You drive up, the barrier rises. No fob hunted for, no code entered, no app opened. For most drivers this feels completely unremarkable — but there's a small system behind it that works in under two seconds. Here's exactly what happens.
Revtek · 1 May 2026
Fob systems have been standard for gated car parks for years. They work well as long as everyone has their fob on them, nobody loses it and the admin stays current. Those are three "as long as" conditions that rarely all hold at the same time.
Codes are even more vulnerable. A barrier code is inherently impersonal — anyone who knows it has access. And codes leak. Not through carelessness, but simply because people share them with visitors, contractors or delivery drivers and then forget they did.
Licence plate recognition solves this structurally: the access credential is the vehicle itself. It can't be shared, can't be lost and is unique to each person.
An ANPR camera (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) sits at the entry lane, aimed at plate height. As a car approaches, the camera takes a rapid burst of frames at a high shutter speed to prevent motion blur. Built-in OCR software (optical character recognition) converts the image directly to text — "AB-123-CD" — without needing a separate server or computer on site.
That string goes over the network to the parking platform. The platform compares it against the plate whitelist in under half a second. On a match, it sends a signal to the barrier controller — a dry relay contact, or via a standard protocol like Wiegand or RS-485 — and the barrier rises.
The whole sequence: under two seconds from arrival to open barrier.
In most cases you need two cameras: one for entry and one for exit. The cameras that work best for private car parks are models from Axis, Hikvision, Bosch or Dahua with built-in ANPR functionality. Prices range from €400 to €900 per camera depending on brand and spec.
Already have CCTV cameras from one of these brands? Many existing models are already ANPR-capable with a firmware update or licence — which can significantly reduce the hardware investment.
The barrier itself usually doesn't need replacing. Virtually all modern barriers — from CAME, BFT, FAAC, Nice and similar brands — have a relay input for external triggering. The ANPR integration connects to this directly.
The plate whitelist is managed through a web dashboard. Adding residents or staff means entering a name and plate. Removing them is the same. No separate software to install — the dashboard works in any browser.
Every movement — entry, exit, denied access — is logged with timestamp and plate. The log is searchable and exportable. Useful for complaints, useful for incidents, useful for the annual check on who's actually still actively using the space.
Licence plate recognition wins as soon as there are more than twenty to thirty users, turnover in who has access is regular, or visitors play a significant role on site. In all those situations, a fob admin is a burden — and ANPR is a relief.
For office environments where staff change and visitors are regular, combining ANPR with an access control system like Paxton is particularly effective. More on that combination on the Paxton integration page. For residential complexes the specific approach is described on the residential complex page.
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