Parking Citation Collections

We all know the benefits of a good employee training program; training has a positive effect on performance by allowing employees to learn advanced techniques to help them complete their everyday tasks more efficiently.  More efficient employees feel more valued and appreciated which leads to reduced turnover and less of a need for supervision.  Trained employees are motivated employees and the entire organization achieves its goals more readily.

Don't invest in your parking management software and hardware without also optimizing your staff.  The T2 Training Department offers several solutions for all your parking permit management, parking access and revenue control and parking citation collections training needs - and at quite a reasonable price!  Arm your employees with access to a recorded video library with over 60 courses they can view at their convenience.  Further reward their accomplishment by allowing them to become a Flexpert on your parking system software with T2 Flex certifications on Front Line Permits, Front Line Citations, Front Line Supervisor, Access and Revenue Control and Finance and Audit Control. 

Training does not have to be costly.  Access to the Recorded Video Library is less than $400 a year and every member of the organization can access the courses that are relevant to their roles.  For just a little extra, the training team will set your staff up with an agenda and links to tests. Upon successful completion of all 9 courses, the participant is awarded a certificate.  It's a win-win solution to the age-old problem of providing a successful training program.  You have the peace of mind that your staff has demonstrated competency and your staff has the skills to meet and exceed expectations in their career.  Make the investment that will ensure your team’s success - invest in training!

1. Egypt: $1.9 million
2. Nigeria: $1 million
3. Indonesia: $725,000

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.

One gentleman had called to pay his parking citation, he received it that day so our Citation Collection Service representative told him it wasn’t in the system yet and that he could call the next day.  He called the next day and the same CCS representative was the lucky recipient of the call and he said "Hey, you member me? I talked to you yesterday and I need to pay a parking ticket and you told me to call back". The CCS representative told him that she remembered him, he paid the citation then was telling her how friendly she was and how good it was to get a kind person and he then asked if they were going steady yet. The CCS rep then told him that would take a couple more calls he said "Well honey, I like you and you sound cute but I don’t want that many parking citations."

I think it is true love:)

Cindy

For a girl who purposely chose a career in marketing and communications – not just because I’ve been writing since I was way young and everyone said I was good at it - but because I’m not AT ALL technical (just ask my IT husband or IT buddies here at T2), I’ve managed to build a career working for high-tech companies in high-tech industries. 

It’s funny to me that I’ve gone from working in the cable-TV and wireless phone test and measurement industry to working in the parking industry…who knew? All of this without a technical or engineering degree! I never figured I’d be getting paid to make the installation and network monitoring equipment for CATV networks and test equipment for cell phones and wireless networks sound and look cool. And now I’m doing the same for software for parking: permit management, PARCS solutions, citation management and citation collections, etc. Wow! Isn’t that exciting (can you hear it in my voice?).  Actually, it is kind of cool.

Yes, although most don’t know it, parking is actually a technical industry. Sure, it’s not the same as NASA or computers and servers, but there’s a lot of technology behind parking – and it is exciting.

And now that Spring is here (the couple of 70-degree days we have had here in Indiana have been teasing us), it’s also officially tradeshow season. In addition to Spring Break, I’m also counting down the days until the International Parking Institute (IPI) annual conference and tradeshow (no, not just because it’s in Vegas). For those of you looking to find more information about municipal or city parking solutions, campus parking solutions, access and revenue control, software for parking and parking technology, Spring brings many opportunities to meet with vendors and network with other parking professionals. From Chicago to New England, to Texas to Las Vegas – no matter what geographic area - there are many conferences planned in the coming months and now’s the time to go and see what’s happening in our industry! And of course come see T2 – we’re either exhibiting or sponsoring (and attending) most of these events. We have some new news to share about our PARCS and event parking management solutions. Learn how technology (and T2 of course) can be your friend as you try to improve your parking operations.

When you stop and think about it, even us non-techies watch cable TV, have a computer, use a cell phone, and sometime or another have to park our car. And there’s a whole lot of technology behind getting those parking gates to go up and down  – “things that make the world go ‘round” I say!

So...I was shopping in a downtown area and completely lost track of time. Needless to say, when I arrived at my car - bags in hand - I had the “Orange Envelope of Shame” on my windshield. Yep – even though I work for a parking software company - I am not immune to the parking ticket. Well, I threw it in the glove box after some choice words and went on my merry way.

A few weeks later, I received a “nasty gram” in the mail about not paying my ticket. I had completely forgotten to pay that thing. I only go into my glove box for the tire gauge and the occasional “license and registration please” speech. So, out came the checkbook and I dropped my payment – and late fee – in the mail.

You know, more parking organizations, whether they be in a city or a college/university, should employ these tactics. There has got to be gobs of unpaid parking citations out there. That money could help organizations hire more parking enforcement officers, upgrade their parking management software, or purchase new handheld ticketwriters. In all honesty, everyone could benefit from collecting on unpaid tickets during this time of shrinking budgets.

While some parking organizations collect the bad debt themselves, others outsource parking ticket collections to a collection agency. T2 Citation Collection Service (CCS) is an outside collection agency that specializes in collecting that unfound revenue. What’s cool about CCS?  The parking organization can outsource what they want and keep what they want. So if the organization wants to send the first letter reminding the offender of their citation, they can. Then when the offender doesn’t pay, the parking organization can turn it over to CCS to do the dirty work. It is just that simple. 

Long story short, if people would just pay their parking ticket on time, we wouldn’t need to employ these practices. However, as both you and I know – and is evidenced by my tardy ticket – things happen. A little nudge in the right direction can keep the revenue flowing in, especially in the current economic climate.