Frequently Asked Questions 

Parkalot is an intuitive parking management system and office resource management software available as a cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) solution. It was designed to simplify parking operations for businesses, residential complexes, campuses or any organisation with shared parking spaces. With Parkalot, you can easily create custom parking rules, assign and manage individual parking spots, enable users to make reservations in advance, and promptly report or address parking violations—all from one convenient platform.

Parkalot facilitates car park operations for workplaces of all sizes and industries, ensuring efficient and hassle-free parking management. Beyond workplace parking, Parkalot also expertly manages multifamily residential parking lots and expansive campus parking facilities. Our versatile platform is designed to adapt to the unique needs of each environment, offering customisable features that enhance the user experience, optimise space utilisation, and simplify administrative tasks.

Whether you manage a small office, a large corporate campus, a residential complex, or a university parking system, Parkalot provides a comprehensive solution to keep your parking spaces organised and accessible.

Parkalot helps solve common issues so parking and office resources run smoothly and fairly in places like offices, apartment buildings, and campuses:

• Wasting money on extra parking spaces. Parkalot helps save money by optimising space use, reducing the need to buy or rent additional parking spots, saving thousands annually.
• Unused parking spaces. Parkalot makes the most of parking bays by ensuring they are shared and used efficiently, so everyone who needs a space can find one.
• Confusing parking rules and disputes. Parkalot keeps parking rules clear and fair by allowing you to set simple, transparent policies about who can park where and when.
• Last-minute stress finding parking. Parkalot makes it easy to book parking bays in advance via an app, giving users peace of mind that their spot is reserved.
• Unreported and unresolved parking violations. Parkalot helps users and managers report parking issues quickly, so they get sorted promptly.
• Inefficient management of multiple office resources. Parkalot centralises bookings for desks, meeting rooms, EV charging points, and other shared spaces in one platform.
• Time-consuming manual management for facility managers. Parkalot automates space allocation and booking confirmations, letting managers focus on more important work.
• Lack of real-time visibility for free spaces or rooms. Parkalot shows up-to-date availability for parking bays and office resources, helping everyone plan their day better.

In short, Parkalot solves key parking and office resource challenges by making spaces easier to manage, simpler to use, and more cost-effective for everyone involved.

Parkalot supports hybrid offices by offering a comprehensive platform that manages both parking and office resource bookings while also helping organisations enforce hybrid work policies. It allows you to:

• Set weekly or monthly limits on home office days to balance office occupancy.

• Track hybrid team attendance, including remote work, business trips, and sick leave, via reports that improve transparency and coordination.

• Enable employees to book parking spaces, desks, meeting rooms, EV chargers, and other office facilities all from one app accessible on any device.

• Provide real-time visibility into the availability of parking and workspaces, helping employees plan their office visits and commutes efficiently.

• Control and optimise office car park occupancy by knowing in advance who will be on-site, which reduces parking space waste and supports smoother daily operations.

This all-in-one system helps organisations run flexible, efficient, and employee-friendly hybrid workplaces with clear policies and easy resource management, making it simpler to coordinate who is working remotely or on-site and to allocate spaces fairly.

Yes. In fact, Parkalot was built to resolve these exact challenges. With our parking reservation app, employees can quickly reserve parking spaces, and the system evenly and fairly allocates spots inkling with your parking policies.

Here’s how Parkalot particularly helps hybrid offices:

• Rather than using assigned parking spaces, Parkalot allocates reservations to meet demand, maximising capacity.
• Through advanced reservations, employees know if they have a space ahead of time: no worrying or guessing before commuting to work.
• Our dashboard gives administrators real-time insights into how parking spaces are being used, showing when demand peaks and how this impacts parking availability.

Parkalot is easy to use and can be implemented in under 30 minutes. Contact us to get started with a free demo.

