Nov-2017

10 11 OPENING LINES P arkWhiz announced recently the launch of a new parking skill for the Amazon Alexa service, allowing customers to use voice-acti- vated commands to find, reserve, and pay for parking. The ParkWhiz skill for Alexa offers a hands-free method to find a parking space near an address, calculate the walking time to their destination and book parking on ParkWhiz.com.Once booked, drivers will receive an email notification with their parking pass which they can display on their smartphone for validation. ParkWhiz takes the lead as the first on-demand parking service to develop this skill.The company believes that incorporating voice-activated technolo- gy into its transactions will increase both safety and PARKWHIZ LAUNCHES NEWAMAZON ALEXA SKILL convenience for drivers when this capability is avail- able in cars.This integration is the first step in that journey to shape the future of transportation. “ParkWhiz is committed to providing the best pos- sible experience to our customers so we’re investing in the rapidly evolving field of voice-centered inter- actions to help deliver on that goal,” said Elizabeth Lindemulder, vice president of product at ParkWhiz. “Our skill for Amazon Alexa shows howwe are deliv- ering a friction-free experience.We want to give our customers more ways to find and book parking using whatever device they choose.” Owners of Alexa-enabled devices, such as the Am- azon Echo and Echo Dot, can easily begin a ParkWhiz conversation with simple commands and questions related to their parking needs.The ParkWhiz skill for Alexa is free to enable and available on any device that supports Amazon Alexa in English in the U.S. Simply go into the “Skills” section of the Alexa app, search for ParkWhiz, and click enable.