Cegedim has managed to double the number of employees with access to car parks at its various premises by sharing spaces via Sharvy.

Context of Cegedim

Founded in 1969, Cegedim is an innovative technology and services group specialised in managing digital flows in the healthcare and B2B ecosystem, as well as designing business software primarily for healthcare and insurance professionals. The company now has nearly 6,700 employees in more than 10 countries.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, parking at the French headquarters in Boulogne-Billancourt (Paris suburb) was managed in the traditional way: designated spaces for a few employees, informal sharing of spaces between colleagues during holidays, etc. However, by 2021, with the emergence of remote working within the company, this management system had become ineffective. In fact, the car park was not full due to the absence of those with designated spaces. However, many employees were still denied access and had to park outside. This situation caused a great deal of frustration for some and incurred costs for the company, which reimbursed parking fees at external car parks to compensate for the lack of space.

That is why, at the end of 2020, a search was conducted for existing solutions on the market that would enable the efficient sharing of parking spaces among employees, thereby making it easier for them to come to work and improving their quality of life at work. This led to the identification of Sharvy, the corporate parking management solution.

Setting up of Sharvy

After several meetings and discussions on configuration between Cegedim’s General Services team, the team managing building access, Cegedim’s technical department and Sharvy customer support, the solution was rolled out in a matter of weeks in the first quarter of 2021.

At the start of the rollout, those who previously had a parking space retained this benefit and were required to free it up on days when they did not need it. Other employees could request a space if one of their colleagues was absent. The policy is now gradually changing to further encourage parking space sharing and the release of spaces by holders. Some holders must now confirm the days they come to the site so that their spaces are not considered free and therefore allocated to other colleagues.

In order to encourage employees to quickly adopt and understand this new tool in their daily routine, Cegedim’s communications department conducted information campaigns at the time of its rollout.

Finally, to facilitate and secure access to the car park at the parisian site, a number plate recognition camera was installed and connected to the Sharvy application. This automatically opens the barrier only to vehicles with a valid reservation for that day. If an unauthorised vehicle or one without a reservation arrives, the barrier will remain closed.

Cegedim favourite features

Benefits noted

Revamping Cegedim’s parking policy has made life easier for the group’s employees and made it easier for them to get to work. They now know in advance whether they will be able to park in the car park and, more importantly, where. Gone are the days when employees had to drive around all the car parks in the neighbourhood looking for a free space. Now, before they even enter the car park, they know where to park, saving precious minutes and reducing morning frustration!

Sharing parking spaces allows Cegedim to meet the parking needs of a larger number of employees. Today, twice as many people as before are able to access the car park throughout the year. And this is without having to rent spaces outside, which represents a significant financial gain for the group. Especially when you consider that renting a parking space in Boulogne-Billancourt costs an average of €1,500 per year.

Sharvy has also helped to secure Cegedim’s car park in Boulogne-Billancourt. Thanks to the installation of number plate recognition cameras, only employees with a reservation for that day can access the car park. This integration with access control prevents abuse or intrusion by unauthorised vehicles. At the same time, it has reassured the management team and General Services about the implementation of flex parking.

What’s more, choosing Sharvy has saved the car park management team a lot of time. Managing 300 parking spaces via an Excel file can quickly become a very time-consuming task! Thanks to Sharvy, all this management has been automated, freeing up time for the team to focus on higher value-added tasks.

The parking issues encountered at the Boulogne site were also encountered at Cegedim’s sites in Lyon and Lille. That is why the Sharvy solution was rolled out there two years later, in 2023, with the same success!

What’s next? The application will be extended to the motorcycle spaces in the Boulogne-Billancourt car park and to the car park of the new building currently under construction. This is a great show of confidence and satisfaction, nearly five years after the initial deployment.

Do you need to optimise your company car park? Do you want to modernise its management and make it fairer?

Follow the lead of Cegedim and opt for Sharvy!