The implementation of Parkalot is designed to be quick and straightforward. For small companies, setting up the account, adding parking spots, and inviting users can take as little as 30 minutes. However, the implementation timeline depends on how promptly we receive all the necessary information from you. Typically, implementations are completed within 72 hours.

For larger organisations, the setup may take longer, depending on the size of the parking facility and any custom integrations or policies you wish to implement. Nevertheless, Parkalot supports car parks ranging from as few as 10 spaces to large campuses with over 2,000 users, all benefiting from the same efficient onboarding process.

For the initial implementation of Parkalot, you will need the following:

• A facility map (site plan) outlining the layout of parking spaces and/or office resources.

• A user base provided in a CSV file format, unless you opt for Single Sign-On (SSO) integration, which synchronises users automatically.

• A list of spaces and their allocation, specifying how parking spots, desks, meeting rooms, and other resources are assigned.

Having these elements ready helps ensure a smooth and efficient setup process tailored to your organisation’s needs.

No, the implementation of Parkalot does not require an IT specialist. It is designed as a cloud-based system that is easy to set up without any special hardware or IT involvement. You simply need numbered or named parking spaces and users with internet-connected devices. This makes the setup quick and straightforward, often completed in about 30 minutes for small companies, with support provided to ensure a smooth process. Larger organisations may take longer depending on their size and custom needs, but it remains hassle-free and supported throughout.

Implementing Parkalot does not require any parking hardware. It works fully as a cloud-based software accessible on all internet-connected devices, making setup quick and easy.

However, hardware integrations are optional and possible for organisations that want to enhance their system. Parkalot supports integration with various hardware like ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras, barriers, and employee badge systems via its API. These integrations can automate access control, verify reservations, and open barriers automatically for authorised vehicles, providing a seamless and secure parking experience. Each hardware integration is approached individually, and Parkalot offers support to help with these custom setups if needed.

Our test period lasts for 30 days, giving you a full month to explore and experience all the features Parkalot has to offer – with no credit card required. During this time, you can freely set up and manage parking spaces, office resources, and hybrid team settings without any commitment. Our dedicated support team is available throughout the trial to assist you, answer questions, and ensure you get the most out of your experience.

This risk-free period allows you to evaluate how Parkalot can streamline your organisation’s resource management before making a decision.

There are no separate implementation or onboarding fees for Parkalot—these are included in the product price. This means you can start using the platform right away without any additional setup or onboarding charges. Our pricing is fully transparent, so you’ll always know exactly what to expect, whether you’re just getting started or scaling as your organisation grows.

Yes, Parkalot offers comprehensive parking utilization reporting and analytics designed specifically for facility managers. The platform provides data-driven insights to help you track space usage, identify trends, and make informed decisions to optimize your parking capacity.

Parkalot includes detailed usage reports on all plans. This includes:

• • Occupancy rates: This number tells you how much of your parking space is being used, and if it’s trending up or down.

• Occupancy by weekday: Quickly learn which days are the most popular for reservations, and if this is trending up or down. 

• Occupancy by groups: If you have parking spaces or users in different groups, this will show where the biggest demands lie.
• Schedule View: See which spaces are booked in the upcoming days and weeks. This lets you plan ahead.
• Waitlist: When demand exceeds availability, users get put on the waitlist. This report shows you where the waitlist has been activated.
• Yearly overview: Visualize the previous 12 months of parking reservations, showing the percentage of assets occupied each workday.

Centralized Dashboard: Administrators can monitor bookings, manage resource allocation, and handle any reported issues from a centralized platform, which reduces manual administrative work.

Should you need something custom, we are also able to help. Contact us to learn more.

No, you do not need to download the Parkalot app to use the service. Parkalot is primarily a web application accessible from any internet-connected device, such as a smartphone, tablet, or desktop, so no installation is required.

However, native apps for iOS and Android are also available if users prefer a dedicated mobile app experience. This means you can access Parkalot anytime without downloading, but you have the option to use the app on mobile devices if you wish.

Daily use of the Parkalot app is designed to be simple and efficient for both users and administrators.

