A new guided parking system in Guatemala

A smart parking guidance system has been installed at the Miraflores Shopping Mall to improve customers’ parking experience by cutting the time it takes them to find a free space. Likewise, the automated, user-friendly and hassle-free parking process will help build a loyal base of customers, who will enjoy an added layer of security thanks to the video surveillance over every space provided by the Quercus Technologies SC Indoor parking sensors.

Its selection of shops, broad gastronomic offering and leisure activities for the whole family make Miraflores one of Guatemala’s most complete shopping malls. Located on Calzada Roosevelt in the country’s capital, this shopping complex is home to an all-encompassing range of national and international brands. The mall’s parking garage features 2,500 parking spaces distributed over three levels. The parking facilities are managed by Global Genius, our partner in Guatemala.

Requisites for a parking garage like Miraflores Mall’s

One of the needs that had to be met to enhance parking user experience was the individual indication of space availability. This required installation of an indicator light for each parking space, the color of which conveys whether the space is free or occupied. The key goal was to ensure an optimal experience, and keep parking from becoming a headache for customers: simplicity and effectiveness.

Security was another of the fundamental concerns for the Miraflores mall project, and ensuring detailed, video-based monitoring of each parking space, activated whenever the sensors detect movement, is an added value. This means that the identification of individuals in case of any rules violation or incident is more effective than with a generalized video surveillance system based on CCTV cameras in each aisleway.

Proposed parking solution 

Guidance system for an indoor parking facility: license plate recognition and vehicle detection

A total of 1,220 SC Indoor parking sensors were installed in the shopping mall parking garage. These sensors are equipped with two cameras that can interpret the license plates of parked vehicles, in addition to video recording of the spaces on either side of the aisleway if they detect any movement in or around them. These sensors send information on the availability of spaces to the parking management platform, which centralizes and stores it.

License plate recognition, and consequently, the localization of vehicles in each space, is an excellent way for the parking garage operator to have complete control over the facility in real time. Each of the vehicles is localized, and the license plate is associated with a certain use of the facilities, changes in location, entrances and exits.

Parking guidance with LED information panels, kiosks and LPR cameras

With a view to optimizing the user experience and indicating the availability of parking spaces on an individual basis, the Miraflores parking operator requested the installation of 2,500 availability indicator lights with RGB color lamps. Quercus Technologies’ light-per-space system provides this information for each parking space. The camera-based parking sensor detects the availability of the space from the center of the aisle way, and sends information to the indicator lights, which change color according to whether a space is occupied or free.

With the installation of 20 kiosks with the Find Your Car functionality, parking garage users can easily locate their cars inside the facility just by entering the license plate number on the kiosk screen. This improves the experience of customers, who no longer have to worry about where they’ve parked their vehicle inside the parking facility The information that appears on the kiosk screen is from BirdWatch, the parking management platform that centralizes data from the devices making up the overall system, and transmits them automatically.

The SmartLPR Access license plate detection cameras in the entrance and exit lanes of the mall parking garage facilitate automatic access and streamline the process of entry into the facility. With automatic detection, shoppers no longer have to wait in long lines before they can begin shopping at Miraflores Mall, or to leave the garage with a positive feeling toward the overall experience.

Big Data monitoring with the BirdWatch parking software suite

The information gathered with the license plate recognition cameras, the SC Indoor sensors and the LED information panels is stored in the BirdWatch management platform. This way, the operator keeps complete control over all the devices making up the system.

Having the capacity to gather all of the centralized data enables operators to continuously improve parking facilities. Reports on traffic and occupancy times, vehicle flow and rotation, heat maps, movement information between points of interest, etc. are frequently used by operators to optimize vehicle flow, and expedite decision-making; in essence, to carry out efficient management that maximizes their return on technology investment for the parking garage.