ALPR Software ROI by Industry

ALPR, A Quick Recap

ALPR, aka Automated License Plate Recognition, is the process of capturing license plate information. ALPR software takes a picture of a license plate and collects real-time information, often to identify a vehicle. For organizations like police departments, city governments, and vehicle-related industries, ALPR technology can provide information and insights that help optimize communities and processes. 

Sighthound ALPR+ stands out from other ALPR solutions. Standard ALPR software will collect information on just a license plate. ALPR+ goes beyond the license plate itself by capturing the make, model, color, and generation (MMCG) of a vehicle. ALPR+ collects more data points per license plate, and that means an increased confidence rate in vehicle identification.

In this blog, we break down how ALPR+ brings value to organizations and take a look at ALPR+ in action by industry.

ALPR Value 

While ALPR+ provides organizations with robust, complete data, the real value comes from what businesses can do with that data. This data from ALPR+ sparks key insights, and those insights can lead to big changes. Across various industries and with businesses of all sizes, users have experienced major improvements in the following: 

• Safety

• Convenience

• Customer Satisfaction

• Revenue Generation

• Service Improvements

ALPR+ in Action by Industry 

These use cases provide an idea of what organizations can and have achieved with ALPR+.

Law Enforcement
With ALPR+, law enforcement agencies can more easily find stolen cars or identify vehicles at crime scenes. They can better track watch lists by quickly reading license plates and running the information against a database for vehicle owners who have warrants or are known offenders.  

Some progressive smart city initiatives are incorporating AI and ALPR to locate people or vehicles that are of interest or who may have witnessed a crime or vehicles that contain evidence to support a conviction. The ability to process large volumes of footage to identify faces or vehicles requires powerful computing power and software that can analyze each frame accurately.

Parking
ALPR+ supports parking lot owners in the reinforcement of parking fees and fines. With ALPR+, they have the ability to identify cars in spots not only by their license plate number but by the type of car. This can be useful when multiple cameras are installed in a lot and license plates are hard to see. 

Parking lot owners can use ALPR+ to support private parking by reading license plates and managing entrance to lots. Lots that are in public places often use license plate readings to associate payment of parking fees. Fees can be paid proactively at time of parking through an electronic kiosk or can be paid through mobile applications. One ALPR+ customer uses the benefit of an easy-to-use-and-pay mobile app to attract customers to any of their lots around a city.

Parking violations can be detected by exceeding time in a space if prepayment is made or if the vehicle is parked illegally. License plate data can be used to identify the owner and mail a fine.  ALPR+’s MMCG feature gives parking management confidence that the fine is going to the right owner by confirming the make, model, color and generation of the vehicle matches the license plate; they can then mails a ticket to the vehicle owner. This increase in confidence goes a long way in saving money when low confidence is made on the vehicle and the cost of the ticket issuance outweighs the likelihood of getting paid. 

EV Charging

Similar to parking, EV (electric vehicle) charging stations are in need of technology to support their sales activity by identifying vehicles and denoting the time at the charging station. Especially when parking is challenging, many EV stations find themselves with non-EV vehicles that are not leveraging their service. EV station owners can use ALPR+ to identify the make and model of the vehicle to support alerts for non-EV parkers. Violators can be issued fines, creating a different revenue stream for EV stations. This may not be the driver’s ideal outcome, but income was lost with the spot being misused and it needs to be recovered. 

Some EV charging station owners are taking their technology investments to the next level by displaying targeted ads at the charging stations that align with the personas of the car driver.  In this case, ALPR can be a challenge due to camera location and angles in capturing the license plate.   With MMCG, a vehicle identification can still be made to drive what ad to display.

Automotive Service or Sales
For car dealerships, license plate reading can be challenging as many for sale-cars don’t have plates. But with MMCG, ALPR+ customers can find cars that match their prospective buyers’ wish list. 

Dealerships can also benefit by identifying customer vehicles that are on the property for service. Many car owners will attest to challenges in having your vehicle located after a service is completed. With large lot sizes and work being performed in various locations of the lot, dealerships can use cameras to read license plates to identify if a vehicle is out front, in line for a car wash or sitting in the service bay. Now, if only they had your keys, too! 

ALPR+ has great applications for the online car buying process. Consumers have embraced the ability to buy vehicles online and eliminate the historical hassle of working with a car salesman on the lot. Online dealerships and automotive ecommerce sites could offer the ability for consumers to take pictures of vehicles and use ALPR+ to display the make, model, color and generation which a buyer can use to narrow the car buyer’s search.  

 Text above video: ALPR Supports Automotive eCommerce

Retail
Retailers can drive customer satisfaction with fast delivery times. By capturing license plate information and identifying the customer’s vehicle once it enters a lot or shopping complex, deliveries can be made more quickly. Additionally, license plate and MMCG recordings can support safety initiatives for reporting crimes. 

Beyond delivery improvements, capturing license plate information helps retailers understand the location and demographic information of individuals visiting shopping centers. This can help determine where to focus advertising spend or other promotions that support business objectives.

Neighborhoods and HOAs

Neighborhoods and Homeowner Associations (HOAs) use ALPR to support safety initiatives in their communities. They can share information about suspicious vehicles with law enforcement, who can then check whether the vehicle is linked to a crime. 

For communities with limited access, for example gated communities, ALPR can be used to automatically grant access to registered cars. 

QSRs (Quick Service Restaurants)
For quick service restaurants, speed is the name of the game. They can use ALPR+ for more efficient service at fast food restaurants, including curbside delivery. They can also provide a more personalized experience to customers; for example, loyalty programs could be enhanced by associating buying habits and schedules based on information gathered with license plate reocgnition.

Entertainment / Clubs / Hotels

ALPR+ goes beyond simply monitoring parking lots for hospitality and entertainment organizations. They also have the ability to recognize VIPs or company vehicles that are coming on and off the property. It helps them ensure that excellent experiences start as soon as their customers step or drive on the premises. 

ALPR+ Industry Applications In Summary

The above use cases just begin to touch the surface of the possibilities with ALPR+. Our users are constantly finding new, innovative ways to utilize insights from data–especially MMCG–and create more value in their business. 

Want to learn what ALPR+ could mean for your business? Schedule a demo or contact our team to see how ALPR+ can meet your organization’s needs.  Request a free trial today to see what the plus is all about.