Resources to Power Smarter Parking

T2 account management, product, sales, and leadership teams all converged at The T2 Fan Zone to share our latest innovative solutions with IMPI attendees. Throughout the week, our booth buzzed with activity, great fellowship, and high spirit.

Need to get the nod from your boss before registering for T2 Connect 2023? Here are 3 talking points to help make your wish their command.

In CAB Corner, we ask a member of our Customer Advisory Board (CAB) to share some insights about their life as a parking professional. In this edition, we spoke to John Prush, our current CAB Chairperson and Deputy Director of the Management Services Bureau at Michigan State University.

Need to get the green light from your boss before registering for Connect? We’ve got you covered.

  Connect, our annual customer conference, is just around the corner. And what could be better than attending hands-on training and educational sessions about all things parking and T2 solutions? Earning CAPP points at the same time!This year, we’re partnering with IPI to give Connect attendees the opportunity to earn points towards CAPP certification by attending eligible training sessions. Cindy Campbell, Senior Training and Development Specialist for IPI, will be teaching 2 sessions.Check out the session descriptions below: Doing What’s Right, Not What’s Easy: Ethical Leadership When leadership is done right, the leader is a role model—someone who communicates the importance of ethical standards and holds their team accountable to those standards. Done poorly, leadership can negatively affect the productivity and well-being of individual team members and be detrimental to the reputation and success of the entire organization. Anyone can be promoted into a management role, but how do you develop the skillset necessary to be an ethical leader? This session will clearly define the concepts and characteristics behind ethical leadership, why it matters, and offer practical ideas to help ensure your success.   How to Retain Great Employees: What’s Your Company Culture? As busy managers, we sometimes forget how important it is to

  The annual IPI Conference & Expo is just days away! IPI is one of the best opportunities of the year to come together with thousands of our industry peers, share updates with our customers, and meet some new faces. So needless to say, we’re excited.Here’s a breakdown of where you’ll find us next week in Orlando. Stop by any (or all!) of these places and say hello. We’d love to see you! MONDAY, JUNE 4 Special Unveiling (Booth #1401, 12:30 PM) Join us in the Expo Hall (Booth #1401) for a very special unveiling event and announcement. Be among the first to see what’s new at T2! P.S. While you’re there, you can also check out the debut of our new branding.   Expo Hall (Booth #1401, 12:30 PM – 4:00 PM) Once again, our booth will be staffed with members of the T2 Product Management team. This is a great opportunity to chat with our parking experts about what T2 has been working on, what’s happening in the industry, and what your team is driving towards.   5 Reasons Why Parking Managers Love LPR (Learning Lab 1, 2:30 – 3:30 PM) LPR continues to be a hot topic in the parking and transportation

  In Get to Know T2, we ask a T2 employee to share some insights about their role (and help you put some faces with names). In this edition, meet Nikki Foust! What drew you to T2? Desire to get more exposure, challenging environment, and to be part of a team that works on the product.   What is your job at T2? I am an Application Architect and my main job is to research new technology, design applications, work with Development to create the application, and always be looking at ways to make our products better.   How do you connect with customers as part of your job? In my job I normally don’t interact much with customers, but when I do it’s to bridge the gap between their requirements and the technical implementation OR they are curious and want to understand the technology behind our applications/services.   What’s a fun fact you’d like to share about yourself? When I was young, I did not travel much — so now I am making up for that with a yearly a) road trip within the USA and b) international trip to a new country. So far I’ve made it all the

   When Victor Hill arrived at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse (UWL) in 2013, one of his top priorities was convincing the University of the benefits of License Plate Recognition (LPR) technology. Hill (Director of Parking and Transportation Services) and his colleagues embarked on three years of research and conversations with other universities who had employed LPR technology. Their hard work paid off—UWL leadership gave the green light in the spring of 2016, and UWL installed the system in August of that year. (If you’d like, you can read the full story of UWL’s journey to LPR with T2 and the results they’re achieving in our Customer Success section). So after all of the research and his own experience using LPR today, would Hill recommend LPR to other universities? Hill says he absolutely would. But to other universities looking to implement LPR, he has some words of experienced wisdom to share: 1. Don’t just dive into it. Don’t just dive into it—make sure you give yourself a minimum of six months to manage your bad data and iron your bugs out. You’ll find things that are unique to your operation that you need to adjust for. 2. Think beyond the go-live. Once

