M-Parking
M-Parking is Mobill’s solution for easy payment of parking charges from mobile phones and is used by more than 50 car parking companies in Sweden.
Customer Benefits
- No need for coins or notes
- Freedom from broken ticket machines
- Anyone can use the service via simple SMS commands
- Pay for parking from the comfort of your car – keep warm and dry!
- Parking App for smartphone user
- No need to pre-register
- Electronic receipt
- Automatic reminder when parking time is nearly up, with option to remotely extend
Car Park Operator Benefits
- Simple to get up and running
- No need for paper tickets
- Operates in parallel with other forms of payment
- Cost saving through less cash handling and decreased reliance on ticket machines
- Increased revenue through new, simple and convenient channel
- Simple parking warden interface from standard mobile phone browser
- Options for parking subscriptions, residents’ parking and high value (airport) parking.
- Hosted solution with web access to customer service and administration functions
- Turnkey solution capable of integration to central and mobile systems
How it Works
The service is advertised via signs around the car park and stickers on the conventional parking ticket dispenser. Zone numbers are used to identify a car park. Large car parks can be broken in to multiple zones if required.
A typical parking transaction works like this:
- Customer sends zone number and licence plate number to the given short code, for example 46 ABC123 to code 72395.
- The mobile network routes the message to the Mobill Service Platform (MSP).
- The M-Parking application scans the message. The combination of short code and zone number identifies the parking company, car park location and the parking tariff.
- M-Parking looks up the parking tariff rules.
- M-Parking communicates with the billing partner to make the appropriate charge, for example € 1.50, to the customer’s mobile phone bill or prepay credit.
- The mobile carrier returns success and a receipt is sent to the customer. If payment is not granted, e.g. insufficient prepay credit, a failure message is sent to the customer.
- 10 minutes before parking ends, M-Parking sends an SMS to the customer with an expiration reminder and offer to extend parking.
- If a Yes message comes back in, steps 4, 5 & 6 are repeated to extend the parking time.
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| Step 1: Customer sends an SMS to the short code. | Step 6: Receipt received by the customer. | Step 7: Reminder message. | ||||
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| Step 8-1: Customer requests extension. | Step 8-2: New receipt sent. | Whole sequence as displayed on an iPhone. | ||||
Typical configuration in Sweden is for parking to be paid in hourly increments. The customer can send multiple messages at Step 1 so as to pay for a longer period. The M-Parking application may be customized to provide a choice of time/price deals, for example text 46 DAY ABC123 to get the all-day deal.
Validation
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M-Parking has two validation interfaces: A browser-based option that can be used from most mobile phones and an API. The browser based option allows the parking attendant to enter a partial or full licence plate number and see the time paid for. The API provides for integration with the parking company’s own equipment, for example specialized mobile terminals used by the parking attendants. |
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Client Administration
A web-based interface enables parking company staff to access information and billing data.
Getting Started
Where Mobill operates M-Parking as a managed service on a shared short code, allocation of parking zone numbers is done by mutual agreement. A large parking company can have its own short code and therefore complete freedom in numbering; it can also operate a turnkey solution based on MSP.
Zones and associated rules are set up by entering data in to M-Parking administration. This is a simple procedure and new parking services can be set up within a few hours.
Mobile Carrier Billing
M-Parking operates independently from coin or credit card machines.
Initial payment is from the customer to the mobile carrier. The system is typically configured so that the mobile carrier pays the client directly. Mobill then invoices for managed service charges or turnkey solution support.
Other Billing Method
MSP can be programmed to use other billing methods, such as credit card. The customer must first register the necessary details and mobile phone number. At step 5 in the above example, MSP communicates with the Credit Card Merchant to perform the billing transaction.
Parking Subscriptions and Residents’ Parking
Mobill has web-based applications running on MSP that support the purchase of subscriptions and residents’ parking. In this case, the customer pays by credit card and has an online account.
Airport Parking
Mobill has developed an application for long-term parking at Swedish airports. Upon arrival at the airport, the customer simply texts the car licence plate and personal ID number to the service short code. MSP communicates with a credit reference agency and, when approved, the customer is able to park and pay later by invoice.
Mobill Parking App
Mobill is about to launch a parking app for Smartphones. The app makes it even easier to find a car park and pay for parking:
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Mobill’s parking app features:
The app will initially be available for iPhone, with Android to follow. |
M-Parking in action
Pay conveniently from the car; extend later without returning.