As you may be aware, we are developing a new online court booking system which we will introduce for the start of next season (i.e. September 2010). This article is intended to make you aware of the system, why it is being introduced and what you can expect from it.
The current court booking system – the yellow ring-binder - is far from ideal (for a variety of reasons). I do not wish to bore you with the detail but suffice to say that it is time for a change!
One of our main concerns with the current booking system is that members persist in not cancelling courts. Unfortunately, the system does not lend itself easily to accommodate this task. Due to non-cancellation of courts, the club looses, considerable revenue and members are frustrated due to lack of court availability.
The new system is internet-based so you can access it from any computer, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It simplifies and speeds up the processes of booking and cancelling courts, and checking what bookings you have. Because cancelling courts is so simple and convenient, we are confident that members will free-up courts that they don`t intend to use.
We are currently pursuing the purchase of a `stand alone` computer to be located in a prominent place in the squash section which will make it even easier to book/cancel courts from within the club. We aim to have this installed for the start of the new season.
Please note: Once the system goes live, telephone bookings will still be taken although this facility will be available only Monday to Friday from 9.30am-4pm
Additionally, the system requires that each member has a unique email address as they will use this to logon. There are a number of members either sharing email addresses or have no email address. Please ensure you have a unique email address before the system goes live otherwise you will not be able to access the court booking system.
The system will also provide a mechanism for changing your contact details, details of internal leagues (these will still appear on the notice board) and news about the club.
In the long term, the system may incorporate a facility for the payment of courts thereby doing away with the light machine altogether. We envisage that this may not happen until 2012 at the earliest.
So there you have it - a booking system for the 20th century. It is designed to make the process of managing your court bookings as easy as possible thereby benefiting all members and the club as a whole.
We will send out specific details of how to register, logon and use the system in the very near future. In the meantime please continue to enjoy the club facilities and continue to be considerate in your bookings and cancellations.
