Park alarm

The Park Alarm reservation system will help to improve parking availability and will positively contribute to resolving traffic jam problems especially when major events in the city are taking place.

This new service is based on two main functionalities. The first includes the integration of the pay-and-display parking meters with the Park Alarm Portal. The customer uses a parking meter to pay for a parking spot for the period he/she is using it. All meters are connected to the main Park Alarm Portal which keeps track of, and controls parking space. For example, when a customer parks and pays using the meter, the Park Alarm system will show the parking lot as busy and the meter will display a red light. On the other hand, if that parking lot is free, the Park Alarm system will show it as vacant and the meter will display a green light. In this way, Park Alarm is able to determine how many parking lots are free or busy, for how long, and where.

The second functionality Park Alarm system offers customers is reservation and billing. Park Alarm, having negotiated a collaborative initiative with Etisalat, will be able to access the customer's mobile phone account to both check the credit balance and initiate payments. Customers may call Park Alarm to inquire and reserve a parking lot for the place and duration of their choice. Customers can also use text messaging to request this service. In response, Park Alarm provides the customer with both a password and a parking lot number (i.e., P56-A15). This information is delivered through a text message that the customer receives on his/her mobile phone. The parking lot is now reserved to the customer for the stated period and in the requested place. Reservation remains active for a maximum of ten minutes, after which it is cancelled if not activated using the password. Once activated, the parking service fee is deducted from the customer's Etisalat account.

We will market the Park Alarm service for only AED1.00 per hour. The reservation service will cost the customers AED 0.30 for SMS and AED 0.30 per minute when making a call. We set this relatively low price for the Park Alarm service because as a new company we need to attract customers, especially in Abu Dhabi which still enjoys free parking. We believe that the low cost strategy combined with the innovative reservation service will give Park Alarm an advantage over other parking businesses in the UAE. Using this pricing structure, and taking into account the cost of delivering the service, overheads and expected revenue, our business plan shows a reasonably good level of profit (44, 920 AED) that we would be happy with as a start up company.

This new service involves the integration of information between Park Alarm, Etisalat, and customers. The sequence for the sub-business processes required to deliver the Park Alarm service is described in the following points and diagram:

1. The customer calls or sends a message to Park Alarm to reserve a car parking in the allocated area of Abu Dhabi's Marina Mall at a certain time. The car parking area will be divided into sections (e.g. A, B, C… Z) where a meter is allocated for each 30 cars.

2. Park Alarm replies to the sender with a text message stating the location of the parking (e.g. B15) and the password that the customer needs to use to activate the reservation.

3. After arriving at the destination and parking the car in the location, B15 for example, the customer enters the given password in the meter. The customer's Etisalat account is then deducted at the rate of AED 1.00 per hour for the use of the car park for the duration specified. The customer automatically receives a text message stating the amount deducted. Pressing a button on the meter, the customer may request to receive a printout of this amount. If the customer is late for parking more than 10 minutes, the reservation will be canceled.

4. Each allocated parking will have two light sensors, red and green. These show if car parking is paid for or not. While the red light means that the allocated car parking is still paid for by the customer, the green light means that the place should be empty. If a customer is parked in a place and the senor light is green, the traffic officer can issue a fine.

5. Park Alarm will automatically send the customer a warning text message 10 minutes before the reservation time ends. The customer can renew his/her reservation either by sending a message or calling Park Alarm.

Our service is unique in that we combine the mobile payment and mobile reservation attributes together plus adding a key feature with the capability of paying the parking fees using cell phone accounts. This innovation makes our service not only better but also unique in creating barriers to entry for other competitors in the market.