  Last year, a T2 Systems customer went through a major vendor change. When it came time to determine who to partner up with next, they took some very deliberate steps toward identifying their needs/wants list, spoke with similar organizations to see what vendors they used and how those relationships were working out, and made an on-site visit in order to see firsthand if this vendor’s products and services could be a good match. (If you’d like, you can read more about the University of Nebraska Omaha’s process in our Customer Success section).General wisdom dictates that when shopping for new vendors, businesses always look to the Big Three: Price. Quality. Responsiveness. Are their prices within budget scope? Does the quality of their product meet or exceed our standards? Can they deliver products and services in a timely manner? And, if necessary, are we willing to sacrifice any one of the three, or must the new vendor hit all the marks?While those three are the gold standard for making a vendor choice, there’s a fourth that needs to be added: team. Is your new vendor willing to be part of your team? Having a vendor join your team doesn’t mean you have to

   In CAB Corner, we ask a member of our Customer Advisory Board (CAB) to share some insights about their life as a parking professional.To kick off 2018, we caught up with Melissa Yates. Melissa is the Access and Parking Manager for the City of Boulder. How did you end up in the parking industry? I was in project management and applied to a project management position in the parking industry. I thought it would be easy! 😉 Turns out, even though I built roadway bridges, it has been the most challenging and rewarding work.   What excites you about working in parking? Parking is like this “hidden industry” in plain sight. People don’t really think about us, but we are always there. I feel privileged to work in the parking industry. Every day brings something new. The advancements in technology, for example, are increasing at an exponential rate. It’s exciting to watch this unfoldment and apply it to my parking programs in order to make the customer experience better and to make decisions based on real-time data.   What’s been the biggest challenge of your career? The biggest challenge today is finding the bandwidth to put all the options

   The current range of technologies and vendors in the parking industry is breathtaking. To respond to this fragmented market, Parking Managers need a way to ensure that today’s technologies work together—and are flexible enough to stay relevant amidst rapidly changing technologies. Nobody can predict the future, so being adaptive is better than placing a bad bet. As a technology provider, T2 Systems delivers open systems that allow our customers to share data between the parking technologies they use. Many vendors today describe their solutions as integrated and flexible. But what do these words really mean in the context of parking? Integration and Open Systems When we talk about integration, we’re referring to the flow of information between systems, and the ease and reliability of which it’s possible. Open systems are ones that are ready-made to integrate with other systems to build a functioning ecosystem of cooperating products and let you get your work done without getting in the way. Beware of Database Integrations Relying on a database integration actually reduces your flexibility, because it creates a tightly coupled solution with a single vendor. For example, if an enforcement system uses database-level integration to an LPR system, those two systems

  Tragically, several children die of heatstroke in parked cars each year. In order to help combat this issue, the International Parking Institute has created a customizable public service ad and fact sheet to help parking professionals help educate the public.Click here to view it now.

  In part five of his 5-part blog series examining the trends driving the future of parking, T2’s VP of Research Blake Laufer explores Data Analytics.  Previous Posts Trend #1: Self-driving Cars Trend #2: The Internet of Things Trend #3: Smart Cities Trend #4: Millenials Our final trend is the thread that you’ve seen woven though each of the previous trends:  Data Analytics.  The self-driving car is dependent on data, the Internet of Things generates data, the Smart City leverages data, and the Millennial is comfortable using data.We generate so much more data than is possible for a human to comprehend, and that’s why data analytics tools are becoming so important. Parking vendors like T2 are now generating data from our systems and devices, while providing data analytics for customers. When North American cities started to offer 311 telephone services for citizens to report potholes and graffiti, they opened up a floodgate of data collection.  We even see some cities with parking data collected this way:  citizens are reporting parking infractions and abuse of disabled permits. As Baby Boomer parking managers retire, the generation to fill their shoes will likely be millennials who have high expectations of technology, will be

  In part four of his 5-part blog series examining the trends driving the future of parking, T2’s VP of Research Blake Laufer explores Millennials.Previous Posts Trend #1: Self-driving Cars Trend #2: The Internet of Things Trend #3: Smart Cities  Younger people these days are happier with an urban life.  Which is why Millennials are responsible for the recent growth of cities more than any other group.   Just as the Baby Boomers were a defining generation, shaping economics, law and society—the Millennials have taken over to represent the largest demographic in North America. If you were born between 1982 and 2000 then you’re a millennial.  There are 83 million Millennials in the US, versus 75 million Boomers.   And the generation in between, Generation X, has only about 50 million members in its cohort. Millennials now have the ability and the purchasing power to shape their world, and they’re starting to do so. Americans under 30 are 7.2 times more likely to take public transit than Americans over 60.  It’s not that millennials can’t afford cars—they simply don’t want them as much.  A study at the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute shows that young people are also less

