Now that Summer is here, parking departments at colleges and universities have some much needed downtime as campuses thin out.
While many will want to just enjoy the warm weather and vacations, some must spend this time thinking about how to improve their fall semester permit process.
If the latter is you, don’t worry. We’ve compiled five recommendations to help you achieve both.
1. Update your parking information webpage with key reminders. - Send out a reminder to all students with a link to your parking information page. (If you don’t have one, create one!) Encourage students to create an account and purchase well ahead of the deadline or to make sure the following information is correct and updated on their account:
Current Address
Current Billing Information and Payment Type
Vehicle Information
Doing this will reduce issues with the permit purchase process.
2. Be Clear and Concise on your website. - Don’t bury important hyperlinks in a lot of text and rules. Let the main points stand out above the rest.
Want to Sell a Permit? State Buy Parking Here with a link to the purchase page.
Want someone to Pay a Citation? State Pay Your Citation Here with a link to the payment page.
3. Utilize a cloud-based platform - By having a cloud-based platform, you’ll streamline operations, gain valuable insight into your operations through valuable data, and offer a better experience to your parker, allowing them to pay citations online and purchase permits from anywhere at any time.
4. Move your Permit Sales Online - Give students, faculty, and staff the opportunity to purchase permits online, eliminating the need to wait in line. The online experience should give parkers the ability to go through the purchase process in a matter of a few clicks. Then, on the backend, all orders are available for fulfillment, approval, and view in real time, and all permit data is automatically communicated to the enforcement devices. Make sure to allow for recurring billing as well. Lastly, the fulfillment option will be defined by your institution and set up in the backend of the system, allowing the customer to choose.
5. Communicate and Test - Make sure to communicate the new system with detailed steps on how to purchase parking and who to contact if they have questions. Multiple emails and social notifications are good ways to let people know of the new technology. A good partner will go through a series of tests to ensure all is working properly.
For additional information on cloud-based platforms, contact iParq to learn about industry options.
Based on these suggestions, how prepared are you?
- Very prepared - sitting on the beach already.
- I need to implement these suggestions - stuck in the office.
- I don't know where to start and need to chat with iParq.