Patent ID: 8138950

Claim:
A programmable parking meter and an integrated paging transmitter, comprising: a coin slot; a flat display; a numeric keypad; a rechargeable battery and a plurality of photocells; a paging transmitter is connected to an antenna; after a parking fee is deposited in said coin slot for a given amount of parking time, said flat panel display without any intervening communication instructs the user to activate a programming function by pressing a sequence of buttons on said keypad; said flat panel display instructs the user to enter a phone number on said numeric keypad for a pre-violation notification to be sent directly to a communication device of the user without any intervening communication at a predetermined warning period before said given amount of parking time expires; and said paging transmitter transmits a notification signal directly to said communication device when said predetermined warning period has been reached, allowing the user to deposit an additional parking fee before said given amount of time expires.