   In part three of his 5-part blog series examining the trends driving the future of parking, T2’s VP of Research Blake Laufer explores Smart Cities.Previous Posts Trend #1: Self-driving Cars Trend #2: The Internet of Things Smart Cities For the first time in history more people live in cities than live in rural areas.  In the United States the urban population increased 14 percent between 2000 and 2013. A city is responsible for serving its citizens with things like water, electricity, sanitation, and sewers.  It provides urban mobility and public transport.  These are big, difficult things to manage.  Through a combination of technology and governance cities are now making “smarter” decisions using information and communication to better serve citizens, and are becoming more efficient while doing it.   There is no one single thing a city does to become “smart”.  Instead, it’s a collection of services and ideas implemented to improve the lives of citizens and become more efficient. Smart cities, for example, might look at their garbage trucks and optimize routes they take in order to reduce congestion, or plan sewer operations using rainfall forecasts. The part that we’re most interested in, of course, is parking.  Cities are

   In part two of his 5-part blog series examining the trends driving the future of parking, T2’s VP of Research Blake Laufer explores the Internet of Things.Previous Post Trend #1: Self-driving Cars The Internet of ThingsThe Internet of Things, abbreviated as IoT, is a computing concept that describes a future where everyday physical objects will be connected to the Internet and will be able to identify themselves to other devices. IoT is significant because an object that can represent itself digitally becomes something greater than when that object existed off the grid.  No longer does the object relate just to you, but now it is connected to objects around it. This is much, much more than having your alarm clock start your coffee maker.  When many objects act in unison, they are referred to as having “ambient intelligence”.  They’re not truly intelligent, but they act in a way as to make decisions that appear “smart”. Technology research firm Gartner says 26 billion devices will be online by 2020; ABI Research puts that number at 30 billion; Cisco estimates about 50 billion.  But whether it’s 26 billion or 50 billion, that’s a lot of connected devices—so does it really matter

   Supporting a PARCS system requires high level of technical and parking industry knowledge, and our team of PARCS experts is excited to offer two upcoming in-person training courses. The three-day training will take place in our Indianapolis training center April 26-28 and June 21-23. All attendees who complete this course will receive certification for support of T2 PARCS.Click here to register now. Here’s the rundown: Day 1 Agenda: Level 1 Training (9am-5pm EST) –  Basic device configuration –  Components of the different devices –  Flex, DCS, V4, etc. communication architecture –  Troubleshooting 101 –  Flex PARCS configuration –  Flex software extensions (Cashier Station, Encoding Station, DCS) –  Flex Monitoring System, Tasks, and Lane Commands ​ Day 2 Agenda: Level 2 Training (9am-5pm EST) –  Detailed hardware overview including readers and peripherals –  Tips, tricks, and tools available to assist in troubleshooting –  New V4 tools and upgrade process –  V4 wiring and programming configuration  to Magnetic Microdrive gate –  Log parsing tool and message definitions Day 3 Agenda: Mock Facility Setup (9am-5pm EST) –  Using equipment onsite, a mock facility will be setup, with controlled failures inserted. –  Proper system implementation and issue resolution to be determined using the

  Connectivity is the exploding technology trend of 2016. Refrigerators that create shopping lists, cars that provide real-time tire pressure information, and watches that track the number of daily steps you take are just a few examples. These advances allow us to simultaneously connect to devices, consumers, and the world–and with it come opportunities to help us continue to evolve the parking services we deliver.  To assist parking professionals in understanding these trends and the ways to capitalize on them, Chris Chettle of T2 Systems, Mike Drow of SP+, and Peter Lange of Texas A&M University get together to offer their thoughts on how this trend is affecting the parking industry.

  As part of a five-year plan to replace aging meters, the ParkHouston program is introducing new multi-space pay stations with enhanced speed and capabilities.  This week, parkers will see around 90 new meters on Houston streets, with another 166 being installed in March. The meters—T2 Systems’ Digital Luke II multi-space pay stations—employ cutting-edge technology that will make parking easier as well as enhance operation for the City.   Houston’s purchase of the Luke II pay stations, a significant contract for T2, was approved by the City Council on Oct. 15 after the city used several of the meters in trial form during 2015. Houston manages 9,200 parking spaces with the help of its multi-space pay stations.   The Luke II meter provides a better experience because it lets parkers associate their payment with their license plate number. With “pay-by-plate,” a parker no longer has to walk back to their car to put a receipt on the dashboard. This ability was a driving factor in Houston’s decision to go with T2.   “This is really going to improve the customer experience,” said Assistant Director of ParkHouston Maria Irshad. “Customers will now just be able to get on their way after

  We are proud to announce T2 has been ranked No. 444 on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences, and energy tech companies in North America.“Over the last 21 years, T2’s portfolio of clients has grown to include universities, hospitals, airports, cities, and private business campuses, all seeking an intuitive and customer-focused approach to making the parking experience as seamless as possible,” said CEO Mike Simmons. “This recognition is a credit to the strong team at T2.”