Making Parking Meters Pay with a Partner Ecosystem

This impressive M2M ecosystem is bringing tangible benefits to both the driving public and to the authorities responsible for parking in cities and towns across America.

Los Angeles, Denver and Beverly Hills are good examples of cities that are using next-generation parking solutions to deliver real benefits to the local community. Drivers and merchants in the downtown districts enjoy the convenience of credit card payments and the meters' ease of use. According to a report by the city's parking revenue collections manager, IPS Group's "high-tech, single-space meters proved more reliable, required fewer collection resources and produced more revenue than single-head meters at the same locations." Revenues in locations with IPS meters installed have increased between 20 and 50 percent. Thanks to their wireless data capabilities, the IPS meters can reduce data collection time by as much as 95 percent. In addition, the meters will notify maintenance staff if a malfunction occurs, thereby minimizing downtime.

For the last 15 years, IPS Group has been delivering world-class solutions to the telecommunications, parking and utility metering industries. By listening closely to the needs of their customers, they have developed a portfolio of truly innovative and technologically superior product solutions. Today, IPS's high-tech, solar-powered meters can be found in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Washington DC and more than 40 other municipalities nationally. Unlike old, battery-powered models, the high-tech meters take the pain and stress out of parking, allowing users to pay with coins, a credit card or a reusable, rechargeable parking 'debit card.'

Chad Randall, COO of IPS Group, said, "In today's economy, consumers and businesses alike are looking for convenient, cost-effective solutions to everyday problems. Our new parking solutions combine additional customer convenience, green technology and lower maintenance and operating costs ? all at a much more competitive price than other solutions. Furthermore, IPS is taking a leadership role in credit card security. We are a level-one Payment Card Industry (PCI) certified vendor and our patented system meets both PCI-DSS and PA-DSS security standards. Once a card is swiped, it is encrypted and authorized. The meters do not store customer credit card information and IPS does not keep the data on file."

Randall continued, "Our partners Wyless, T-Mobile, Telit and Arrow Electronics have been instrumental in the deployment of our leading parking solutions in cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Denver, as well as in the development of additional services such as remote parking meter management and maintenance. We expect to revolutionize the North American parking industry, putting what promises to be hundreds of thousands of green meters in place over the next 18 to 24 months."

Dan McDuffie, Global Sales VP at Wyless Group, said, "The implementation of the IPS Group solution is a perfect example of our ability to deliver a nationwide managed M2M service through successful collaboration with our ecosystem partners. Our robust infrastructure and convenient management platform enables companies like IPS Group to deploy their solutions seamlessly. Together, our companies have successfully brought an innovative end-to-end solution to market."

John Horn, National Director of M2M at T-Mobile USA, said, "As a leader in the machine-to-machine space, T-Mobile is focused on facilitating the connections that save both business customers and end users time and money. Armed with our robust mobile broadband network, industry collaborations with companies like Wyless, Telit, Arrow Electronics and others, and a streamlined certification process that enables reliable applications to come to market faster, T-Mobile can help make 'the connected life' a reality today ? from parking meters to smart energy meters."

Michael Ueland, Vice-President and General Manager, Telit Wireless Solutions, North America, said, "The IPS Group parking solution clearly illustrates the power of M2M to increase business efficiency and simplify the everyday lives of consumers. These types of innovative M2M solutions are only possible with the support of a well-established and highly functional value chain of partners who can help industry pioneers like IPS Group navigate the wireless ecosystem cost-effectively and get to market faster than their competition. While Telit provides the rugged, reliable and time-tested GE865-QUAD GSM/GPRS cellular module to the application, the IPS Group solution is a culmination of technology from several of the strongest players in wireless."

David West, Vice President of Supplier Marketing and Asset Management, Arrow Electronics, Inc., said, "The IPS Group solution is a stellar example of the partner ecosystem required for today's M2M solutions. As a broad-line distributor focused on the M2M space, Arrow provides customers a complete end-to-end solution, allowing customers to get to market in the quickest way possible. Bringing together partners within the RF ecosystem is the ideal model for solving the complex needs of M2M and embedded wireless applications."

About Wyless

Wyless is the leading global M2M managed services provider. Our resilient platform, delivered in partnership with the world's largest network operators, provides secure, reliable communications with wireless devices in over 120 countries. Powerful management tools offer real-time reporting and control over all devices connected to our network. Wyless delivers a comprehensive suite of managed services with unrivalled expertise, professional support and competitive pricing. We enable our customers and partners to deploy M2M applications and services faster, cheaper and more effectively.