London Borough of Richmond upon Thames 
Cyg-net Book24 conference and facilities management system helps the Council meet e-government targets
The Challenge : To improve service delivery to customers, meet ongoing e-government targets and improve efficiencies.
Richmond upon Thames hires out venues across the borough for a range of events serving the whole community: weddings, civil ceremonies, conferences, cultural events and activities for all ages including aerobics, dance, martial arts and yoga. Bookings are taken from the public and staff for internal meetings. A new integrated solution was required which improved communications, managed the accounts, provided C.R.M, tracked information on usage and revenue, enabled quick, easy Space and resource booking and facility for the public to check availability, book and pay online
The Service Solution
After evaluating a number of companies, Richmond upon Thames chose Sci-do Communications - corporate partners with 4D inc, to provide the 'Right Place Right Time solution". A comprehensive Service with the Cyg-net Book24 software package - included: improved communications between customers, the council and sci-do. This in itself improved efficiencies and was achieved using a 'live Notice board', digital Video clips' a weekly catch up and a quarterly 'Interactive Greenzine' to customers (A webzine). This reduced e-mails by up to 90% in the first six months. Cyg-net Book24 provided a comprehensive conference and facilities management system This included a 'Look and Book' calendar diary. The internal online room bookings- running since 2004 extended to include additional public halls and spaces in 2005. In December 2007 the first Civil Marriage Ceremonies were booked directly and paid for over the internet using the new XML CAPITA card payment portal- providing a saving of over 60%.
Cyg-net Book24 is eGIF compliant - 4d 2004.x RDBMS server and recently offsite testing of the new faster V11 SQL database engine was completed which will substantially increase speed. It runs in a Virtualised environment (VMWARE) cutting costs on hardware to providing efficiencies and savings on overall cost of ownership. Cyg-net Book24IEG compliant, ISO 90001 standard accredited , supports transactional online booking and acts as both a Web Services (SOAP) Server and/or Client. Cyg-net is modular with an integrated suite of modules for managing events. Internal staff log in, check availability using an intuitive calendar display, and book the meeting rooms, equipment, room layout and catering required - all from one form. Booking is in real time - Bookings are editable online, equipment is stock checked, Confirmation details are auto e-mailed and bookings can be checked online 24/7 . The system is readily upgraded and presently underdevelopment is the ability to show 'My bookings' on a PDA eg iPhone,integrates with MS Outlook and iCal AJAX forms.
The open system supports financial information to be integrated into SAP via web services publication or Oracle financials using a 4d plugin and also with MS Office and outlook calendar. A SOAP client enables giving quotes in any currency with latest exchange rate.
Link to the live system at LBRUT.
The Reward: Quotes from Manager and customers on bookings and communications efficiency improvements
Cyg-net Book24 updated version 2008 was installed earlier this year and the increase in productivity and efficiencies is apparent. The combined first two financial quarters in 2008 showed more than a 10% increase in new business. john convey products and services manager sci-do communications
"The Cyg-net Book24 system helped the Council to get the booking service online and has increased efficiency by reducing costs and enabling more bookings to be handled by the same number of staff. The number of telephone calls significantly reduced whilst the number of online searches for room availability increased. Cyg-net Book24 has proved a success with the team at Richmond upon Thames being quick and easy to use. " E-government Programme Manager Finance and Corporate Services London Borough of Richmond
"The Booking system "would be a good candidate for Virtualisation."
email quote from Serco Server Support Team
"The Cyg-net booking system has reduced paperwork and is much faster to operate than our previous diary system", said Janet Pattenden, Conference Manager -2008 (now retired). "The online web diaries help significantly because customers can see at a glance which dates are already booked, reducing unnecessary telephone enquiries."
"Whilst working to get ISO 9001 accreditation for online bookings, a new live notice board was created. This helped to develop a more efficient and time effective way of communicating. Over a short period of time, this notice board improved and evolved in to the Live Online board, which has substantially reduced the quantity of emails flowing back and forth."
Debbie Boreham Postal and support Services Manager LBRUT
October 2008 The Developer Sci-Do Communications Ltd.
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