Dallmeier technology at ParkinGo

For over 20 years, Milan-based company ParkinGo has been offering its services at airports and seaports across Italy. Travellers who arrive with their own vehicles can rest assured that their cars, vans and the likes will be parked safe and sound until they return. This also applies to Milan Linate airport where the company is operating a car park with an associated shuttle service for passengers. For the necessary protection of its business the management trusts in video security technology by Dallmeier.

There are many reasons for travelling and just as many things to worry about ahead of departure. While some issues, such as bad weather or technical failures are beyond personal control, other concerns can be remedied. Since 1995, Italian airline passengers who favour driving their own vehicles over using public transportation in order to get to the airport have been entrusting their cars, vans and such to ParkinGo for the duration of their trips. At more than twenty locations across Italy – including seaports – the company is providing guarded parking spaces and shuttle services, making sure that passenger don’t have to worry about parking anymore.

Relocation with a technology upgrade
The ParkinGO branch just outside Linate airport in Milan, the city’s second international airport besides Malpensa, recently moved to a new location. It remained just as close to the terminals, though, and offers the renowned range of services. One of the company’s top priorities, which is vital for its economic success, is to be able to guarantee its customers the safety and security of parked vehicles. The move was already planned to go along with an expansion of the services offered when the management decided to take the opportunity to also update its video security system.

Local cooperation
Security service provider Lis S.p.A., which is also based in Milan, had already been employed to guard and monitor other ParkinGo car parks, successfully cooperating with Dallmeier Italia. Hence, the two companies decided to join forces again and began to work out a video security solution that would meet the customer’s high demands regarding quality and efficiency.

The responsible project managers at ParkinGO knew exactly what they wanted from the new video system. Obviously, the entire office and parking area would have to be covered to ensure the safety of all vehicles, but the system would also have to facilitate access control as well as help monitor adherence to traffic rules. All in all the following specifications were made: comprehensive observation of all covered and uncovered parking spaces, camera coverage of entries and exits allowing for a 360-degree view of passing cars, and number plate recognition at the driveways with database storage of the registration data. The latter was particularly important to ParkinGO from an insurance-legal perspective as it would allow them to prove that a specific vehicle was returned to its owner in the exact same state as when it was originally parked.

High demands – High technology
For securing the outdoor areas of the car park, the project team chose to employ the multifocal sensor system Panomera, a camera technology which was specifically developed for the all-encompassing surveillance of expansive areas. The ParkinGo management was given a preliminary on-site demonstration of the innovative system’s quality and capabilities, which confirmed the initial choice.

In order to capture all vehicles entering or exiting the premises from every angle, both driveways are each equipped with five high-definition dome cameras featuring automatic Day/Night operation. They provide detailed images in full HD quality. The video system is recorded on two dedicated high
performance server appliances. In addition to handling Dallmeier devices one of the servers was configured to also record third-party cameras which were installed in selected areas across the site. Using a specially developed VideoIP client software the recordings can be evaluated quickly and easily.

Daniele Sisinio, Dallmeier Italia branch office director, outlines the project: “In the beginning, we sat down with our colleagues from LIS and talked through every single specification we had been given. We then agreed on the best possible solution for every application and went to work. Of course, during the planning as well as the implementation we always kept an eye on making sure that all the Dallmeier components would be running smoothly within the completed system, together with the additional third-party devices.” Sisinio is pleased with the result: “That was just really good teamwork!”

Choosing Dallmeier
Investing in a video security system requires thorough considerations and careful financial planning. ParkingGo eventually concluded that there were a number of convincing reasons to choose a Dallmeier solution. Besides the industry-wide appreciation for the outstanding reliability of Dallmeier products, three reasons were particularly decisive. Namely, the user-friendliness of the systems, the high savings potential of the Panomera with regard to the costs of the technical infrastructure required for security systems as well as the possibility to remotely operate all functions of the system. The remote operation is even possible with only small bandwidths available. In that case Dallmeier’s proprietary transfer method PRemote-HD is used to transmit video data. Last but not least, the management was also influenced by the obviously trustful cooperation between Dallmeier Italia and Lis S.p.A.

Equipped for further growth
As a parking services provider, ParkinGO places special emphasis on customer satisfaction as well as efficient and accountable operating procedures. Through data collection and evaluation, the customised security solution realised by the team of LIS and Dallmeier experts now supports the growing company in making sure that they continue to meet their own standards as well as the high expectations of their customers. CEO Paolo Rovelli offers a positive summary of the project: “The use of the advanced Panomera technology provides us with a comprehensive and first-class video coverage of the large parking areas. Additionally, the number plate recognition at the entries and exits allows us to monitor the flow of traffic. And, we can simplify the handling of insurance cases, because now we can document any existing damages when the vehicles come in. But we can also find out if a vehicle was damaged while it was parked with us. So, it’s much easier now to determine responsibilities. And that means we can ensure accountability and offer even better protection and services to our customers.”