire industry. You see, shortly after the first meter was installed, parking tickets came around and of course parking enforcement officers were right there too-only back then, people referred to them as "meter maids".
As seen in some of my previous blogs, joining the parking industry isn't normally your first thought upon earning that college degree, but why not? We have enforcement officers. We work with governments, universities, the private sector and even hospitals. The parking industry is international-just about every country has some sort of parking controls in place. The technology behind parking is constantly being upgraded and tested including things like parking management software, handheld ticket writers, parking pay-by-phone, parking apps for smart phones and of course the new multispace parking meters.
I am pretty sure when Carl Magee developed and installed that first meter, he had no idea he was igniting this industry and in essence changing the world-some think for the better! So, thanks Carl. It is because of you I have a job. And when I tell people I work for a software company that develops parking software, I get that strange look which is always fun.
In my last blog entry, I said I thought I should stick to what I know (technology) and not dive too deeply into the industry side of parking that many people know so much better. I'll be keeping that in mind again today. So last month I went to the IPI (International Parking Institute) Conference and Expo in Las Vegas. This was my second IPI (after a bit over three years working in the technology side of the parking industry).
After seeing everything there, I have to say that I'm proud to work for T2. I knew we had some pretty cool stuff (end of shameless plug), but it really hit home how much T2 stood out in that room. Don't get me wrong. I'm not slamming anybody. I'm just so accustomed to thinking about technology meaning servers and terabytes of storage and hosting an Advanced Parking Solution. That makes it easy to forget that a lot of the industry has nothing to do with computers and that technology in parking often has nothing to do with computers.
T2 sells Parking Garage Software, Parking Citation Collections, Campus Parking Solutions, Handheld Ticket Writers and a whole lot more cool parking Technology. That's all cool stuff and I love working with it, but how cool is it to sell a giant ice melting machine that you can drive around. I may have lots of cool servers with a bunch of cool blinking lights, but I can't push a button to melt a bunch of snow off of a parking lot. That's got to be a lot more fun than making something go away with the delete key. Most interesting to me was all of the technology in that melting machine. It (and a few other booths) made me realize that lots of parking technology has to do with fuel efficiency and reliability without having even one server. That said, I think the melter had a few blinking lights so it still made me smile.
Happy Parking!
Ok, I don't consider myself a lazy person... I like to walk, bike ride, swim; I always choose the stairs over the elevator (unless we're talking about more than 5 floors of course), and I get peeved whenever I see the same person circling a parking lot or parking garage multiple times just so they can get the closest parking space available. I just think that's ridiculous...by the time they find something, I'm already in the store getting my stuff done!
However, I must admit that there are definitely times when I sooo want to take advantage of the new "mommy" (or should I say "parent") parking spaces that many stores and other areas now provide - even when I don't have my kids with me! How horrible is that?? Have you seen these spaces? They usually are indicated by a drawing on the space that shows a parent with a car seat, stroller or other contraption for transporting your children. And even though my kids aren't with me, the car seats in the back are clearly visible. Would anyone really see me walk out of the car without the kids? Is there an enforcement officer walking the grocery store parking lot with a handheld ticket writer making sure that you really do have your kids with you? Would they really give me a parking ticket or citation?
Believe me, there have been days when I'm so tired and there are clearly no spaces that are close - so I've been tempted to snag one of the "parent" spaces, even without the kids. For those of you who may watch "Desperate Housewives", there was an episode in which one of the wives (Gabby) mis-used her husband's handicapped parking hangtag - just so she could be close and not have to walk far in her high heels. Does my tempatation put me in the same category as her? I certainly hope not!
Let's face it - there are times when we all want to park our car as close to our destination as possible...there are days when we just don't want to walk it. As one who works for a
parking management solution provider, I understand the importance of parking rules. That's what keeps me employed! Businesses, cities/municipalities, colleges and universities all need rules, and ways to manage those rules and all of us that park. Why else would there by the need for parking system software, parking permit management systems, access and revenue control systems, and a ton of other parking management solutions?
It's because at the end of the day, we're all selfish - willing to fight, drive around, waste valuable time - and break the rules, in order to snag that coveted close parking space! We all just might as well admit it!
As you may recall, we have been outlining how some of us here at T2 came into the world of parking. Here is the latest in the series for you to enjoy:
Well let’s see, In 1986 I decided to become a police officer. But never in a million years did I ever think this would lead to parking, I thought it was all “cops and robbers”, you know chasing the bad guys, high speed pursuits, the occasional “help save my cat”. Well over the next few years I made my career advancements and ended up as a Sergeant with the Texas Department of Public Safety in Austin, Texas. After being promoted I took over the supervision of the Parking Office in the Capitol Complex which regulated parking for 14,000 State of Texas employees. HOLY GUACAMOLE, was I in for an awakening when I discovered what parking was all about. Never in my 14 prior years in law enforcement did anyone and I mean anyone ever tell me, train me or mention in passing anything about parking! Well that was my first taste of parking, the purchase of T2 software and electronic ticket writers came next and then my arrival as an employee at T2 a few years later!
So that is how I came to be in parking, and honestly when I became a police officer I never in a million years ever figured I would end up doing anything in parking, never!
Stu Glaeser
Thinking back over the years it has been a long journey to where we are today and where we are headed in the future. Think about how far we have come from writing paper parking tickets. We started out using big old clunky DOS based units with serial cable connections, remember those...wow that seems like a lifetime ago. We then moved on to the palm platform based handhelds like the Symbol 1700 and the Palm 500C and thought we were in heaven! With this we could also do communications via TCPIP through a local secondary network. Little did we know that over a short few years we have escalated to more robust
handheld devices that run Windows Mobile 6, have built in bluetooth, Wifi and can be used for a walkie talkie, a phone and the likes of a mini desktop computer that you can carry around with you anywhere you go.
Now that we have been using the network/tcpip method over the last several years it is time to jump once again into the future. Shazam... Welcome to the future HCS WebServices is born! What is this you ask, well I have the answer for you. In an effort to move away from the much dreaded (mostly from IT folks) FTP file transfers HCS WebServices was born! What this method does is eliminate the use of the HCS Workstation by utilizing an internet connection gained by the handheld ticket writer. This can be done via GPRS (cell service) or via bluetooth and wifi connected to an internet port in the office. A few changes to the handheld configuration menu and away you go communicating via the World Wide Web! This opens a lot of doors for you as customers because it frees up a workstation and gives the officers options for communicating from other places in the field where they may be able to get an internet connection on the handheld ticket writer.
If you would like more information or are willing to move to this new method I ask that you let support know by emailing us at
support@t2systems.com and we can schedule some time to get you going! I actually would like to get all of our customers upgraded to this method of communications over the next 6 months. I believe in it and feel like it is the future for communications with the handhelds!
Powered by Compendium