Telewest Communications contributes towards cost of P&D terminals with credit card payment facilities for the convenience of its employees
Schlumberger e-City, a business segment of Schlumberger Limited, today announced that Woking Borough Council (WBC) has extended the centrally-monitored Pay & Display (P&D) parking system installed to control on-street parking five years ago into three Woking Town Centre car parks. The ParkfolioÔ centralisation system links StelioÔ P&D terminals, via the Transcomm wireless data network, to a PC in the Council’s offices. Alerts and alarms are transmitted to the computer whenever a machine needs attention, helping WBC to minimise downtimes and optimise revenues, whilst providing drivers with an efficient parking control system. The centralisation software also generates operational and financial statistics that enable the Council to review and develop its parking services.
The Stelio terminals installed in Woking’s 950 space Toys-R-Us car park are equipped with the CardEaseÔ universal payment protocol from CreditCall Communications. This enables the machines to accept credit and debit card payments, as well as cash. They have been provided in response to a request from Telewest Communications plc., a major local employer, which is contributing to their cost and have replaced a number of ageing, cash-only P&D terminals.
This facility will enable Telewest employees with corporate credit cards to use them to pay for parking, meaning that they will not have to worry about having the right change available, whilst also simplifying the management of expenses. The CardEase system accepts all major credit and debit cards and will be available to the general public using the car park, too.
“We regard centralisation as essential, rather than just desirable. It simplifies day-to-day operations, enhancing security and the managing of maintenance, as well as generating data which help the Council to monitor and plan its parking facilities for the future ”, says Geoff McManus, WBC’s Parking Services Manager. “The CardEase facility will reduce the amount of cash that has to be collected and accounted for by the Council, increasing security and reducing our handling costs, as well as being more convenient for a lot of drivers.”
WBC’s on-street P&D terminals are all solar-powered. The machines installed in the Toys-R-Us car park replaced mains-operated models and are similarly powered. Those in the Woking Park and Heathfield Crescent car parks are equipped with solar panels – which will also support the CardEase facility.
The Parkfolio centralisation system has been extended before by WBC to monitor Stelio P&D terminals installed on-street in West Byfleet, as well as additions in Woking, itself.
CardEase enables the P&D terminals to validate and process debit and credit card payments securely in seconds, via a wireless data network. It is cheaper and easier to install than services requiring telecom landline connections, as no additional excavations are required. CardEase simply requires each terminal to be equipped with a modem.
Schlumberger e-City is a world leader in on-street parking solutions. Globally, its systems control more than 2.6 million parking spaces in more than 3,000 cities and 40 countries.
About Schlumberger e-City
Schlumberger e-City is a business segment of Schlumberger Limited, a global technology services company. With more than 60,000 employees serving customers in 65 countries, Schlumberger aggregates IT consulting, systems integration, managed services and related products to the oil and gas, telecommunications, energy and utilities, finance, transport and public sector markets. Leveraging the Schlumberger DeXa* Suite of Services, it also provides IP network connectivity, information security solutions, distributed computing support services and data centre hosting services. In 2001, Schlumberger revenues were $13.7 billion. For more information, visit (http://www.slb.com/)
Parkfolio and Stelio are marks of Schlumberger.
Schlumberger e-City,
Ferndown Industrial Estate,
Wimborne,
Dorset
BH21 7PP,
U.K.
Tel: 01202 850927
Fax: 01202 850903
About Transcomm
Transcomm plc owns and operates the UK network for business critical wireless data solutions. The Transcomm Network is a proven, reliable and cost-efficient network for business to business wireless data applications that require levels of reliability and integrity not available from consumer oriented voice-centric GSM mobile networks. The network is a packet switched wireless data network built specifically with data in mind covering 95% of the UK population and delivering 99.9% network availability.
Through its business partnerships, Transcomm provides a wide range of wireless data applications to help organisations run their businesses more profitability and efficiently – making up-to-the–minute information available whenever and wherever it is needed, securely and reliably. Transcomm provides the network for business on the move across the emergency services, transport, telemetry, local authority and mobile worker markets.
Transcomm (UK:TRC) is a UK company listed on the UK Alternative Investment Market (AIM). It was established in 2000 to include the RAM Mobile Data network business which has been providing wireless data services since 1991.
Further information can be found at the company’s Web site, (http://www.transcomm.uk.com)
About CreditCall Communications
Founded in 1996, CreditCall Communications is a provider of credit and debit card-based payment systems for "the cashless society". It is a major UK supplier of payment solutions for applications as diverse as credit card car parking, card-based telephony, vending, ticketing and pay TV.
CreditCall invests heavily in research and development and has expertise in telephony, data transfer, banking and software engineering. The result is that it provides technology that will allow virtually any machine, device or terminal to be enabled to accept cashless payment, either by credit or debit card, or micro-payment methods.
For more information about CreditCall products and services visit the company’s website at: (www.emvx.co.uk)
