Module 4 - Permit Management using ParkAdmin

The ParkAdmin module allows administrators to perform all aspects of Permit Management. From this area you will set up your Lots and allocate permits, manage permit rollovers, print hang tags, manage access cards and use the Parking Validation tools.  

Developing a Parking Plan

A good master parking plan allows for future planning and revenue growth while maximizing existing potential in an effective way. When developing your master parking plan there are a number of things that you need to determine ahead of time in order to be effective and efficient, while at the same time giving you the opportunity for future planning and revenue growth. 

Optimal lot planning is achieved when you determine the physical locations of all the parking lots that you currently have, the current number of parking spaces available, the user types that you allow to park in each lot and how much each space costs. In addition, you must determine the type of permits that you issue (yearly, semestered, monthly, other, etc.) and how many of each type of permit you issue per year. This will help you to determine the number of total permits you need to have available and the the range of permits needed for each lot.

In addition to physical lots, you may also have Virtual Lots. In the example below, you are allowing 4 user types to park in Lot 1 and each user type has a different cost associated. User Types were set up during the OPS-COM System Setup Module 1 training. Lots can link to 1 or more user type. Users can only purchase online parking in a lot if their user type matches the allowed user type in that lot. You have 4 allocation types to choose from; monthly, semester, annual and other. These allocations cover specific time ranges, for instance, yearly may cover permits that are valid from Sept 1 to May 31. 

It is important to set up your ranges to ensure that you can cover lost/stolen permits and also to have the ability to oversell a lot.  Once you have determined your lot plan you can consider your Sales Window Planning. This requires defining timelines for when various types of permits will be available for sale and when other permits will rollover. 

Creating your Lots

Creating your lots is done using the Pricing and Lot Admin functionality. Use a permit worksheet similar to the one in the example above to ensure you are creating the lots you need to satisfy your Parking Plan. 

Planning your Lot Groups and Lot Zones

Groups and Zones are very valuable tools when using ViolationAdmin for enforcement. Lot Groups allows you to group similar lots together to be seen as a single entity in OPS-COM. A lot may only belong to one group. A lot group is not required, it exists to allow similar lots.  

When we are doing enforcement, if we select Lot 1 Staff, we will get misses or "valid permit but wrong lot" type messages. This will slow down enforcement and is unusable in a automatic chalking scenario. We want to be able to group these lots so that anyone parked in this large area, with a valid permit in the listed lots, is seen as valid. This allows an enforcement patrol to select the group of lots that they are patrolling.

Lot Groups are:

• There may be multiple lots (virtual or physical) that you wish users to be able to park in with the same permit.
• To allow users who purchase permits to park in these lots, each of these lots would have the same group designation

A Lot Zone is a grouping mechanism allowing validation parameters to be applied to a lot.

• Generally use is tied directly to enforcement and the handhelds
• A lot may belong to many zones
• Different zones can supply different time/date validation parameters (ie. after-4pm, day care, weekend, evenings,...)
• Zones are not required and are unnecessary if a permit is valid all day, every day, with no other validation requirement

Use your Parking Plan to further plan out your lots and zones before entering them into OPS-COM. Refer to this wiki article for more information. Once you are ready, follow the steps in this wiki article to set up your lot groups. 

Using Pricing and Lot Admin

Follow the steps in this wiki article to set up your lots, both virtual and physical. You will use this area to set up the lots to be visible to your clients, be available for temp parking or Text2ParkMe, as well as all pricing and group or zone settings.

Permit Allocation

Permits can be added individually or in bulk. Use your Lot planning sheet to determine the ranges you will be using. Refer to this wiki article for information about adding a range of permits to your lot.

Sales Window Management

The Sales Window feature allows the admin to configure when permits go on sale and what time frames the permits are valid. There are three important parameters that need to be set in this process.

1. When the permits will be available to purchase
2. What date the permit becomes valid
3. What date the permit expires

Refer to this wiki article for more information.

Working with Permits

There are 3 types of Permits issued through OPS-COM. Standard permits, Temporary permits and Text2ParkMe permits. Standard parking permits are the monthly, yearly or other regular permits that you sell. Temporary permits are issued for less than 30 days and can be issued even hourly. Text2ParkMe permits are issued on-demand to users through the text messaging functionality on their cell phone. Not all options are available for each permit type.

Permit Search  

This allows you to search different lots to view information about the standard permits that have been registered to people. Refer to this wiki article for more information.

Permit Switch

Permit Switch allows you to change a person’s current standard permit for another standard permit. There are three scenarios possible with permit switch.

1. Switching a user from one permit number to another in the same lot
2. Switching permits between two users in the same lot
3. Switching a user from one permit number to another in a different lot

Refer to this wiki article for more information.

Permit Proration

Proration allows you to sell a standard permit to a user that is valid for a shorter portion of the active sales window and have the system adjust the cost of the permit accordingly. A good example is a student parker starting to park a vehicle halfway through a year or semester. Refer to this wiki article for more information.

Selling Permits & Access Cards

The Parking tab of the User Profile allows administrators to sell parking permits (standard parking permits and temporary parking permits) to users. The parking tab also allows administrators to associate an access card to a user. Refer to this wiki article for more information.

Permit Printing

Hang Tag Printing allows administrators to either print individual hang tags or print batches of hang tags for standard parking permits. Refer to this wiki article for more information.

Temporary Permits can also be printed by the Admin. Refer to this wiki article for more information.

Permits can also be printed by the users directly, if this setting is enabled.

Using a Wait List

Wait Lists allows administrators to see who is waiting for a standard permit in a specific lot. Once permits become available, administrators can sell the available permit to a user waiting for a permit. Your lot must be configured to use a wait list. There are Non-Student and Student Wait lists. Refer to this wiki article for more information.

Permit Rollovers

Standard permits can be rolled over from one active period to the next. In other words the admin can renew a patron's ownership of their current permit by rolling them over into the next active period whether it's a monthly, yearly or semester type permit. Patrons who pay by payroll deduction or through credit card purchases can also have their payments processed automatically as part of the rollover process.

Before Attempting rollovers, please follow the steps in these wiki articles to ensure you have activated the correct Sales Window and that you have your information correctly set up for automatic payments. Read Sales Window Management and Credit Card Management in OPS-COM.

Refer to this wiki article for more information about Rollovers.

Refer to this wiki article for more information about Auto-Processing Payments with Rollovers.