Case Studies

Community hospital car park upgrade

by Mark Rowe

At Tewkesbury Community Hospital, Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust has had the site car park updated. Nortech’s Feemaster range was fitted by entry control system installers ASGuk, who were appointed by the Trust to design and install a parking control system to stop visitors misusing the site’s car park.

Gloucester-based ASGuk proposed combining automatic barriers and parking ticket control. ASGuk selected Nortech’s FeeMaster product, which includes the FeeMaster Smart Entry Station, FeeMaster Smart Exit Station, and a number of FeeMaster Smart Consoles inside the building. The console allows the staff to control any misuse of the car park and ensures that enough parking spaces for visitors and patients.

Nortech describes its FeeMaster Smart parking management system as a flexible way of managing car parking access and controlling validity periods using Mifare smart cards. This avoids the need for cabling between components and minimises disruption.

Chris Vokes, Technical Sales at ASGuk Security and Safety Systems said: “We selected Nortech because its systems were the right fit for the hospital’s short and long-term needs. The products provide an easy solution to the ongoing parking problem and fitted the criteria for what the client wanted, including reduced cabling. We have known Nortech for many years and are very happy with how the system works, their technical support and the end result achieved for the client. We will most certainly continue to use Nortech products on future projects.”

The FeeMaster entry station is designed to be used to record the date and time that a vehicle enters a car park. Standing at the entrance of the car park, it issues tickets to visitors as they arrive, with each ticket containing a barcode, serial number and the date and time. Dispensing the ticket triggers an ‘open’ signal to the entry barrier. The ticket is then taken to the hospital’s reception desk where the date and time is used in conjunction with the FeeMaster Smart Console.

The FeeMaster Smart exit station prevents unauthorised vehicles leaving a car park or entering restricted areas. Standing at the exit of the car park or the entrance to a restricted area, it validates the Mifare smart cards and exit tokens. The exit station comes with a barcode scanner to read exit tokens issued by the FeeMaster Smart console, as well as entry tickets issued at the entry station. Each ticket is valid for single use at the exit station during the validity period assigned to it. The exit station controller checks the details on the barcode ticket and sends an ‘open’ signal to the barrier.

The FeeMaster Smart Console reads barcode tickets issued at the entry station, calculates the fees based on pre-programmed tariff details, and encodes reusable Mifare access control cards with validity data. If necessary, the console can print customer receipts and/or barcode exit tokens. It can also control a till drawer and send a control signal to a vehicle barrier or turnstile. The console may also be connected to a PC so that transactions can be analysed and additional tariff management features may be used.

Visit www.nortechcontrol.com.

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