Britannia Parking Case Study

Introducing Zatpark

Britannia Parking implemented the Zatpark parking management solution to improve its service resilience and business continuity planning. Zatpark is an industry-leading ‘Software as a Service’ (SaaS) platform that delivers a high quality secure and reliable solution for parking enforcement operators.

The system manages parking charge data from on-street issues to debt recovery and every step in between. The system is actively developed in close consultation with customers to ensure it continues to meet the needs of parking operators big and small.

Since its introduction, Zatpark has been crucial in helping Britannia expand its business to 450+ sites, issuing over 112,000 Parking Charge Notices (PCNs) in the process.

Over 150 street-based Parking Enforcement Officers (PEOs) are equipped with the Zatmobile Android and iPhone smartphone app to print and serve PCNs on-site. The app delivers comprehensive real-time functionality, synchronising with the back-office keeping PEOs up to date with the latest company ticketing policies, templates and allowlist covering valid permit holders and cashless parking customers without having to return to the office.

Issuing a PCN on Zatmobile couldn’t be easier. The app will look up the vehicle make, model and colour and add the details automatically to the charge ready for the notice to be issued. Once issued, the record including accompanying video and photographic evidence is automatically imported into Zatpark.

Appropriately authorised Zatpark back-office staff immediately have access to all the PCN information including photographs and relevant video evidence collected. Processing tools allow the videos to be rendered into manageable clips and image snapshots made. Motorists have access to an online appeals portal for appellants to view evidence of an offence.

62,000 PCNs were issued by Britannia by post following offences that were captured on CCTV with the aid of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology. Zatpark is fully integrated with the leading third-party CCTV/ANPR camera vendors minimising administration in processing images. There is also an innovative ANPR add-on feature for its mobile phone app providing an ANPR capability that reduces errors caused by PEO typos in recording VRMs.

We asked Brian Parker CEO of Britannia Parking what key benefits installing the Zatpark hosted ‘Software As A Service’ (SAAS) environment were for the company.

“The system has increased efficiency through improved integration with our existing service providers, and improved our business continuity protection for extreme weather events and unforeseen office disasters such as flood or fire.”

“The system provides us with automatic progression of cases that have not been paid or cancelled. Automation includes integration with third-party bodies such as DVLA (for registered keeper details), POPLA (for independent appeals) and debt collection agencies at the back end of the process.”

“The Zatpark integration doesn’t stop there as we use a wide range of third-party applications including Just Park (Permits), PayByPhone (Cashless Parking) and Metric Parking (Pay and Display) to meet the needs of our customers and motorists. Increased integration was a key objective in introducing Zatpark, and with many more industry-leading services supported, Zatpark enables us to use best-of-breed solutions without the headache of linking them together”.

Brian Parker
CEO, Britannia Parking

Handling motorist appeal correspondence has also improved:

“The system also deals with our motorist correspondence by integrating with a mail provider for letter generation and postage. This correspondence may take the form of postal PCNs, ‘Notice to Keepers’, reminder letters and appeal decision letters that can include photographic evidence. Incoming correspondence is scanned onto the system helping to remove paper from the workplace.”

We also asked Brian how his staff have been affected by the implementation of Zatpark:

“My staff find the workflow tools and system alerts presented on the system dashboard helpful with organising their workload efficiently. We work smarter by assigning tasks to staff with the correct skills and the system provides improved visibility of performance, problems or bottlenecks.”

Improving the service to motorists

“Another key objective was delivering a comprehensive self-service portal that enabled the motorists to view their ticketed contraventions including photographs and/or video evidence and make payments or appeals. Driving business processes through the Zatpark portal has helped us to improve our service to the motorist and reduce our operating costs.”

Brian concluded,

“I believe the close working relationship between Britannia Parking and Zatpark has resulted in improved integration with third parties, improved enforcement officer efficiency, and improved communication with our motorists and clients with up-to-date information and a comprehensive self-service portal. I remain confident that the relationship will continue to develop and bring forward new innovative parking industry technologies for the benefit of our current and future clients”.

Dave Herbert CEO of Unity5 added,

“Britannia had a requirement to have Zatpark installed very quickly due to a pressing business need. Our team worked very closely with their management and notice processing department to make the implementation as seamless as possible, ensuring the fastest possible go-live date. It’s fantastic to have forged such a close working relationship through this process and to be providing the cutting-edge services Britannia required. We’re confident that this partnership will continue to flourish”.