Smart savings

Zeag’s David Jones outlines their involvement in upgrading two hospital car parking facilities in the UK and how this helped save thousands of pounds.

The Wirral Hospital in the United Kingdom provides a comprehensive range of healthcare services from two main hospital sites - Arrowe Park Hospital in Upton and Clatterbridge Hospital in Bebington. It is one of the biggest acute NHS trusts in the North West, with a workforce of almost 6000 staff serving a population of 400,000 across the Wirral peninsula, Ellesmere Port and Neston.

The challenge

With over 1250 visitors each month, Wirral Hospital needed to upgrade and unite two car parking systems and facilities at Arrowe Park and Clatterbridge Hospitals. They required a parking solution that would connect and improve the existing parking facilities and software management with minimal disturbance to staff, patients and visitors. The new system would need to provide connectivity whilst making the parking experience easier for visitors and for staff to monitor parking and equipment. It would also need to ensure parking was more profitable for the hospital. After reviewing all options, Wirral Hospital chose to work with Zeag because of its innovative approach to their requirements.

Eliminating costly groundworks

"One of the biggest costs associated with car parking facilities is the need for groundworks, whether this is to connect to the existing network or to supply electricity to payment stations or barrier gates," said David Jones, Director, Zeag.

Zeag used Wirral Hospital's existing Wi-Fi network to connect the two sites and implemented the Pay on Foot Parking Revenue System. When entering the car park, visitors use the Zeag-Orion^XR exit - entry barriers and pay stations. The Zeag Management Software (ZMS) suite connects over the Wi-Fi network to transmit ticket numbers and entry time from the Orion^XR products. When exiting the car park, details of how long the visitor has stayed, what the tariff is for that length of stay and how much to charge is all communicated over Wi-Fi from the payment station to the control station.

"Zeag's innovative solution made it possible for the entire implementation of equipment and software to take only four weeks," said Bob Jones, Design Manager, Wirral Hospital. "The cost savings of using Wi-Fi for this project rather than spending weeks on groundworks saved the hospital tens of thousands of pounds. We now have in place a professional and innovative system that's able to generate an alternative source of income for the hospital."

The implementation

Improved equipment means making parking simple, so Zeag installed the Zeag-Orion^XR equipment to provide a straightforward parking system to maximise profits and minimise costs at Wirral Hospital. The system is reliable, advanced, secure and flexible to give visitors a simple parking experience. Products installed include: ZEAG Orion^XR entry and exit Stations, ZEAG Orion^XR Pay Stations and Zeag Management Software (ZMS).

All Pay Stations, entry and exit stations and barriers can be viewed on a single screen, complete with status details on all. Any problems are instantly flagged up on screen with audible alerts if necessary. Upcoming maintenance, such as ticket levels, can also be seen, allowing even the most complex parking operation to be monitored by a single manager.

Statistics from these machines are collated to provide unparalleled management information on occupancy, busy times, monies taken etc. Correct use of this information can improve revenues significantly and also provide clients with useful information on footfall.

The results

By using an innovative Wi-Fi solution, Zeag was able to save Wirral Hospital thousands of pounds by eliminating the need to install underground duct work for data and intercom cabling for the parking equipment. Furthermore, both hospitals were connected by the ZMS solution, allowing visibility of all car-parking facilities from one central location.

"Every hospital needs more money and parking can be a source of this extra revenue," said David Jones. "By installing and maintaining reliable and secure parking facilities, we are able to help generate this income without the headaches that can be involved."

David Jones is Chief Marketing Officer of ZEAG Group. After he successfully spearheaded ZEAG UK to success, Jones was promoted to Group to expand global growth. His remit is to work with Zeag's subsidiaries and partners around the world to drive awareness of Zeag's innovative professional parking solutions.