Developing a SaaS parking solution together with Hi Tech Mobility

After many years of developing and operating roadside and toll collection systems, experts from Hi Tech Mobility realized that they want to develop a smart mobility solution. The project started in 2012 when Etteplan (previously Skyrise.tech*) became a part of the technical team responsible for Hi Tech Mobility’s idea. To this day, we are involved with business analysis, design, system architecture, development and quality assurance of the upcoming features.

The goal was to develop and deploy a fully ticket-free parking system. So far, the only solution in the industry was the standard ticket system, which was integrated with barriers and ticket printers. With the old system, drivers stopped at the car park entrance, took a ticket, and the barriers would open.

The solution disrupted the entire parking industry. Vertically, one portal allows several roles, from facility owner to end-user, to perform their tasks in the solution. Horizontally, the parking process was digitalized, A to Z, from identification to payment.

“Etteplan’s software has received numerous accolades for its convenience and the end-user experience. […] They communicated clearly, met deadlines, and produced strong deliverables through the project. I value their honesty, if they notice any problems, they tell us immediately”, Bengt Jorgen Olsen, CTO, Hi Tech Mobility.

A technical approach to the Hi Tech Mobility’s idea
 
Etteplan’s experts delivered a SaaS solution built on Microsoft Azure. The custom system integrates with many devices. For example, license plate recognition cameras, barriers, induction loops, sensors, VMS (Variable Message Signs), payment kiosks, etc. We prepared the mechanisms to process high volumes of data. In 2020 our team enhanced it with machine learning and deep learning algorithms, which distinguish for example vehicle movement. Moreover, during 2021 the solution got a tech stack upgrade, and the system now runs on Azure Kubernetes Services.

Hi Tech Mobility’s solution was integrated with leading Scandinavian credit card payment operator PayEx, as early as 2014, in order to provide a fully automatic recurring payment process using app and web. Other payment channels are kiosk, post-payment on the web, invoice and mobile parking applications like EasyPark and ParkLink.

From an idea to a fully comprehensive parking management system.

Due to the rapid growth of the user base and the general usage (approximately 2 million parking visits monthly), the system was strengthened with support tools.

We redesigned the client support process by studying user behavior and coming up with ideas of how to improve customer experience. What is more, we developed a tool to manage tasks of the parking enforcement officers - a mobile app with a built-in OCR (Optical Char Recognition) library. It helps parking enforcement officers keep an eye on all cars parked. In case of a problem with the license plate recognition, for instance, heavy snow, they take manual actions.

The latest feature developed is schedules, which deals with fixed price agreements for separate time intervals on defined facilities.

The project has resulted in high end-user satisfaction, which reflects fulfilling functional requirements and non-functional requirements like stability, uptime and performance. Hi! and Etteplan has not only revolutionized parking in Scandinavia but continues to do so until this day.

*Etteplan acquired Skyrise.tech in 2021, read more about the acquisition.