On a typical day, users open the app on their smartphone, tablet, or desktop to check real-time availability of parking bays, desks, meeting rooms, or EV chargers. They can quickly book and confirm their spot or resource in advance, ensuring a hassle-free experience.

Administrators use the app to monitor bookings, manage resource allocation, and handle any reported issues, all of which reduces manual work and streamlines operations. The app also offers reporting and analytics to optimise space usage and support informed decision-making.

Explore a more detailed use case scenario here.

You can invite up to 50 users on the Small Business plan. For Medium and Large Business plans, Parkalot offers unlimited user accounts, allowing you to invite as many users as needed. This makes the platform scalable and suitable for businesses of various sizes.

If you plan to add many users, bulk user invitations and management options are available to simplify the process. Each user can be assigned to groups with different reservation rules and access to specific parking spots or resources.

The number of administrators you can invite to your Parkalot account is unlimited for all subscription plans except the Small Business plan, where the maximum number of administrators corresponds to the user limit of 50.

While only one main administrator can create and modify reservation rules to maintain control over policy changes, you can assign admin or super admin roles to as many users as needed for daily management tasks. This setup provides flexible and scalable oversight of your parking and office resource system, no matter which plan you choose.

Yes, Parkalot allows you to assign parking spaces to specific users (owners) or groups, such as departments. This is done by creating user groups and dedicating certain spaces to those groups. You can also set rules so that unreserved spots within a group can become available to others after a certain time, ensuring efficient use of spaces while respecting organisational priorities.

The “Confirmation is required” feature requires space owners to actively confirm their intention to use their reserved parking spot by a set deadline. If they fail to confirm by this time, the system automatically releases the space back into the general pool, allowing other users to reserve it. This process ensures that unused spaces are promptly freed and maximises overall parking utilisation.

The waitlist feature allows users to join a queue when all parking spaces or resources are fully booked. If a reservation is cancelled, the system automatically assigns the newly available space to the next user on the waitlist based on a fair algorithm. Users can join waitlists for specific areas or resource types, helping ensure equitable access without the need for constant manual checking.

Explore our waitlist guide with real-life scenarios here: The Waitlist Explained: Admin & User Guide

The booking window in Parkalot is fully customisable. Organisations can configure it to allow users to make reservations from as early as the day before up to one month in advance. These advance booking limits can be tailored according to organisational policies and user groups, enabling priority booking and effective demand management.

Yes, Parkalot supports visitor parking management by allowing organisations to designate specific visitor parking areas managed through the booking system. Visitor vehicles are tracked to ensure proper use of these spaces.

When visitors are invited or registered by the organisation, they can receive custom arrival instructions via email, including all relevant details for their visit, such as how to use the parking space and any specific arrival guidance set by the host or admin. This helps visitors know exactly where to park and understand any access procedures, ensuring a smooth and well-coordinated visit.

This visitor management capability supports tracking visitor cars, assigning special visitor parking zones, and improving the visitor experience by combining parking control with communication automation.

Yes, Parkalot can be customised to fit the specific needs and policies of your organisation. It offers flexible booking rules, workflows, and access permissions that you can tailor to suit your company culture and operational requirements. You can customise factors such as who can access certain resources, time shifts for bookings, cancellation policies, group-specific permissions, and much more. Additionally, branding elements can be adapted to align with your organisational identity.

This comprehensive level of customisation ensures Parkalot works effectively within your unique environment, helping you manage parking and office resources in a way that best supports your team.

Yes. Parkalot lets you implement office maps, showing where each desk is loathed. This can be seen when employees are reserving desks, helping them know exactly where they will be seated.

Parkalot works the same way for parking spaces, ensuring staff always know where to go.

Parkalot includes desk bookings and seating charts, so reservations can be made with complete knowledge of where a given workstation is located. 

This is the same for all resources within Parkalot, whether it’s a meeting room, desk or parking space. We can help you implement interactive maps that help staff quickly find their reservations. 

