Development of the parking space rental automation service — Montepasso

Parking communities

NodeJS, MongoDB, Angular, Express

In addition to custom software development from scratch, Enginerasoft is developing its own IT solutions. One of which is the parking space rental automation service, Montepasso. In this case, the customer is our own company.

When we were contemplating the idea of creating Montepasso, we saw that there were a large number of online platforms on the market for selecting and renting apartments. However, we had not found a tool that would allow you to rent a parking space, grant remote access through an automatic barrier / gates, or provide and receive payments for this service. Thus, we decided to develop a truly unique solution that would simplify the life of owners and renters of parking spaces.

Our professional team of engineers was involved in the development of the Montepasso web application, which is accessible and adaptable to any iOS or Android mobile device. Users do not need to download and install services from app markets such as Google Play or iStore. They can use the application from any web browser. Montepasso is a cross platform solution. 

One of the fundamental requirements for this future service was the availability of the payment functionality: The renter could pay a certain amount for the use of the parking space, and the owner could easily withdraw his money through the application. We carried out integration with Stripe, an international system for secure online payments that works with individuals and companies of any size. Stripe accepts payments using Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other worldwide payment systems. Enginerasoft specializes in integration with various payment and e-commerce systems, which is why we encountered no technical difficulties during the integration process.

Because security is a major concern for this and all of our applications, we introduced mandatory verification for all users via cellphone. We verify user phone numbers, by sending them an SMS with a digital code.

There are different roles for owners or renters (tenants in Montepasso) of parking spots and administrators on the web application. These roles offer the availability of certain functionality and access rights:

• Lot owners can add parking addresses, photos, or barrier numbers. Plus, they can set time and price for parking, create visit and order lists, and withdraw money.

• Tenants, with the help of Montepasso, get all necessary rental information such as time period, price, barrier coordinates, parking address, and photos. They can also  make payments and send requests to the support service.

• Admin reviews all parking information (phone number of the owner and tenant, barrier number, dates of visit, date of parking registration). This data is used to evaluate user engagement and collect statistics which are helpful for continued application refinement.

But what kind of technology provides remote access to the parking space through an automatic barrier? A large number of barriers have a built-in GSM module that stores the entire list of lot owner phone numbers. If you are on this “white list,” you can dial the phone number of a barrier and access will be granted immediately. The “white list” can be expanded with new phone numbers, but has limitations.

Our team has made significant effort to resolve the issue with the mobile number limits in the GSM modules—and have discovered a solution that can work anywhere in the world. We have negotiated agreements with cellular providers, allowing Montepasso users to replace phone numbers. In practice, it looks something like this: When signing up to the service, a code is sent to a lot owner who verifies ownership after inputting this code. They then agree to use this phone number for opening a specific GSM gate opener. After providing full payment for the service, a tenant can press the “Open” button in the application, so the system will emulate a call from a mobile device to the GSM opener. This approach eliminates the time-consuming process associated with adding new phone numbers onto the “white list.”

We managed to develop a solution that is relatively unknown in the current marketplace. The unique functionality of the Montepasso application allows users to not only open barriers remotely or automatic doors without any special devices, but also generates income for the parking owners.