Town of Victoria Park Booking System

The Town of Victoria Park has several departments that currently use some form of booking system. These systems are independent of each other and are used for different purposes.

A project has been established to understand the various needs for a booking system across the organisation, and to explore a single solution that best meets these needs. Part of this project is also gaining an understanding of the different types and frequencies of bookings by the community, and the community's preferences for making bookings with the Town.

While this project’s primary focus is to find a booking system for the organisation, it may, where possible, also seek to find solutions that could potentially replace additional systems integrated to the booking system. When prioritising the list of specifications to go to tender, the following will guide the decision making:

• Primary focus – booking system that integrates with additional systems as required
• Secondary focus – booking system that can replace and improve additional systems

A consultation process will be undertaken with internal staff and external stakeholders to understand the needs and preferences for a booking system. A Deciders Group, made up of key stakeholders from across the organisation, has been established to oversee the project, synthesis the consultation findings and guide the development of the specifications.

More efficient process for managing bookings.

Reduced staff time spent on managing bookings and payments.

Increases accountability and attendance at events.

Better capturing and use of data to help inform future activities.

Much easier to use.

Save time.

Reduces the workload associated with using multiple systems for scheduling cleaning and maintenance.

Reduces double bookings and errors which improves customer service.

Takes stress away from volunteers who are responsible for making / managing bookings.

Save time fielding requests for venues if public can see for themselves.

Better management of facilities with fewer conflicts such as one department using a venue for an event and the other scheduling maintenance or works.

Retention and accessibility of information. In some cases, if a staff member responsible for data is away, there is currently no access to a system.

Less change required for the printers and less time in managing these transactions.

Reduce staff workloads for booking in PCs and events on behalf of the public.

Improve customer service.

Meets community needs for online system.

Reduction in enquiries from staff and the public as many questions could be answered through the system (such as availability).

Would make the system available to internal and external people. Improve customer journey.

Would save a significant amount of time for both staff and the users (currently spending 80% of time making bookings. This would go down by 50% with a booking system).

Would make the bookings process more efficient and allow time to focus on other things.

Would save time. At times, need to attend meetings to get a briefing on events being held because information is not readily available.

Effective and efficient management of resources.

Improved customer service by answering the public’s questions regarding parking issues/events.

Greater self sufficiency.

Removes double handling.

• Online booking system for the public to book in and pay for events.
• Ideally, it would be great if there was an automated system for accepting payments online that occurs during the registration process.
• Payments need to be flexible so that people can choose the number of classes they can attend and the price is then calculated accordingly.
• Need to offer alternative methods of registration and payment such as in person or by phone.
• Would be good to be able to register for events using your Smartphone and tablets.
• Would also be good to offer closed bookings for selected people / groups (and not the general public).
• Need to be able to send a confirmation and reminder of events.
• Need to be able to send electronic links via Active Life Newsletters so that people can follow the link to the booking system.
• Would be good to collect and retain customer details so people don’t have to re-enter information every time. This data could also provide intelligence to help plan future events and marketing events.
• Would like to be able to search people by name, see their history and export attendance. It should also have the ability to add questions such as demographics, exercise levels, etc.

• An online booking system with one system for all council owned facilities including both centres.
• Need to be able to easily view availability and ideally make bookings. Need to be able to see across centres although might need to restrict editing capabilities to each centre / facility.
• Need to be able to view the type of booking made e.g. users, cleaning, maintenance, internal meeting, etc.
• Would be good if the public could view availability of facilities and classes and book (tentatively). There would need to be a manual process where staff review and approve the booking prior to finalising / confirming (e.g. Swim School would need to check that people have enrolled for the right level). This includes checking for Centrelink rebates.
• Would be good if the system was able to charge customers for the bookings they are making and offer direct debit. However would not want to use a separate system to charge customers for other items e.g. a bottle of water.
• The system needs to be simple and easy to use.
• Customers would also be able to phone or walk in to make bookings and the Customer Service Officer would then use the system to make a booking on their behalf. This would cater for people who can’t or prefer not to use technology.
• Need to be able to capture membership information and have prompts if members have not visited in a while or membership is due for renewal. Would also be good to have prompts for other key steps in the membership process such as prompts to check if they have had an appraisal, if they want a personal trainers, and any other follow up.
• Squads and youth groups only like to do 6 to 12 months bookings at a time. Need to be notified when bookings need to be renewed.
• Would be good to be able to communicate with members by sending mass notifications when classes are cancelled or an important notice needs to be sent out.
• Would be good to be able to track people using the pool lanes in real time and communicate this to the public. Would also be able to capture usage trends. At the moment lane availability is published weekly on the website. Would be good if this was daily.
• Reporting is very important. Need to be able to report on numbers attending facility; group fitness stats; current member list; members due to expire; expired members; member attendance; invoice requests; people on time hold; membership level; financial reports; stock. Should be able to generate a report about anything that is entered.
• Would be good to have pre-payment and a cancellation policy especially for the Crèche and group fitness classes.
• South Lake Leisure Centre has a self-service system where members can login to their account, change their detail, change membership.
• Kiosk at Craigie Leisure Centre is a great example where members can book in for group fitness classes and appraisals (no need to go to reception).

• Online RSVP system for events that is a one stop shop - can RSVP, pay, receive ticket and/or email confirmation.
• Event calendar could be colour coded to differentiate between types of events or who is running them.
• Needs to be user friendly and easy to navigate.
• There is a high proportion of CaLD communities in the Town of Victoria Park, so the system needs to be simple and offer translation services if possible.
• There also needs to be alternative methods for booking events, such as in person and by phone, to cater for people who can’t or don’t want to book online.
• The system should look and feel like it is part of the Town of Victoria Park webpage and either be within the website or an external link but seamless process and look.

PC Bookings

• Would be good to be able to have a card with credit to pay for printing and eftpos facilities to remove the need for manual handling of money.
• Would be good if this could be a card on your Smartphone rather than a physical card.
• Not sure if the library needs people offsite to be able to book in a computer. Although open to it if there is a perceived need / benefit.

Library Events

• Online booking system for the public to book in and pay for events.
• Ideally, it would be great if there was an automated system for accepting payments online that occurs during the registration process.
• Would like Eventbrite functionality.
• Need to be able to send electronic links via Library Newsletters so that people can follow the link to the booking system.
• Would be good to collect and retain customer details so people don’t have to re-enter information every time. This data could also provide intelligence to help plan future events and marketing events.
• Staff need to be able to edit information about events or participants easily and have more control over the system rather than rely on a service provider in the US.
• Would like the system to automatically generate an evaluation form and send to event participants the day of the event.

• Effective and flexible system for staff and the public to book events online. These applications would then need to be reviewed and approved by the Neighbourhood Enrichment Officer. Once approved, confirmation is sent to customer online and the process continue to payment.
• Would like the online system to do the following for Casual Users and Personal Trainers: Book venue and generate quote, complete liquor permit (if required), message sent to Town of Vic Park rep who will call within 24 hours, confirmation then sent with hire conditions, person has 24 hours to respond.
• Would like the online system to do the following for Seasonal Users: Need to channel enquiries to Neighbourhood Enrichment Officer, then can record bookings via booking system
• Large Scale Events: Usually there is a conversation first, then need to supply a whole range of documents.
• Would be ideal if the system could automatically generate an invoice.
• Would like an online system for only three of the four types of users: Casual Users, Personal Trainers, and Seasonal Users. Large Scale Events would still need to be dealt with