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Vandal-resistant range of miniaturised cameras

The organisation

Newton Abbot is a large, bustling town, situated within Teignbridge District Council in Devon, UK. The town is an important retail centre for much of the surrounding area, ensuring plenty of shopping opportunities for local people and tourists alike.

The requirement

Teignbridge District Council required a car parking system that provided a wireless link between Vision pay-and-display ticket machines situated in five car parks and council staff. In addition, the system needed to:

* Maximise revenue by minimising downtime.

* Provide a means of central monitoring with low running costs.

* Monitor, record and annunciate alarms directly from the machines.

* Directly alert council staff of the issue and pin-point the specific machine.

Blick Alfia was awarded the contract to provide a solution.

The solution

Transmitters are wired into each Vision pay-and-display machine with a helical antenna on the top, covered with a fibreglass dome. Machine faults are reported directly to a central control system, identifying the specific machine and problem, and then forwarded directly, via an AEN2 alphanumeric pager, to a council employee who can immediately respond to the problem.

The information sent from the pay-and-display machines highlights the following:

* Out of use - eg, ticket jam, tickets out, coin box full, door open, intruder.

* Tickets low.

* Coin box near full.

* Power fail.

"Blick Alfia has provided car parking equipment to this authority for a number of years," said Sue Edwards, head of car parks at Teignbridge District Council. "The Vision machines have proved to be very efficient and this new system enhances the ability to provide a customer friendly service. It reduces potential downtime of the machines and is proving to be cost effective."

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