THE SCENARIO:
Owners of a popular five-star hotel offered dedicated parking to their customers and staff. There were two to four parking lots per location depending on the size of the hotel. This was a great perk for customers, but the owners discovered their lots were being mistaken as public parking. By the time guests were checking in, the lots were too full to accommodate them.
To avoid having their lots mistaken for public parking, the owners decided to add mechanical gates with an audio-only intercom at every hotel parking lot entrance. While the gates kept the public from using their parking lots, they presented new challenges for both the customers and staff.
When customers arrived, they had to be identified in person prior to getting parking lot access. This was not efficient and irritated customers who had to find parking to show proof of ID first, then had to re-park in a dedicated lot.
The gates were also inefficient for staff, who were required to call using the audio-only intercom each time they needed to park for work. If the concierge was not familiar with a voice, staff would still need to be identified inside.
THE SOLUTION:
Knowing the mechanical gates were an immediate solution to keep the public from inadvertently parking in their lots, the hotel owners decided to conserve them and swapped the audio-only intercoms for IP video technology.
The clear details captured by the stations installed at each parking lot allowed customers to be screened conveniently at the gates. By presenting IDs to the camera, the concierge could verify hotel guests and open the gate from inside.
An improved method for staff to access their parking lots, an exterior station with a built-in card reader was installed so staff could use keycards to access the lots.
