How HNK provides a quick and easy parking experience
New access control solution provides clear overview of parking occupancy at a glance.
Mission
HNK is a flexible office concept offering workplaces as well as office space and meeting rooms for a wide range of tenants. Due to the multi-tenant aspect, employees and visitors from different companies use a communal parking lot. There used to be a “first come, first served” policy, which meant that it was impossible to check who was parking. But as the number of tenants grows, more parking spaces are needed. To ensure that parking spaces are available for all tenants and their visitors, the need arose to have a better overview of parking occupancy.
Solution
By linking the BlueEntrance cloud application from Bluefield Smart Access to various Axis products, parking occupancy becomes clear at a glance. Using the BlueEntrance dashboard, parking spaces can easily be distributed among the tenants, and tenants can register the license plates of their colleagues and visitors in advance. Once the Axis camera reads the license plate number, the barrier is opened on arrival and departure. The receptionist can immediately see via the dashboard which car is associated with which tenant, and the tenant has an exact overview of which license plates have been registered and how many parking spaces are still available.
Result
Due to the access control solution offered by Bluefield and Axis, the tenants of HNK Den Bosch have an optimal overview of the communal parking facilities. At the same time, colleagues and visitors to the building enjoy a pleasant parking experience, since the extensive options offered by the access control system ensure smooth, easy arrival and departure.
HNK Den Bosch was looking for an access control system to simplify management of the communal parking lot for tenants and for the central reception desk. The access control solution offered by Bluefield and Axis provides a clear overview of parking occupancy at a glance.
HNK is a flexible office concept with workplaces, office spaces, meeting rooms and a wide range of services for flex workers, start-ups, established companies and multinationals. Each tenant rents a number of parking spaces, depending on the size of the space they occupy in the building. Until recently, these parking spaces were available to everyone, but that also meant that it was difficult for HNK to effectively monitor the number of visitors. The result? HNK encountered difficulties with availability of parking spaces as the number of tenants increased. That was the right time to turn to Axis Communications and Bluefield Smart Access and find a solution.
Insight into parking occupancy
Due to the multi-tenant aspect of HNK, employees and visitors from different companies use a communal parking lot and enter the building via the same general entrance. To ensure that parking spaces are available for all tenants and their visitors, the need arose to access an overview of parking occupancy. The guiding principle was that tenants would no longer have to worry about whether or not they could park on arrival.
“With this outcome in mind, we went looking for a management tool to keep an overview of the parking facilities in Den Bosch,” says Wouter Broekmeulen, HNK Manager. “We had worked with Bluefield Smart Access in the past for various HNK locations in Amsterdam. Bluefield put us in touch with Axis Communications. Together, they have ensured that we can now use an access control system that enables us to effectively manage the parking facilities.”
Exactly what HNK asked for
“HNK’s specific request was to be able to manage the occupancy of the communal parking lot for both the tenants and the central reception of the building without any difficulty,” says Pieter van Liebergen, Sales Manager at Bluefield Smart Access.
“Using an access control system provides a clear overview of parking occupancy at a glance. As a result, all those involved have an easy and quick overview of occupancy, while minimizing parking-related work for the receptionist. They no longer have to respond to intercom calls for different tenants all day long.” The software supplied by Bluefield Smart Access in combination with the hardware delivered by Axis Communications provided the final solution. “By joining forces, we were able to deliver exactly what HNK was looking for,” Pieter says.
Joined forces
The access control system is based on BlueEntrance, Bluefield’s cloud application. This dashboard is linked to several Axis products: two AXIS A8207-VE Network Video Door Stations, one AXIS A1601 Network Door Controller, and two cameras (AXIS P1445-LE) with a license plate recognition application (ACAP). When the visitor drives toward the barrier, the camera reads the license plate and sends a signal to the door controller. In the background, BlueEntrance records and manages this information. After departure, the license plate number can be deleted using the BlueEntrance dashboard.
Multifunctional solution
The access control system works well for all users. Tenants experience a quick and pleasant parking experience, while the facility manager has an easy overview of parking occupancy. How does that work exactly? The first step: a tenant enters the license plates of the colleagues and any visitors in the BlueEntrance dashboard in advance. Next, the camera reads the license plate when a car approaches the barrier. The barrier sends a signal directly to the door controller. The video intercom is integrated with the VoIP switchboard inside HNK.
The receptionist can use the dashboard to check which tenant is associated with this car. The barrier will be opened on arrival and departure based on license plate recognition. In the back end, the tenants can create their own allocation using the BlueEntrance dashboard, so tenants themselves can log in to manage the parking occupancy of employees and visitors in their own block of parking spaces. When a user logs into the dashboard, they have an exact overview of the current availability of their parking spaces. The user can also see the license plates of the vehicles and when they checked in at the barrier.
There used to be a ‘first come, first served’ policy, which meant that it was impossible to check who was parking in the spaces. But as the number of tenants grows, more parking spaces are needed. Due to the access control system, tenants are compelled to think about their own parking policies. And HNK says that it’s working very well. “The system works as expected and, above all, is easy to use for all those involved,” Wouter says.
“There are many different tenants and various parties who are all allocated their own block of parking spaces. And anything is possible within your own block. For example, tenants can make use of VIP license plates or guest license plates, and have the option to manage all the license plates in their own block via their own dashboard. We are currently discussing using this solution at other HNK locations as well. And with good reason, obviously. We are very excited!”
Quick and convenient for everyone
Thanks to the solution implemented by Bluefield Smart Access and Axis Communications, the tenants of HNK Den Bosch have an optimal overview of the communal parking facilities. At the same time, colleagues and visitors to the building enjoy a pleasant parking experience. The extensive options offered by the access control system ensure smooth and easy parking, while visitors do not notice any of the operations taking place in the back end of the system. And that is exactly what is intended: a quick and easy parking experience for the HNK tenants.