Parking Glossary – Parking Technology Terms, Acronyms & Abbreviations

Nov 8, 2022

What is a CEA? What does ANPR stand for? What is a CPZ? There are so many terms used in the parking industry, and we can help you understand their meanings.

New to parking management and technology? No idea what all the terms, acronyms, and abbreviations mean?

Here at Unity5, we use acronyms all the time, and sometimes we take it for granted that our team know what they mean. Like some of our new team members, you may be new to the parking industry and need to understand the terminology you hear. So we’ve put together this A to Z parking glossary of commonly used parking technology terms to help you get up-to-speed.

Acronym / Phrase	Meaning	Category	Location Usage	Description
Account Delegation	Delegated Access framework	Technology	Global	What is account delegation? Delegated Access is a framework that enables a user to authorise another user to perform a task on their behalf.
ACS	Access Control System	Technology	Global	What does ACS mean? Access control systems are electronic systems that automate the approval of authorised people or vehicles to access a site or system.
ANPR	Automatic Number Plate Recognition	Technology	Global	What is ANPR? An ANPR system combines cameras with other technology to identify a vehicle, its location, and other data.
API	Application Programming Interface	Technology	Global	What is an API? An API is a method of two or more computer programs communicating with each other and is a type of software interface. See more A terms
B Corp	B Corporation	Compliance	Global	What does B Corp mean? Certified B Corporations demonstrate high social and environmental performance by showing that the business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.
BPA	British Parking Association	Parking	UK	What is the BPA? The BPA represent the UK parking and traffic management profession. They are a not-for-profit organisation and also supports communities, improves compliance, and encourages fairness.
BSI	The British Standards Institution	Compliance	UK	What does BPI stand for? The British Standards Institution provides business improvement and best practice services to help organisations build competence and capability. See more B terms
CEA	Civil Enforcement Areas	Government	UK	What is a CEA? CEAs are designated areas of England defined for the purposes of enforcing parking contraventions, these areas do not have the same boundaries as towns, cities, or counties.
CEO	Civil Enforcement Officer	Government	UK	What does CEO mean in the parking industry?CEOs are employed by UK local authorities to ensure that parking and traffic rules are followed and enforced.
CPZ	Controlled Parking Zone	Parking	UK	What does CPZ stand for? A Controlled Parking Zone is a specific type of parking restriction that applies to a group of roads within a parking zone. See more C terms
DfT	Department for Transport	Government	UK	What is the DfT? A UK Government department responsible for the English transport network and non-devolved transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
DMUK	Disabled Motoring UK	Parking	UK	What does DMUK stand for? Disabled Motoring UK is a charity which supports disabled drivers, passengers and Blue Badge holders.
DMV	Driver and Motor Vehicle Lookup	Parking	USA	What does DMV stand for? Driver and Motor Vehicle agencies are the USA government state-run agencies that manage vehicle registrations and driver licences. A DMV is used to describe a vehicle registration check against the DMV vehicle databases. See more D terms
ECN	Excess Charge Notice	Parking	UK	What is an ECN? An Excess Charge Notice can be issued when a motorist has not adhered to the conditions of use of the car park, for example for not displaying a valid parking ticket.
EPM	Evidence Pack Manager	Technology	Global	What is an EPM? When a motorist appeals against a parking ticket the parking operator will provide an evidence pack addressing the appeal. An Evidence Pack Manager is a technology solution that collects and manages this evidence.
ESPO	Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation	Government	UK	What is ESPO? ESPO is a public sector-owned professional buying organisation with a large product catalogue and procurement frameworks.See more E terms
Fleet	Groups of vehicles owned by an organisation	Parking	UK	What does Fleet mean? Fleet vehicles are groups of motor vehicles owned or leased by a business, government agency, or other organisation rather than by an individual or family such as rental vehicles, taxis, and public buses.
FCN	Fixed Charge Notice	Parking	UK	What is an FCN? A Parking Charge Notice (FPN) is a parking ticket issued by a private parking company in private car parks, also known as a Fixed Penalty Charge.
FCN	Final Charge Notice	Legal	UK	What does FCN mean? A final charging order (FCN) is granted by a court to a debt creditor if a parking fine is not paid within the defined periods. This means that if the debtor sells their property, they must pay the creditor back out of the proceeds. A charging order does not require the debtor to sell their property unless they receive an Order for Sale from the court. See more F terms
Gatekeepers	Software development team product leader	Technology	Global	What is a development gatekeeper? A development team gatekeeper ensures there is someone in the team with a clear understanding of what the piece of software is and what it is going to evolve into.
GCP	Google Cloud Platform	Technology	Global	What does GCP stand for? Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a Google suite of cloud computing services that runs on its own infrastructure.
Geolocation	Location identification	Technology	Global	What is Geolocation? Geolocation refers to the use of location technologies such as GPS or IP addresses to identify and track the whereabouts of connected electronic devices. See more G terms
IAS	Independent Appeals Service	Parking	UK	What does IAS stand for? The Independent Appeals Service (IAS) provides the ability for people who have received a Parking Charge Notice from an IPC parking operator to appeal against it.
ICN	Interim Charge Notice	Parking	UK	What does ICN stand for? An interim charging order (ICN) is usually made by a court officer without a hearing.
IVR	Interactive Voice Response	Technology	Global	What is IVR? A technology that allows humans to interact with a computer-operated phone system through the use of voice. See more I terms
LA	Local Authority	Parking	UK	What does LA stand for? Local Authorities (LAs) are regional Government organisations.
LEA	Law Enforcement Agency	Parking	UK	What does LEA stand for? A Government organisation that is responsible for law enforcement, such as the Police or security services. These are referred to as Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). See more L terms