Parkalot’s mobile app, available for both iOS and Android, is designed to make parking reservations as easy as possible for employees.

Here’s how Parkalot makes it easy to reserve and via mobile:

• Swipe to Book: Employees can reserve a spot in just one motion by swiping right on a specific parking space on the dashboard.
• Tap and Reserve: You can also reserve a spot by tapping a “Reserve” button or a specific “Details” button to pick a space from a list.
• Fast Performance: Recent updates have made booking requests extremely fast, taking an average of 0.37 seconds, which represents a 250% speed increase.

And here’s how easy it is to cancel a reservation:

• Swipe to Cancel: To cancel, simply hold the item on the dashboard and swipe left, which will trigger a red highlight to confirm the action.
• Tap to Release: Employees can also cancel by selecting the relevant day and tapping a “Release” button.
• Prevent Mistakes: A default confirmation step for cancellations helps prevent accidental releases, though administrators can opt out of this feature.

Additionally, when users cancel a reservation, Parkalot automatically puts that space back into the pool, maximizing utilization and giving more drivers a chance at securing a spot.

Alongside a direct mobile and web app, Parkalot also integrates with Slack, Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Teams, giving employees more ways to quickly and effortlessly arrange their parking reservations whilst at work.

Want to try it for yourself? Contact us to get started with a free demo.

Yes, Parkalot offers Single Sign-On (SSO) integration. It supports SSO through major identity providers including Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD), Google Workspace, and SAML 2.0 providers like Okta. This allows users to sign in securely using their existing corporate credentials and enables centralised user management.

Parkalot offers several key software integrations to enhance your parking and office resource management experience:

• Outlook Calendar and Google Calendar: Parkalot integrates with popular calendar platforms like Outlook and Google Calendar, allowing users to sync their parking or resource reservations directly with their personal or work calendars for seamless scheduling and reminders.

• Slack: Parkalot integrates with Slack to ensure smooth information flow across your company’s systems. Users receive notifications and reminders directly via Slack, helping them stay informed and never miss their bookings.

• Custom Software Integrations via API: Parkalot provides an open API, allowing IT teams to build tailored integrations with other workplace software such as HR management systems or data analysis tools. This flexibility helps automate office resource bookings and creates smoother workflows adapted to specific organisational needs.

Parkalot offers hardware integrations primarily through its open API, allowing various devices with internet connectivity to connect with the platform. The main hardware integrations include:

• ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras: These help verify whether a vehicle should be allowed access to your car park and check for reservation violations.

• Employee badges: Badge readers can be used to control access, permitting entry only to users who have a valid reservation.

• Barriers: Automated barriers that open exclusively for authorised vehicles with bookings, managed via the integrated systems above.

Each hardware integration is customised as needed because not all devices support API integration, so the implementation depends on the specific hardware and its internet capabilities. Parkalot also provides support to assist with these integrations.

Yes, Parkalot offers an open API that allows integration with third-party systems, including hardware like ANPR cameras, badge readers, and barriers, as well as software solutions such as human resources management tools. The API enables customised connectivity and workflow automation tailored to your organisation’s needs.

You can find Parkalot’s API documentation and further details here: https://parkalot.io/open-api/

You can access a library of helpful resources for both Parkalot administrators and users in our Help Centre. For the Admin Manual, click here; for the User Manual, click here.

You can easily book a personalised demo with us to discuss your organisation’s unique needs and discover how we can help simplify your parking and office resource management. During the session, we’ll listen to your challenges, review your booking requirements, and tailor solutions that fit perfectly.

To schedule your demo, simply select a convenient date using our online calendar: https://parkalot.io/book-a-demo/

We look forward to providing you with expert support and guidance to ensure a smooth and successful Parkalot implementation.

You can reach Parkalot support by emailing admin@parkalot.io. Additionally, you will be assigned a dedicated account manager to assist you personally.

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