Simone Sandri is our Head of R&D and Software Platform Development Manager and works with an international team of 85 people located in Bologna (Italy), Spreitenbach (Switzerland) Warrendale (USA), and Ruse (Bulgaria). A “wild bunch of nerds” as some might say, who are mainly software engineers, but also support engineers.
With Simone we discussed future trends in the parking industry, touchless solutions and HUB’s mobile app, JPass.
How was it like to work remotely with the R&D team?
Remote work has not been that different for us: we are used to it because of the different locations and time zones of our team members. We were immediately efficient, probably the quickest team to adopt remote working!
We already used digital tools as WebEx and Jira, which we employ to keep track of tasks and projects. It wasn’t a sudden change as the first team to go remote was Italy, then some in the USA followed through even before it was required by local Governments, and ultimately Switzerland and Bulgaria. We won’t name the culprit, but someone has very cheeky dogs that would woke up only to take part (or should I say, bark part?) to the meetings with me...
What are the main future trends in the parking world?
I am sure there will be a massive acceleration of LPR ticketless solutions. The license plate as identification of the user has been a staple in the industry for years now, but what users require these very days are additional ways, even more advanced solutions so that they don’t even need to roll down their car window to access the car park. I am talking about free-flow, digital tickets, and mobile technology. The future of parking is to be as touchless as possible.
How can HUB keep up to date with the demands from operators and users?
We already have products that cater for those demands, so we can promptly propose the solutions they need. Concerning the software development, the team has adopted agile processes for years and it has allowed us to adapt to the evolving demands of the market. We are easily adaptable to change, and we can carry out new implementations in only few weeks.
The future is digital. How is JPass a suitable option for users and operators looking for a touchless parking experience?
It’s very simple: JPass allows to pre-book, access, pay and exit a parking lot without even touching the screens of peripherals, nor their buttons. How? Through Bluetooth, which is native to every modern smartphone, and digital ticketing. You can also have JPass customized: to have it company branded it just takes few working days.
Fun fact, we have two Simone Sandri at HUB, same name and same surname. You’re HUBbers since a long time, and have been nicknamed under their original role: can you tell us more?
I am Simone Sandri FP, which stands for “FAAC Parking” that is the very first name of the organization, once it started to stem from FAAC Group mother company. The “other” Simone is SI, which stands for “Sistemi Informativi” or Informative Systems in English. We sit just one floor away from each other at the HQ, but this name overlapping has existed for almost 15 years now – and countless phone calls have been redirected from one to the other, since!