TXT-a-Park service issues being worked on

Wellington IT Company, Fronde, is currently suffering some technical issues with the delivery of the TXT-a-Park service, a system designed to allow payment for on-street parking by sending text messages via mobile phone.

The service processes 18,000 transactions per day, and has been experiencing issues nationwide since Saturday 3rd December when the Message Gateway underwent a substantial upgrade. Fronde is currently working on this fault as a priority, with a focus on returning operational service as soon as possible. However at this stage a cause has not been isolated and therefore there is not yet a time frame for a resolution.

The service will continue to respond with a service unavailable message until this issue is resolved. In the meantime, Fronde is encouraging customers to use alternative methods of payment; cash or credit card when using parking machines.

“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this has caused to users of TXT-a-Park and have made this our priority” says Ian Clarke, Fronde’s CEO. “Our team is working around the clock to resolve these issues and are dedicated to getting the system functioning as fast as possible.”

The TXT-a-Park service was launched in 2004 as a joint initiative between Fronde, Vodafone, and Cash Handling Systems, with all parties retaining ownership of their intellectual property. The service was expanded in 2006 to include Telecom New Zealand and its customers. TXT-a-Park has been running for seven years and to date this is the first major technical fault it has experienced.