RingGo RVPs cut time and costs for Portsmouth City Council |
14th Jan 2010 |
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Portsmouth City Council is leading the UK into the next stage of the cashless parking revolution, with the introduction of RingGo Resident Visitor Permits (RVPs) in the Old Portsmouth area.
To use the new permits, residents register their details - either online or at the local parking shop. They can add registrations to their account and then pay for their visitors' parking - topping up if the stay lasts longer than planned.
The benefits for both Council and residents of this innovative new scheme are clear:
For the Council, the scheme:
- is easier to manage and reduces administration
- cuts the cost of preparing and printing uniquely numbered physical cards, for each individual parking zone, in a number of different denominations
- reduces cash and cheque collection, and
- is enforced as a normal RingGo session - extending their existing cashless parking process seamlessly, with no added effort on the part of the Enforcement Officer.
Customers also benefit, as:
- they no longer need to visit the parking shop or other Council buildings to buy and store parking cards
- they avoid the need to pay up front by cash or cheque, instead using credit or debit cards - only when they need the parking
- once registered, they can log as many vehicles as they like - making each visit and parking session a quick phone call.
Michael Robinson, Portsmouth City Council's deputy parking manager explains the rationale behind the new scheme. "As a Council, we are encouraged to make services available online and Resident Visitor Permits is an obvious area where we can dramatically improve existing processes. Customer feedback from this one area of the City is good, so we'll definitely extend it to the rest of Portsmouth soon."
Joanna Miller, Technical Director for Cobalt Telephone Technologies, who developed the service comments. "Portsmouth City was one of the first Councils to adopt RingGo, and we were delighted to work further with them on this UK first for permits. One of Cobalt Telephone Technologies guiding principles is to 'make life simpler' - and that's certainly the case with RingGo RVPs. Given all the advantages of the service, for both customer and Council, we're sure Portsmouth's lead is one many other Councils will follow."
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