Configuring Pay-by-Plate Sync properties - Pay-by-Plate Sync 5.7

The Properties tab is where you select which third-party provider to connect to, and configure the connection settings required to update Security Center and Genetec Patroller™ dynamically.

1. In the Config Tool homepage, select Plugins, and then click on Pay-by-Plate Sync.
2. Select the Properties page.
   
3. Enter the Genetec Patroller™ communication port (the default port is 8787). This is the port through which Security Center connects to Patroller. This must match the port entered in Patroller Config Tool for the setting Security Center communication port .
4. Under Parking providers, click Add new.
   The current list of available parking providers appears.
5. Select a parking provider from the list, and then click Apply to add the provider to the list.
   NOTE: The maximum number of parking providers is defined by your license.

   NOTE: You can add the same parking provider several times to manage different customer accounts with the same vendor.
6. Click the Edit button () next to the provider.
   The Edit parking provider settings window appears.

   

7. (Optional) Rename the parking provider according to your naming convention.
8. (Optional) If you want to offset in Security Center the expiration time of the plates reported by the parking provider, enter a grace period.
9. Enter the parking provider’s configuration settings, and then click Ok.
   These settings are different for each parking provider. For more information, see Pay-by-Plate Sync parking provider reference.
10. In the Perform incremental permit updates every field, enter how often Security Center should update permits with only data that has changed since the last update.
    Incremental permit updates take less time than full permit updates, but they are not as complete. For example, if a provider deletes a plate from their system, Pay-by-Plate Sync does not detect that as a “change” during an incremental update, and does not delete it from the local list in the database.

    Tip: Take the size of the enforcement area and the parking permit type into consideration when determining how often to perform incremental updates. For example, if you mainly have large enforcement areas where employees are parked during the day, set a high value. If the number of vehicles in your enforcement area changes frequently throughout the day, set a lower value.

    NOTE:

    • If a parking provider does not support incremental updates, a full update is performed instead.
    • If you only want Security Center to download permit updates when you select a permit to enforce in Patroller, you can set this value to 0. However, Patroller will not be updated with changes for permits that are currently selected.
    • This setting is different from the Periodic transfer setting in Patroller. Periodic transfer should always be set to 1 minute because it determines how often Patroller downloads permit changes from Security Center.
    • A new incremental update only occurs after the previous update is complete. For example, if you schedule incremental updates to occur every 5 minutes but it takes longer than 5 minutes for an update to complete, the next update only begins after the previous update is complete.
11. In the field Perform a full update of all permits every, enter how often Security Center clears its database of provider permits, and re-downloads the permit data from all permit providers.
    A full update is more complete than an incremental update, but takes longer. The local copy of permit data is cleared from the database and replaced with the data currently in the provider's system. Do this type of update during off hours to minimize patrol vehicle downtime.
    The following options are available for full permit list updates:

    Daily interval

    Update at a certain time of day at an interval of 1 - 7 days.

    Hourly interval

    Set the number of hours and minutes between updates.

    Update now

    Perform a full permit update now.

    NOTE:

    • You should update permit data after you add a parking provider.
    • After clicking Update now, the button will be grayed out for up to 1 minute . If the update takes longer than 1 minute, click Update now to restart the update. If you are not sure if the update is complete, verify the permit source text files before clicking Update now again.

12. In the field Check connection to parking providers every, enter how often Security Center pings the connection to the parking providers for a reply. If there is a connection issue, the plugin turns yellow, and you can click Diagnose for more information.
    NOTE: This feature might not be supported by all parking providers.
13. In the Payment provider permit synchronization timeout field, enter the maximum time before a timeout occurs during:
    • Initial permit synchronization from the Patroller to the plugin
    • Last chance lookups to verify that a permit has not recently been added to the permit list
14. Click Apply.