Smart Parking and Security: The Budgetary Dilemma

Earning a profit on a parking garage has been increasingly difficult: the costs for construction are increasing, so are the wages for attendants, valets, cashiers and custodians, let alone the constant reprogramming costs to manage kiosks, gates, etc. Optimizing utilization has meant hiring additional staff, which mitigates potential profit.

The advent of smart parking -- utilizing AI technology and a cloud-based platform – is highly alluring. Smart parking offers:

• Efficient spot availability for customers
• Customer usage optimization
• Detailed analysis of occupancy rates
• Ease-of-use in verifying permits and altering rates
• Customizable alerts to parking violations

But there’s another consideration generally at odds with most smart parking solutions: security.

A Honeycomb of Crime

According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR), parking lots are the third most common location for violent crime and have been for at least a decade. In fact, parking lots have been the location for 10% of all crimes nationally, including property and vehicle theft, kidnapping, and sexual assault.

Of course parking vendors want to ensure the safety and security of their customers and property. Who doesn’t? But it’s difficult and expensive. A lone private guard on average costs $87,000 per year after salary, benefits, equipment, insurance, and training, and you’ll need at least 5 for a 24/7 rotation, in addition to the lighting, surveillance, locks and gates.

Then there’s the ineffectiveness: parking lots are vast and sparsely inhabited at night. It’s fairly easy for any thief or assailant to spot a guard on his rounds, and the nearest unlocked car provides easy cover. Utilizing surveillance footage to deter a crime in progress would require another guard, doubling costs with no assurance of increased effectiveness. Meanwhile, if you fail to stop it, you run the risk of victims taking action against your business – the courts have been extremely sympathetic to victims of violent crime within a parking deck in recent years. Failure to provide less than maximum security could cost you millions.

So how do you choose between operational and security technology? There are only so many dollars in the budget.

The Trifecta Solution: Smart Parking, Smart Surveillance & Remote Guarding

Cloudastructure offers a comprehensive solution to parking management technology choices and challenges, all on one platform. The solution can save up to 40-60% on costs, while optimizing efficiency and customer satisfaction, and reducing risk and liability, all at the same time.

Here’s how it works. Cloudastructure’s smart parking solution and AI surveillance are situated on one user-friendly cloud-based platform,  accessible from any laptop or mobile phone. You can achieve all your smart parking objectives in terms of usage and spot availability, while also accessing award-winning AI analytics of any security challenges – from fender benders to thieves. There are no per-seat licensing fees at Cloudastructure, so should the need arise to check on an escalating situation, management can all review footage simultaneously, wherever they are, and discuss options.

But the greatest savings comes when you cap these solutions with remote guarding. In lieu of an on-premises guard who can only be on one floor at any time, your AI-based surveillance feeds and alerts are sent to a central station, where trained guards review all threats and challenges in real-time. Basically, you have a guard on every floor, of every lot for 40-60% less than an on-prem one.  Should loiterers or thieves be identified, these remote guards will activate the 110+ dB speaker and inform your unwanted guests “You are being watched and recorded and need to leave immediately.” This strategy has been proven to resolve a full 92% of cases, while notification to law enforcement takes care of 96% of the rest.

Here’s a quick video if you’d like to see remote guarding in action.

The trifecta solution ensures your garages not only have the latest and greatest in technology, but increase customer satisfaction and safety, while reducing risk AND saving on budget.

Interested in hearing more? Contact us today for a demo.

‍