We have done our best while working remotely, and have eventually returned to our old desks by alternating shifts, maintaining social distance amongst colleagues and replacing video-calls with mask-to-mask interactions.
Enrico Filippi, Head of Product Marketing, shares his insight into the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the parking industry, and how HUB’s Jupiter and mobile apps can help tackle the new concerns and challenges of this period.
How is the Return to the Office? 
The HSE team has introduced various measures including alternating shifts, masks, and gloves available at all entrances, temperature measurement before accessing the building, and social distancing through the new arrangement of office furniture.
We look forward to the showroom reopening: for the time being, it is not open to customer visits nor engineers training and we are moving forward with online meetings, technical webinars, and remote sessions. But we definitely cannot wait to meet up with customers again!
What Are The Main Market Changes Brought About by the Coronavirus Pandemic?
Being in touch with our local HUB offices across the globe, we see that markets do face common challenges. After freezing operations for weeks or even months, the markets look more dynamic - eager to catch up yet more cautious at the same time.
We are willing to support the efforts of all businesses such as airports, hospitals, city garages, and more in reducing the risk of virus transmission. Moving to touchless solutions has become essential to operators and parking owners who wish to offer parking services with minimum touch interaction, both at the access and payment phase.
From the perspective of service and assistance providers, we also acknowledge that the restrictions on travel and on-site activities still create a challenge for installation timing and maintenance scheduling. This has led us to adopt new ways to keep everyone safe, plan for maintenance, and rethink the delivery of the same excellent customer service with less staff onsite.
Will These Changes Accelerate the Digitalization of Parking?
For parking operators, digital platforms and flexible solutions offer the unique opportunity to respond to increasing safety requirements within their facilities immediately.
Alternative purchasing options, such as enabling drivers to buy their parking tickets and subscriptions in advance will help reduce queues and ensure social distancing. Such systems also give peace of mind when planning their commute, making sure they find a parking space and reach the car park as quickly and safely as possible.
All of these features are native to mobile apps and they will grant drivers more autonomy, more options and hence alleviate the stress of parking.
How Does Jupiter Adapt to the Saftey Concerns and Less T
ouch Interaction?
Operators look for rapid and easy deployment of parking services. Not to mention, an easy and comprehensive way to access and analyze their parking data, which is fundamental to quickly reacting to changing driver demands, habits, and trends.
Thanks to Jupiter’s modular structure, the deployment and service time is reduced to a minimum, ensuring higher safety to service staff.
From the user's perspective, all stations come with an intuitive set of icons and guidance elements that turn the interaction into a flawless process: so straightforward, that users do not risk getting lost or panicking over buttons and inlets. Jupiter is touchless by design: ticket and proxy scanners are clearly recognizable, and so is the NFC device/icon for contactless payment.
On top of that, it can be configured in varied ways, to address most safety concerns along the entire user journey. Access to the car park can turn completely free-flow when an entry station is combined with LPR technology, or with credit in/credit out functionality that leverages the drivers’ card as a virtual ticket. Virtual means it is paperless, too! This eco-friendly access medium is also available within our app JPass, or as an integration with other third-party apps that might be used on the parking site.
How Will The Parking Landscape Within Cities Change in the Future?
Even though remote work has boomed, we shall expect people to gradually come back to work and so, road traffic to gain back its fair share of cities' space and time. Drivers will be more careful, more attentive, and more demanding: let’s make sure we can meet their safety expectations, and equip parking operators with the most adaptive solutions available.
Digital is the evolution that we are living through now, and Jupiter was born ready for that!
About HUB Parking Technology
HUB Parking Technology is the FAAC Group Business Unit that develops, manufactures, installs, and provides after-sales services for Parking Revenue Control Systems branded ZEAG, DATAPARK, and FAAC. Through its local Group companies and distributors, it is represented in all five continents and more specifically in North & South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia.
For more information about HUB Parking Technology, visit: www.hubparking.com
