Bold Lane - Security Systems

Security Systems

On entrance to the car park the driver is issued with a barcoded ticket. This barcode is scanned by a ticket machine and linked to a specific parking bay when the driver types in the bay number. This activates the specially-designed motion sensor located in the ground beneath the car. When the driver returns they may only gain entrance to the building using their ticket and, on payment of the parking charges, the sensor is turned off.

The sensor detects any movement of the car and triggers an alarm process if the associated parking ticket has not yet been marked as paid. As well as detecting the horizontal motion of the car being driven off the sensor also checks for vertical motion such as that caused by a person getting into the car.

The car park is monitored by a control room operator using 190 CCTV cameras and a computerised map of the building. The operator also monitors pedestrian access and emergency buttons and has the ability to lock down all exit points. A PA system allows the operator to communicate with anybody inside the building.

After several years of evidence that the system worked, a guarantee was introduced stating that the costs of repairing any damage caused by "theft of or theft from the vehicle while secured in the car park" would be covered by Parksafe Systems. To avoid fraudulent claims, the entrance includes several CCTV cameras that record the state of the cars before they are left in the car park. Following one customer complaint about a small scratch, foam barriers were placed between the parking bays to prevent doors opening into neighbouring vehicles.