Your Comprehensive Guide to Parking Barrier Systems
Choosing the right parking barrier system for your business is essential to efficiently manage parking spaces, enhance security, and provide a seamless experience for your customers or visitors. It’s important to understand the differences between an automatic or manual parking barrier system before making a decision about your investment. To help you, take a look at our informative guide about what differentiates one parking barrier system from another and how you can weigh up which one will be best for you.
A quick look at some benefits
Before we dive into the different types of parking barrier systems out there, let’s highlight some of the benefits to installing one for your business.
- They effectively manage the flow of vehicles which reduces congestion
- Prevention of unauthorised vehicles entering restricted areas
- Barrier systems act as a deterrent to potential thieves and vandals
- They are an access control method which enables smooth entry for authorised personnel and governs the entry of unknown vehicles
- Parking barrier systems can be integrated with ticketing or payment systems, allowing for potential revenue generation
- A positive customer experience – finding spaces, car security, easier entry and exit
- Increased safety with features such as obstacle detection and potential to stop reckless drivers
- They can help optimise parking space utilisation, ensuring that each spot is used efficiently.
And a few key features…
- Parking barrier systems can be tailored to fit the specific needs of a business, including branding and aesthetics, enhancing the overall look of the parking facility.
- Option of remote monitoring and control features, allowing businesses to manage parking operations and troubleshoot issues from a central location, where needed.
- Access control options (staff cards, keypads, license plate recognition) and integrated payment systems.
Firstly, assess your needs
It goes without saying that the first port of call is to understand your parking requirements. Consider factors such as the number of parking spaces, peak hours, the type of vehicles using the car park, any special access requirements (e.g., disabled parking) and what the business/premises is used for. This will help you narrow down the types of parking barrier systems that you can do more research into and the right supplier to install them.
Working with your budget
Establishing a budget for a parking barrier system means not only considering the initial cost of manufacturing and installation but also ongoing maintenance and support expenses. Some systems may only require occasional maintenance and zero technical support, whilst others might need regular servicing or a specifically trained member of staff to operate or monitor them. Knowing what your budget is at the beginning will mean you don’t waste time researching systems outside of that. Obtain quotes from different vendors and compare features, prices, and additional services offered.
Know your barrier types
With a variety of parking barrier systems available on the market, it’s valuable to take a look at some of them to familiarise yourself with terminology and their different appearances and functions. Here are a few examples:
- Swing Gates – Suitable for medium-security requirements, such as hospitals, schools, and office building and can accommodate a wide range of vehicles
- Bollards – Provide high security and are ideal for access control in sensitive areas
- Sliding Gates – Suitable for limited space but require more maintenance
- Rising Arm Barriers – Commonly used in car parks and can be integrated with access control systems
Do you need access control?
You will likely know whether access control is something that your car park requires already. To help you define the entry and exit methods that align with your requirements, here are some examples to investigate:
- Proximity Cards or RFID Tags – Convenient and commonly used
- Keypads – Suitable for smaller installations with limited user
- Auto number plate recognition (ANPR) – Offers seamless access for registered vehicles
- Ticketing Systems – Ideal for public parking facilities
- Free exit induction loops – Vehicles automatically detected to trigger the barrier to open
Durability, maintenance, installation and training
Choose a system robust enough to withstand the outdoor conditions most common to your local area. Enquiring about the maintenance requirements and ongoing support from any potential suppliers will help you establish whether they are the right fit for your needs and value for money. In addition, check if your supplier provides installation services and adequate training for your staff to operate the system effectively, if that is a requirement for your car park. Importantly, the supplier of your parking barrier system should be able to ensure that it complies with any regulations, especially regarding accessibility requirements.
Have your customers at the forefront of your mind
Your chosen parking barrier system should always be easy to use for both customers and staff. Intuitive interfaces and clear instructions are vital and prevent traffic jams, frustrated customers or the potential for people abandoning their vehicles to get help.
Crucial Engineering – Here to help keep your business secure
At Crucial, our clients come to us for expert solutions for their security needs. We have an award winning team of engineers who are helping businesses every day by installing high quality parking barrier systems. If you are looking for a parking barrier system and need some friendly but specialist advice, contact us today and we will be happy to talk through your options with you.
Main benefits and uses of automatic barriers
Traffic barriers are a highly effective way to control the flow of traffic on any large industrial site such as factories or construction sites. They provide complete control for all types of vehicles and provide safety and security within any restricted areas.
Traffic barriers not only provide highly secure entrances to any premises, they’re also great for use at security checkpoints should they be required once a vehicle has already gained access to the main site.
Here we’ve put together the main benefits and uses of automatic barriers:
Benefits of automatic traffic barriers
1. Cost effective
Once installed, automatic barriers usually cost little to maintain and are long lasting. Plus, more cost savings can be made by reducing the need to pay personnel to constantly be present at site entrances. In many instances an effective barrier can literally replace the need to hire staff.
2. High level of security
A really common use of automatic barriers is to provide round the clock security. They’re essentially a physical barrier that prevents any unauthorised vehicles entering your premises. Alongside the barrier it’s also increasingly common to introduce other security measures such as voice intercom and remote control operating. It’s also possible to have a keypad so anyone with a code can easily open the barrier without the need to speak to anyone.
3. Very reliable
Most automatic barriers have very few moving parts which makes them very reliable as there’s little to go wrong. This reduces any burden you might think exists around maintenance or repairs.
Common uses for automatic traffic barriers
When people think of automatic barriers they tend to just think about their use in car parks, but they’re actually very versatile and can be used to meet different needs. So aside from controlling car parks, here’s some uses you may not have considered:
1. Control the flow of traffic
There are many reasons why the flow of traffic will need to be controlled through any business premises or construction site. You might need to simply have control of who enters, or perhaps restrict the number of vehicles that are on site at any time. Plus, if you expect large numbers of vehicles to leave at the same time they can control the flow to avoid accidents.
If you operate multiple traffic barriers within the same premises then they can also be programmed to work in sync to ensure the highest level of safety.
2. Keep a record of who’s entered
Any vehicle passing through your barriers will need to stop for a few moments which is more than enough time for an additional security system to scan the registration or take a picture. There could be many reasons why you specifically need to know who’s entered your site and when they left.
3. Prevent unwanted access
Automatic barriers are fantastic for preventing any unwanted vehicles entering your premises or site. Plus, if there’s a period where you’re not expecting anyone to arrive you can simply set the barrier to be permanently closed. This is great security both in and out of business hours.