MNPR	Mobile Number Plate Recognition	Technology	Global	What is MNPR?MNPR is a method of identifying vehicle number plates using a mobile device.
MMS	Merchant Management System	Technology	Global	What is an MMS? An MMS is a web-based environment used by card merchants to allow them to access transaction data from payment gateways in real time.
MVP	Minimum Viable Product	Technology	Global	What is an MVP?A term used by technology developers that describes the early stages of a new software system. See more M terms
NAC	National ANPR Capability	Government	UK	What is the NAC? The NAC is the UK Government’s network of ANPR systems.
NtH	Notice to Hirer	Parking	UK	What is an NtH? An NtH is a notice that provides a vehicle hirer that their vehicle has contravened a regulation with an opportunity to either pay a penalty charge or make formal representations against its issue.
NZTA	Waka Kotahi New Zealand Traffic Authority	Government	New Zealand	What is the NZTA?The New Zealand Traffic Authority (NZTA) responsible for vehicle registrations and licencing, equivalent to the UK DVLA. See more N terms
OBI	Onboarding and Implementation	Parking	UK	What does OBI mean?OBI is a process of technology providers configuring software and providing training for a new client.
Observations	Parked vehicle observations	Parking	Global	What are observations in parking? Observations are a function of parking enforcement where parked vehicles are observed and monitored for potential contraventions.
OCR	Optical Character Recognition	Technology	Global	What is OCR?OCR is a method of automatically identifying text using software. See more O terms
Passcode	Method of entry	Technology	Global	What is a passcode? A passcode is an ID assigned to provide access, that is used for Passcode Entry systems.
Payment Integration	Adding Software payment functionality	Technology	Global	What is a payment integration? A payment integration adds the ability to take payments within software.
PCI SSC	PCI Security Standards Council	Compliance	Global	What is PCI SSC? PCI SSC is a global forum that brings together payments industry stakeholders to develop and drive adoption of data security standards and resources for safe payments worldwide. See more P terms
QA	Quality Assurance	Technology	Global	What does QA mean? QA is software development process that tests and approves software changes. See more Q terms
READ	ANPR read	Technology	Global	What is an ANPR READ? An ANPR Read is a record of a vehicle identity taken from an ANPR camera image.
RFID	Radio Frequency Identification	Technology	Global	What is RFID? RFID is a method of using radio to confirm identity, used in payment cards and access control systems. See more R terms
SaaS	Software as a Service	Technology	Global	What is a SaaS system? SaaS is a method of delivering software via the internet and is often referred to as cloud-based services.
SAR	Subject Access Request	Compliance	UK, Europe	What is a SAR? A SAR is a right of individuals to request access to all of their personal information held by an individual or organisation. It is defined in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
SEA	Special Enforcement Area	Parking	UK	What is a parking SEA? A SEA is a parking area that has specific enforcement rules.See more S terms
Tech Debt	Technical Debt	Technology	Global	What does Tech Debt mean? Tech Debt is a technical term that describes parts of a technology system that is old and needs updating.
TMA	Traffic Management Act	Government	UK	What is the TMA? The TMA is the UK Government’s legislation for traffic management.
TRO	Traffic Regulation Order	Government	UK	What is the TRO? The TRO is a legal agreement which allows local authorities or the police to enforce regulations including speed limits, on-street parking and one-way street. See more T terms
UI	User Interface	Technology	Global	What does UI mean? UI refers to the User Interface (UI) is a technical term used to describe the visual elements of software that a user interacts with.
UX	User Experience	Technology	Global	What does UX mean? UX refers to the way that users interact with software, so their User Experience (UX). See more U terms
VI	Vehicle Immobilisation	Parking	Global	What does VI mean? Vehicle Immobilisation (VI) refers to stopping a vehicle from driving away such as wheel clamping.
VIC	Vehicle Identity Check	Parking	UK	What is a VIC? VICs verify a vehicle’s number plate or identity number against a vehicle authority database.
VOI	Vehicle Of Interest	Legal	UK	What does VOI mean? A VOI is a vehicle that has been flagged by an authority for traffic infringements, contraventions or criminal activity. See more V terms
Widget	Software functionality	Technology	Global	What is a Widget? A widget is a small element of functionality in a software application.
WIP	Work in Progress	Technology	Global	What does WIP mean? WIP refers to software development tasks that are currently being worked on.
WO	Work Order	Technology	Global	What does WO stand for? WO is a request for work to be undertaken such as a repair or an environmental cleaning task. See more W terms
ZEBRA	Ticket printer manufacturer	Technology	Global	What does ZEBRA mean in parking? ZEBRA are a manufacturer of mobile printers used for printing on-street parking tickets.

ZatPark parking management and enforcement technology is used across the traffic and parking enforcement industry by operators big and small. ZatPark helps you improve efficiency by enabling seamless integration and providing innovative tools that reduce your administration time and extend your enforcement hours without financial overheads.

We hope you found this glossary of parking technology acronyms, terms, and abbreviations helpful. You can download the full A-Z Glossary below.

References:

UK Government. Crime, Justice, and Law. Guidance. National ANPR.
UK Government. Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
UK Government Legislation. Traffic Management Act 2004.
British Parking Association (BPA).
Information Commissioners Office (ICO).
Independent Appeals Service (IAS).
The European Commission. Data Protection in the EU.
Oxford University Press. Dictionary of the Internet (Edition 2).
British Standards Institute (BSI).
Journal of Universal Computer Science. Methodologies and Tools For Continuous Improvement of Systems. William Schindel.
The User Interaction Foundation. The Encylopedia of Human-Computer Interaction, 2nd Edition.
Agile Manifesto. Manifesto for Agile Software Development.
B Corporation. B Corp Certification.

ANPR vs CCTV eBook

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