Working with Parking – Section Two

Permit Management using ParkAdmin, Continued

In this lesson we will continue to discuss Working with Parking. Previously, you learned about Developing a Parking Plan, Creating your Lots, and Using Pricing and Lot Admin. We will continue to build on that knowledge now by talking about Permit Allocation, Sales Window Management and Working with Permits.

Permit Allocation

This lesson describes the process of adding permits to lots. Permits can be added individually or in bulk. You will want to ensure that you do some pre-planning for lot and permit setup to ensure that you have room for future growth.  LOT PLANNING WORKSHEET???

To access the Permit Allocation section you will again go to Parking Management then use the Lot Administration dropdown and then click on Allocate. Once you have located the lot you wish to manage, click on the Add Permits to Lot button to the right of the lot. The Add Permits to Lot utility will appear asking you to specify the permits that you wish to add to the lot or to enter a permit range. When you are done, click Add Permits. A confirmation screen will appear, you will then need to click Add Permits again to verify. You will receive a pop up message confirming the changes have been made.

Sales Window Management

The Sales Window feature allows the admin to configure when permits go on sale and what time frames the permits are valid. There are three important parameters that need to be set in this process: when the permits will be available to purchase, what date the permit becomes valid, and what date the permit expires.

Adding a New Sales Window

Let’s begin to guide you through the process of setting these dates and making the Sales Window active. To create a new sales window, choose Permits and then navigate to Sales Windows. This will open the Manage Permit Sales Windows screen. From here you will click Add Sale Window which will open another window where you will complete information about the name, type, sale start date, active start date and sale/active end date, as well as the colour you would like displayed in relation to this sales window. When complete, click Save Changes. The new sales window will now appear in the list of possible sales windows.

Activating the Sales Window

Once the sales window has been configured it needs to be made active. To do so, find the new sales window you just created in the list of possible sales windows from above. On the same line as the new sales window will be the title of Active. Click the dropdown arrow to switch the sales window to active (or inactive, as needed).

When to Activate a Sales Window

A sales window can be activated well in advance of it’s set start date. For example, once the initial sales for a yearly sales period dies down, an admin can set up and activate the following year’s sales window. It will only come into effect once the Sale Start Date is reached. Additionally, permits bought in the sales window will only become valid as of the Active Start Date.

Working with Permits

Permit Search

Permit Search allows you to search different lots to view information about the permits that have been registered to people. Under Parking Management, click on Permit Search and enter your search criteria. You have the option to include archived permit data or to include only active permits by selecting the correct checkbox. Once you have chosen your criteria and checked the boxes, if required, click the Search button to be presented with the requested information. From this new view you are able to send emails to permit users, generate a mailing list or generate a status report. The information on the screen can also be copied, exported to .csv, Excel or .pdf, or it can be printed.

Permit Search Links

You are able to access and edit more information on the search results screen through the use of the following selections. The Clock icon, when clicked, displays the Permit History screen which shows the entire permit history and links to the permit details and transaction history for that specific permit. If the permit has been rented by more than one user, you will see more than one user listed here. The Availability column indicates whether or not that specific permit is visible on the user side. The Renewability column allows the particular permit to be renewed or not, depending on if the checkbox has been chosen or not. The Usage State displays if a user has requested, reserved, or rented the permit with a link to view/edit their profile and a link to email the specific user. (Requested is when a user has selected an item but has not yet selected how it will be paid for, reserved is when there is an associated unprocessed payment (promise to pay; eg. cheque), and rented is when the payment is processed and linked to a processed payment). From the Usage State you can also release a permit to disassociate it from a user and allow it to be resold or you can do a Permit Switch which allows administrators to change the permit number associated with a user. We will discuss the Permit Switch functionality in more detail below.

Permit Search Counts

When viewing your permits either in Permit Search or the listing in Permit Allocate there is a legend across the top that indicates a count for various states of permits in the lot. Total Permits indicates the total found by the search. Requested indicates that the state is good, the payment is null and there is a user associated with the permit. Rented/Reserved shows that the state is good and that there is a payment associated (although the payment doesn’t have to be processed). Visible to User indicates that the state is good, the lot and permit is visible and no user is associated. Visible to Admins shows the state is good, the lot or permit is hidden and no user is associated. (There’s an option that is available that may show another number under Visible to Admins and that is that the state is good, the lot or permit is hidden, and that a user is associated. Lastly, Unavailable indicates that the status is not good or valid or usable.

Permit Switch

Permit Switch allows you to change a person’s current standard permit for another standard permit. There are three scenarios possible with permit switch: switching a user from one permit number to another in the same lot, switching permits between two users in the same lot, and switching a user from one permit number to another in a different lot.

Permit Switch between Permits

You can access the Permit Switch screen by choosing Parking Management and then clicking on Permit Switch. On the Permit Switch screen you will complete information with regards to the lot name and permit number the user’s permit is currently in, as well as the lot and permit number that you are switching them to. Once you have chosen the new information you will be shown an image to review the changes you have made and select whether to choose the full or prorated price. If the value of the permits are the same then the differences will not display, but, if the values are not the same, you will be shown the difference between the permits that are being switched. You will need to complete the Reason for Action and click Switch Permits to confirm changes. Once complete you should see a Permit Switch Complete window indicating that the records were successfully processed.

Permit Switch between Users

In this scenario we will switch a permit number between two users. You will start by choosing Parking Management and then Move User’s Permit and History. On the Permit Move screen that appears you will be asked to enter or search for the name of the current permit holder and select that user. All of the permits that user currently owns will be displayed. Select the permit you want to switch and add the second user name to the search field followed by Search. You will now be shown a list of permits that the second user owns. Choose the correct user and permit and click Move Permit followed by OK. The permit will be automatically moved from the selected user to the next after the confirmation alert box has been confirmed.

Training

Please see below for quick video presentations on topics discussed in this lesson. Alternatively, you can follow along with OperationsCommander’s public training wiki here: https://wiki.ops-com.com/x/KQA8Gw.