Schlumberger heads for a century with Devon County Council as reliability helps create “Best Value” P&D parkingsolutions

The high levels of reliability demonstrated since the Council first opted for Schlumberger machines, two years ago, have helped establish them as representing “Best Value”. The latest installations take the total number of Schlumberger machines supplied to DCC to almost 100. The Council is responsible for all on-street parking revenue collection systems in Devon, apart from those under the control of unitary authorities.

DCC chose solar-powered terminals for environmental reasons, in that they utilise a clean, sustainable and free energy source. The Stelio was chosen specifically as it is the only machine designed from the outset to operate on solar energy. Installation is easy and inexpensive as no trenching or cabling are required, nor are there any utility connection charges.

“The number of times we might be called-out to deal with faults is an important consideration and it is very low on these machines, as we expected”, noted Dominic McCarthy of DCC’s Engineering & Design Group. “We also like the fact that it’s easy to change tariffs via the software in the Schlumberger machines. And we don’t have to pay-out for a new polycarbonate front panel each time either: it’s simply a matter of printing-off the revised charges and popping in a new slip of paper.”

The unique, smooth profile of the Stelio proved attractive in Exeter where DCC has installed terminals with a black finish in the City centre and Forest Green on those in the more rural University area. In Exmouth, DCC has provided machines in a special ice-blue finish specified to enhance the seaside location and match other street furniture.

“We like a number of features on the Schlumberger machines which seem to suit our environment. The well-closed apertures provide added protection against salty, sea air and each terminal has a good-sized battery which will last a long time”, added Dominic McCarthy.

Further recent customers for solar-powered Schlumberger terminals in the South West include Exeter City Council for four of its car parks, North Devon District Council for motorcycle parking in Barnstaple; The British Surfing Association at the new National Surfing Centre in Newquay; and Teignbridge District Council with an addition to its system in Dawlish Warren. The Devon Partnership NHS Trust and the Royal Devon and Exeter Healthcare NHS Trust have also installed the machines at their respective main hospitals in Exeter.
Schlumberger is the worldwide leader in on-street parking solutions with 60% market share. Globally, its systems control over 2.6 million parking spaces in more than 3,000 cities in 40 countries.

About Schlumberger e-City

Schlumberger e-City is a business segment of Schlumberger Limited, a global technology services company. With more than 60,000 employees serving customers in 65 countries, Schlumberger aggregates IT consulting, systems integration, managed services and related products to the oil and gas, telecommunications, energy and utilities, finance, transport and public sector markets. Leveraging the Schlumberger DeXa* Suite of Services, it also provides IP network connectivity, information security solutions, distributed computing support services and data centre hosting services. In 2001, Schlumberger revenues were $13.7 billion.