Does Anyone Have Experience Working With Platesmart?

We have not heard of anyone using it but they have been a while so hopefully there is someone here who has.

We have been thinking of testing them given their recent accouncement of integrating with Samsung WiseNet cameras.

We are looking at an opportunity for LPR and through our local rep firm this is a product they have just recently brought onboard. I would be interested in any feedback on this as well.

We have reached out to the rep and hopefully they have something to demo. I will provide an update once we have more info and see what their solution can really provide.

Unfortunately we don't have very limited experience with working with LPR solutions (we have had numerous inquiries and have quoted in the past but no-one has relally gone forward with our proposal)

I generally get the "price fishing" feeling when I get inquiries for this from smaller clients.

We have been thinking of testing them given their recent accouncement of integrating with Samsung WiseNet cameras.

John, have you considered doing any testing on PlateSmart or gotten any more information on it? This product has just shown up in an RFP and I am curious about it.

Does anyone know how much PlateSmart charges for their cloud subscription service?

Anyone have any experience with PlateSmart and Exacqvision integration?

We have been using PlateSmart as our go-to ALPR solution for the past 3-4 years. It has been a great experience overall, both from a technical support as well as sales support perspective.

We like the fact that they are a software based solution, so you have more flexibility when specifying the cameras based on customer's budget, etc. (of course within their guidelines). Also key, especially in the first installations, is the fact that they offer one of their engineers (for a reasonable fee) to calibrate and fine tune camera/software settings to optimize readings for each particular lane.  We typically spend a few hours tweaking camera angles, settings, lighting/IR and finally their software with their engineer and this has been invaluable.

We even did a pilot with a non-US plate that was not in their current repository and they were quick to work with us and "learn" the new plate and font. 

Regarding integration, we have not done much in that respect as that was not a requirement for the current deployments. However we looked into Milestone integration and while I can't speak for the details, the demos looked promising. Can't speak for Exacq

We have not seen a need to shop around for another ALPR provider as all our needs are met with PlateSmart. For our customer base, cost is the biggest hurdle in selling more ALPR systems (everyone loves it, few want to pay for it), and the only option we could price out at a lower cost are the in-camera ALPR systems (like Hikvision's, etc.). However these also have a limited feature set so we have not gone that route.

I would not hesitate in at least giving them a shot.

Your feedback is much appreciated. PlateSmart is new for us and currently in the process of quoting an ARES 4 Lane Rack with Back Office. We are definitely purchasing their training and engineering assisted packages. The client is looking for text overlay and searchable data within exacqvision which from what I've researched it is doable, yet I don't know the details nor know anyone who has had experience in it. 

I have used PlateSmart with exacq.  The integration is simple in both Platesmart and exacq sides. The data scrolls across video if desired and you can search the plate data in exacq on the same search screen as your accustomed to. Clicking on the returned plate data result, takes you right to the video. Typically you don't need to return to Platesmart for anything unless you want to do hot lists. You could probably set up Hotlists in exacq using event linking for a serial port rule, but that is not something you would want end users to do. 

Platesmart is fairly easy to deal with, Definitely go with their integration consultant to do the install. And if possible use their hardware. "Once" the software is up and running its very simple to get around in. That said it is not easy to get it up and running. There are several items that require engine restarts, and it while it "may" identify that in the software and provide an option to restart the engine, they don't always respond and need to be manually reset elsewhere in windows. It also requires IIS and I feel like 3rd party PC's map directories differently than platesmart install assumes and then requires tweeking later. GO WITH THEIR SUPPORT!!

Also, I would talk to your rep and see if you cant send them some plates to test with. The recognition is dependent on your area and if they have built a repository for learning the various different plate models. 

Do not expect long range reads. Make sure you have plenty of illumination for night-time and set the expectation that only the license plate area will be captured, do not expect to get an overview. Especially at night as you have to darken the entire scene to solid black. 

Anyone considering PlateSmart should consider OpenALPR. They publish benchmarks here: OpenALPR Benchmarks and you can do your own testing against other LPR vendors with the image set provided and compare the results.  Also, OpenALPR is very transparent about demos, pricing for their Cloud Stream and Cloud API service.  http://www.openalpr.com/cloud-stream.html

Thank you  - I will check it out. 

We have used PlateSmart and are happy with it.  When we first looked at it they offered a free 30 day license to test the system.  Not sure if that is still available.

We actually asked for a demo license but they charge $1000.00 with like a 20% discount included. We are not purchasing the license.

You can request a 14-day free eval. license from OpenALPR at: https://license.openalpr.com/