System Configuration Diagram
 click  the picture to see it in enlarged scale

System could adapt with ADSL internet, broadband Router with Virtual Personal Network feature, and Federal APD’s NetPort controller, thus, through the help of Internet Access, it could connect all the system device spread and allocated in different remote sites back to the central management computer in the head control office, as system configuration diagram shown above.  System not just could monitoring the activity of each system device, the status of each car park occupancy in real-time base, it also could send the particular command and programming to each of individual device, which in connected with ScanNet, the facility management system of Federal APD, so ScanNet could provide with the features, such as; vend the gate in remote site, synchronize its system time and date, modify the existed fee structure or preset a new one, edit valid ID numbers of each site contract parker and adjust the space left figures for any of particular site, etc. therefore besides the system activity, status monitoring, all the upload and download of each system devices programming could be accomplished by the finger tip upon the central computer of ScanNet.  To the most important, there is special feature of Event control, for those of daily routine jobs, for instant, cashier report, lane report, etc., which could be retrieved and fulfilled by a set of preset action steps and macro command from devices in a weekly timed base automatically.  Thanks to the deployment of Sybase SQL Anywhere Database, it could keep tracks all the transaction details for both of transient and monthly generated per system performances, also by the help of Report Generator, Crystal Report, and access to the appropriate database table, which allows the system could offer the detailed report of ticket tracking, transaction summary and all the historical use data to each of individual monthly parker.

System provides the convenience to the Car Park or Property management companies for central managing and real-time monitoring to the unmanned system device in the site spread in different location, through this Application, the fully automatic and unmanned system could have the advantage of less costly training and labor, also the benefits of real time response to the customer helping request.  The transaction trails of both transient and monthly could be stored in the SQL Database of ScanNet, so there’s a big saving on the running cost of rear office management, due to the standard summarized and analysis report and all kinds of customized reports with specified criteria could be generated by report generator, like Seagate's Crystal Report, for easy of business evaluation and modulation.

The purposes of System Integration is trying to replace the validation system of parking fee discount offered by most of downtown area Shopping Center, who needs to ask the patron to visit the service counter for showing their receipt and then exchange for a free parking coupon or voucher per their accumulated purchased dollar. The break through of system integration, as the block diagram shown above, during patron does the shopping at Merchant shops, attendant should ask the customers, if they have kept with the parking ticket, if so, the attendant will swipe it on a Ticket Reader which talks to the POS terminal.  As the ticket and its lane number will be included within the trail of transaction data, then through a Store Procedure triggered by the ODBC compatible POS system Database, it will send the transaction amount data with the key of ticket and lane numbers to ScanNet, the central facility management system, in parking management office.  As during the process of Store Procedure, there’s a routine of patron buying dollar amount adding up and free parking validation unit conversion will be executed automatically, so system will carry out the conversion of purchased dollar to discount unit according to the management's instruction or criteria, such as, each added up full NT1000 could be converted for 1 hour free parking. Consequently when customer is paying the parking fee on Automatic Pay Station (APS), APS will query patron’s converted free parking unit with the ticket number in ScanNet database, then after it was offset with the parking fee that customer needs to pay, it will show the fee due upon the APS display, customer might no need to pay or still have to, nevertheless after the On-Line Validation or fee paying, the validated ticket will return back to patron for as an exit pass to the Exit Verifier at exit lane.

It would be a solution never available in before for killing the process bottleneck and troublesome caused by the free parking discount should be dispatched per patron’s buying dollar within the shopping area and possibility of be executed automatically upon APS.  System offers the conveniences for those of the patron already showed their parking ticket, in order to allow it to be swiped and read by the ticket reader allocated in the Merchant shops and interfaced to the POS terminal.  Customers should be no need to walk back and forth between the service counter and parked vehicle, also waiting in a long line for the service of adding the receipt consumption values in shopping area and exchange for free parking coupons or validation eventually.  Patron could approach directly to the unmanned APS or manned Auditor PowerPad located in central pay station and let the system to query the customers discount unit from central control computer and surrendered it during the parking fee calculation, so there is big saving from this integrated and fully automatic service system, to the subject of setting up a certain number of service centers and maintain it with highly running cost just for free parking exchange, also system could provide with no free coupon preparing and necessity of control personnel, especially the on-line system offers the benefits, which is impossible to the other off-line one, such as; due to the discount trails is hard to trace and auditing, so there is a side impact to the cost of afterward auditing and it could be liable to the abuse of parking discount.

System Configuration Diagram
 click  the picture to see it in enlarged scale

When vehicle takes the ticket from Ticket Spitter at entry lane of Parking Tower, before that, the tower control computer will search for the shortest retrieving time and available tower & stall numbers then send the data concerned to ticket spitter and having it to be printed upon issuing ticket.  After customer has parked the vehicle, customer needs to verify the ticket printed data which is same as parked tower number at ticket verifier, which allocated in front of the tower entry, thus a correct tower command will be sent, or an alternative and manual way of letting attendant verify the tower & stall numbers which already printed on ticket, then after it was confirmed, a confirmed button upon the tower control panel need to be pressed down, accordingly the Tower will lift the vehicle subjected to the assigned stall within parked tower.  So during the time of exiting, after customer has paid the fee and the receipt is started to print on the device, such as, APS or PowerPad fee computer, the tower control computer will be informed by the device immediately to retrieve the customer's vehicle by PLC control for the exiting.  As the system could arrange the vehicle in and out in advance and most efficiency way, so it should save the customer queue and waiting time during the procedure of vehicle entry & exit.

Even there’s a feature of bulk space with very few land offered by the Tower Parking system, but system has accompanied with a disadvantage of more access times, as the automatic storage and retrieving warehouse system, customers need to wait in line for their vehicles be lifted in & out to the parked stall.  So the integrated system try to make the Tower control to arrange the storage and retrieving of vehicle with most in advance and most efficiency way, in order to save customer queue and waiting time during the procedure, also by adding the option of integrated License Plate Recognition system, it should definitely kick off the problem accrued from the event of lost tickets. As the license plate number could be a key for searching the entry time & stall information.